Turkey Country Summary

Turkey Country Summary:

Food, too numerous to describe it all but here is a sampling:

Eggplant kebabs with mint yogurt (country highlight)
The numerous mezes (appetizers) and the complimentary huge serving of flat bread which we fell in love with. Most appetizers were sauces to eat with the bread but many were types of salads that invariably contained eggplant (much to Andreas delight)
Baklava, the numerous varieties served in the shops meant that we had plenty of reason to keep on sampling
Turkish icecream is fabulous because it is more marshmellowy (don't think that is a word but it is true)
Peanut Lokum was the only type of Turkish delight that we can honestly say we enjoyed
Hazelnuts and chocolate, the combination is heavenly and the varieties here are too numerous to mention
Honey, fell in love with it here as it is notably fresh with beehives observed frequently from bus windows or during hikes
The Turkish breakfast (by the end we were definitely sick of it) consists of boiled eggs, crusty white bread, packets of honey or cherry jam, olives, sliced white cheese, peeled cucumbers and tomatoes, and a choice of either Turkish tea or Nescafe (instant coffee as this is the ONLY type of coffee offered in most countries)

Highlights:

Visit by Andrea's parents resulting in the additional joyous experiences of hearing about hot air balloon rides, mom's paragliding adventure, and Andrea's opportunity to give mom a tutorial on "how to" use a squatter (this brought on a new meaning of women always needing to go to the bathroom together).
Goreme and the surrounding area for the surreal landscape and the amazing surviving history
Kabak : The time spent relaxing over the Mediterranean sea at the Olive Garden and the women's second day of hiking the Lycean way

Worst experiences:

Not really a bad experience but was a shock to discover that Turkey was much more expensive than we had anticipated
Andrea getting an eye infection which prevented diving excursion with her father
sending parents home

Reflections:

Turkish people so far really are the most amazingly friendly people towards foreigners that don't speak their language (more noted outside of the highly touristy areas). Other than the spontaneous conversational attempts, they will willingly go out of their way to take you physically to a destination.
Men in the states have a much larger personal space bubble than Turkish men (Zambians could also be included). Men here are often seen with arms around each others shoulders, utilize more physical contact in daily conversation towards each other, or willingly share the same moped as a means of transportation.

Turkey Journal Entries