Came back :)

I'm in Turkey again so ... Dear Friends, be ready for a big dose of information about Turkish traditions. But before I write anything, I share my new photos from Istanbul. Enjoy! 

On the board

PS Thanks for visiting of my blog!

An oasis of peace

In the penultimate summer weekend of my stay in Istanbul, we decided to go for the Princes' Islands. I did not know what to expect, but even message about the flow of ship made me happy. It seemed to me that the island, which in fact are in Istanbul, can’t be very different from the city - maybe a little less populated ... Verification of my ideas came very quickly, already on board I realized that everything what I will see will surprise me.

 
The weather was very nice, but not as scorching as the beginning of August. We boarded the ship and we took my favorite place on up. Light breeze reminded of the coming autumn, and the moody sun showed up and hid behind the clouds. The ship, like at the weekend, was crowded and noisy - the essence of Istanbul.

 
I must admit that before I had no idea Princes' Islands exsist. Perhaps this is ignorance or lack of knowledge (I've never been interested in geography), but it was nice to experience such a surprise.

Among the people, who had the same idea on Saturday as we had, and decided to sail to the island, were foreigners too. Apparently some of them have their homes there. Americans, Germans... Tanned by Turkish sun and happy with life.

Ferry, which takes passengers on each of the inhabited islands, gave me an awesome experience so I could see everything from a distance. We decided to go to Heybeliada.

Turks called Islands archipelago Red. It’s official name however, in common use functions Princes' Islands name. Why? The name dates back to the Byzantine era, when there were sent members of the imperial family (later Sultan family). It is expected that the atmosphere was not very friendly, and the islands became a symbol of political struggles. The situation changed in the XIX century, when wealthy Turks began to "acquire" the land and build a beautiful and expensive villas. The reason why this happened, it was probably a desire to escape from the growing city, from the noise and crowds, and also an awareness of the beauty of nature.

Princes' Islands is not only a nine scenic lands, where nobody destroys nature and tradition, but also amazing picture of Istanbul from distance. Five islands are inhabited, but best known are four of them. In the summer population increases of 20 000 to 120 000 The best known islands are: Kınalıada, Burgazada, Heybeliada and Buyukada.

It is easy to find online information about the places that you should visit during your travel to the islands, because of that I will tell you a little about my impressions and hopefully I encourage you to similar trips.

 
The islands are a paradise where you can relax after a tiring travels through Istanbul. The silence, the smell of flowering shrubs and trees, color palette, which Monet would desire, and above all, the climate of the old Turkey - forgotten by many people, but still breathing here.   

Architecture of Ottoman times, white bunk villas (unfortunately often neglected) in the middle of large gardens. Between the houses narrow streets, followed by walking people. There are no cars, because they are banned, and the only transport are: ferry, cab or bike. People less in a hurry, less screaming and somehow seem nicer. Everywhere flies smell of fish recently caught by fishermen. Along the shore extend numerous cafes, restaurants, hotels and pubs - all at your fingertips, all in close proximity. For fans of the bath (sun or water) there is the beach, where you can spend the whole day.

In private homes, people eat meals on the large terraces adorned with flowers. Breathe green air, meet with friends and colleagues on the after-dinner coffee or tea.
Heaven on earth ...

And if I had more comfortable shoes we would stay longer there!

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! :) 
 

 

“The quality of tea is a decision your mouth takes.”

Can you imagine Italy without spaghetti, France without cheese or Czech Republic without beer? I suppose you can’t. Now I can’t imagine Turkey without tea too. :)

I’ll never forget an awesome taste and great smell of Turkish tea which welcomed me here. The best tea taste ever! My first glass and absolute love. Love at first sip… It's so simple - a day without Turkish tea is a wasted day. I'll back home soon and I don't know how to exist drinking Lipton Tea again. I'll miss both - çay and tulip glass. :( Normal cup isn't same...

According to the statistics Turkey’s the fourth consumer of tea in the world.  People drink it always and everywhere but if you want to try real Turkish tea you need to know some rules.

Çay is Turkish traditional black tea produced on the eastern Black Sea coast. This place’s quite uniqe because of special maritime climate. Turkish tea must be… tea so I think because of that I’ve never seen  people who drinked çay with milk here.

What you need to make çay? Hmm…

1. two stacked kettles (çaydanlık) can be aluminum or steel – in the larger lower kettle

    you have to boil water and then some of that water is used to boil a strong decoction

    of tea in smaller kettle;

2. tulip shaped glasses for serving tea – you have to mix water and strong tea in

    proportion you like; Turks prepare two kinds of tea: strong (koyu) or weak (açık);

    tulip glasses are so small (not to let tea be cold) and white (to show an amazing

    colour) or green, blue, red... etc.;

3. cubs sugar (kesme şeker); 
 

4. ...and of course... a good tea, real tea... I'd recommend this one. 

  

Turks drink tea (usually not only one glass) for everything: family meetings, friends meetings, work break, party, breakfast, business meetings and as a friendly gesture for guests. Because of that you have to know that drinking is some kind of ritual for Turks and they never drink tea fast. You shouldn't be hurry. Follow native's example! :) They taste every sip and talk to friends or family. Some families have a secret recipe for preparing an ideal tea and if you aren't a member of this family you can forget about learning it.

PS I could find this kind of glasses...

... and nice shop with thousands kinds of tea bags.