Little journey :) p. 1.

My last post was about tulips, so now something about plants, but edible. I think you like a lot of them and, who knows, maybe this post will be the reason why you will visit Turkey. Everyone knows that "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach", and therefore I think that you will fall in love with Turkey because of its flavors. Let's start our journey to the Turkish flavors and beautiful Turkish cities.     

1. MALATYA

 The closest to my heart is Malatya (formerly Melitene), so here begins our trail. It is a city in the region of Eastern Anatolia in Turkey and the capital of its eponymous province. 

 

Malatya is a city of apricot. Number of hybrids is about 400,000. Apricots grow everywhere here, even in the coat of arms of the city. For many years, Malatya is the largest exporter of apricots in the world. Not surprisingly, the yellow fruit, ripening in the sun, are the best there. People just love their fruit, that since 1978 has been organized Apricot Festival in Malatya. The most delicious for me are dry apricots.

Last month Turkish Airlines give them for every passenger. I have to admit I didn't like dry apricots before because in Poland they are not so quality but after tasting dry apricots in Turkey they are my favourite snack. :)

2.  ANTALYA

Another point on our map is Antalya. This is where, every year, most foreign tourists arrive. Beautiful blue sea, sunny weather (summer temperatures exceed 40 degrees!) and historical places make Antalya a perfect place for a holiday. Population of the city is about 600,000 (in summer 2 milions).

Such a warm climate favors the ripening of the best oranges and mandarins in Turkey. Fruit trees grow along the roads, and their branches bend to the ground under the weight of the fruit. In the evening wind carries the smell of ripened citrus.

 

Every year since 1963, the last week of September, is the film festival called International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. Name refers to oranges growing in the region of course. Here i put some photos of promotional posters of festival, which an orange is an integral part.

 3. DIYARBAKIR

So now maybe something about my favorite fruit. Diyarbakir (formerly Amida). Place where the biggest watermelons grow. The city's population is about 850,000. The city is located in the south-east Turkey, on the banks of the river Tigris. Diyarbakir has a semi-arid climate with hot and dry summers and cold and wet winters. 

As in Malatya and Antalya, Diyarbakir watermelons festival is held, in which the whole families take part in.

Watermelons in Diyarbakir have different tastes and shapes so you can find many varietes of them. Some of them are: Yeni Dünya, Alacalı, Kara, Gülle, Washington and Diyarbakır. As I wrote, every variety is different so I recommend to try all! :)