Travelfood

For years I thought Turkey was a country where I would not return after two trips and three different diarrheas. My third trip to Istanbul was nevertheless wonderful, since the city has become cleaner and nicer and the food tastier! There should not be any other belly problems anymore except belly dancing! Furthermore, I visited inner Turkey, Cappadocia with its world famous rock formations in Göreme. I would suggest an organized tour to Cappadocia since arranging transport on your own from the Kayseri airport is extremely costly. European Turkey with Istanbul in front used to be the interesting parts for sights in Turkey, but there is a lot to experience in the Asian parts as well.

Istanbul is a fascinating city with mosques, carpet vendors and spices that make us think of the Middle East while the clothing and women’s rights resemble of Europe. Hagia Sofia Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the most beautiful building of all, the Blue Mosque, are all most noteworthy sights. The bazaars are full of life and you can stroll there without heavy marketing. The city might be cold in winter so the best time for travel is probably spring or autumn.

My second trip was to Mediterranean town Antalya and unfortunately there is not much to see or do there except sunbathing on the beach. We went on an interesting day-trip to ancient Perge and Aspendos and I must say there were much better preserved ruins, aqueducts and amphitheaters than in Greece or Italy. The Turks are friendly and it is obvious that they are very tolerant towards disrespectful behavior and clothing by tourists in the locals’ mosques. Their friendliness seems to come from the heart and not in order to please Europeans to accept Turkey to the EU.

Turks have their own meatballs called köfte and their own pizza called lahmacun. The kebabs you have tasted in your home country are only a fraction of all the varieties that are offered in Turkey. Besides those I tasted of course honey sweet baklava pastry in filo dough, pomegranate juice, Turkish Delight-cubes, nut mixes and puddings. In coastal Antalya it was easy to get tasty grilled fish.

Asia, Europe, food, travel, travel experiences, Turkey