Eastern Turkey - Diyarbakir

As always happens during this time of the year, I was bitten by the travel bug and I am itching to hit the roads again. It's not finalized yet but I will probably be traveling on some parts of the ancient silk road in the coming months..Still dreaming about it.

While I am dreaming and planning let me take you to the eastern parts of Turkey, which is unknown to many who visited this country. The city of Diyarbakir is the largest one in southeastern Turkey. It is not in the destination of many traveler due to the Kurdish terrorist activities in this area. However its a beautiful city so much rich with history and culture.

It is possible to see the 5.5 km long old city walls made of from black basalt around the old parts of the town. It is very striking..







You could always find old men in the garden of the Grand Mosque. They are always ready to tell you about their city.



Entrance of the Grand Mosque which was built in 11th century. Very similar architecture with the Grand Mosque of Damascus although this is a rather small version.


Traditional house with lovely decorations on the walls.



An artisan making the last touches of a water jug which was later purchased by me. Using it as a vase right now.



Arches of an old Armenian church left to decay in 1883. Ceiling made of mud gone many many years ago..

Boza

It's a cold, dark and rainy day outside. A perfect day to enjoy the coziness of home. I already miss sunshine and spring days and started to dream and plan about our summer at the beach. A perfect day to dream about the coming summer,too.

However I am not forgeting to enjoy the delights of the winter. Here is one of them: Boza, a favorite drink of mine during winter.


It's made of fermented wheat, sugar and water. It's known to be made for the first time by the Central Asian Turks during 900s. You can only purchase it during winter months and serve it with cinnamon.

So what is it taste like? Well, it is like a rich liquid puding. It is thick, and sweet. Not very much liked by my foreign friends who taste it for the first time, as they found its thickness strange.

Boza is also known to be prohibited by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed 4, while he was prohibiting all the alcoholic drinks during the 17th century. Reason? As it is fermented, there is a low alcohol content in it. About 1%.

So if you ever happen to be around this part of the world during winter months, try boza for some extra energy and calories.

İstanbul under snow...

First snow wave is already over but we are waiting for the second one later today. Years ago in the early 80s, I was an exchange student in West Virginia - USA. When the first snow of the season covered all over the small town of Keyser, the most frequent question my friends asked me was if I like the snow. They were probably assuming that, coming from Turkey, I was seeing the snow for the first time in my life. Actually the reality was much different. At the time my family was living in a mid Anatolian town -Eskisehir- which was under snow and ice during the entire winter months. Snow only started to vanish slowly in the early days of the spring.

Well, world became a much smaller place since then and today I want to share some snowy photos of İstanbul taken during the last snow blanket.










All photos are taken from the facebook page of İstanbul.

Snow in our Life

İstanbul was under a beautiful but very cold snow blanket for the last couple days. Most of the time we are staying inside indulging ourselves with books, DVDs, Australian Open on TV and as you can guess with lots of eating and drinking. So far little Hera's natural calls are our only contact with the world outside. Here are some photos from our nearby park..






Guess who is this curious nose??


Finally a must on snowy days: Gluewine - hot wine

Ekeko

Traveling around the world thru the years introduced me to so many lovely customs, believes and figures. Today I want to introduce you one of them. Please meet Mr Ekeko from Bolivia.Well, he is a bit fat and short and may have some bad habits but he has so many things to offer and for God's sake, he is a GOD. He is the god of abundance and I brought him back with me from a trip to Bolivia couple years ago.

Every year on the 24th of January, you have to offer him some goods in return for an abundant year. So offer him banknotes to obtain money, grains for good harvest and some food to ensure prosperity.But as I told you he has some bad habits. He likes to drink and smoke. So to make sure that he will give you whatever you want you have to offer him a lit cigarette and some alcohol. If he smokes the cigarette you can be sure that you will have a year of full prosperity.

This year I offered him mint liquor as well as a cigarette and as you see he seems pretty pleased.I also put some images that represent travel and health to his basket that I cut from magazines. Last but not the least a small red heart to wish for lots of love to give and take.

Well, if you ask me his track record, believe me he is pretty good...

New Baby

I havent been around for the last couple days and this little gentleman is the reason for that. Please meet my nephew Azmi Sina. His first name comes from my late father and his second name is from his doctor..So far he is a happy, healthy and always hungry baby.


Other happy people include the new grandmother and the new big sis. There is also an aunt who adores him but you already know her. :))



I will be back very soon..

Fish in Bread

The fishermen selling grilled fish on their boats have always been near the Eminonu ferry port. When I was a young banker working on a branch on that district, I often had my lunch there. It was delicious, healthy and cheap. The menu was simple. Grilled fish fillet, stuffed in a half loaf of bread...On a good weather, while you were watching the passing boats, it was a delight to eat fish there.

Since then years passed and for so many years, fishermen who were handing down the fish in bread from their boats to their hungry clients survived and became a part of İstanbul's age old culture.



However when something become so popular, people starts to look ways for making more money out of it and as a result it will start to loose its authenticity. The same thing happened to good old fishermen. Local municipality banned the old boats because of health reasons and started to rent these rather strange boats which were probably copied from the old boats of the Ottoman Sultans. A strange choice but as a result the whole thing turned into a cheap tourist attraction. A very sad ending to the memories of my youth..







They have also added the pickle sellers in the same style.




Well, I miss the old boats and the real fishermen....