If you have a sweet tooth, then Damascus is the place for you.

In general the food is similar to Turkey’s but with a much greater range of meze, and a concentration on bread accompanying meals rather than rice. And the bread is of the thin, unleavened kind used for wraps here.

However, if you have a sweet tooth, then Damascus is the place for you. Cake shops are everywhere and people buy a cake which is handed over in a napkin to be eaten as you walk along – especially popular with kids en route home from school – and very cheap, about 1TL for a cake.

As in Turkey they eat lots of nuts and seeds and use them in creating sweets too.

But we have yet to see in Turkey anything to compare to the shops selling baklava-type sweets in Damascus.

The central pile is a kind of pistachio pie that was absolutely delicious.