Coconuts to Crampons: December 2015

For the past month we have been in the land of vegetarians. Most Indians are vegetarians and any meat dishes we did have were usually pretty small. So when we arrived in Turkey, the land of doner and kebaps, we went a bit crazy! We had meat, meat and more meat for almost every lunch and dinner.

Lamb doner.

Beef and lamb kebaps.

Lamb stew with tomatoes, peppers, garlic and parsley.

Roasted lamb shank.

Lamb kebap (blurry photo) but accoutrement of roasted peppers, pickles, parsley and hot peppers.

Lamb pide (like a pizza).

Lamb kebap plate.

Even though the meat was amazing, I have to admit that my favourite meal was breakfast. Turkish breakfasts are simple and fresh. They always include tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, bread and cheese. Sometimes you'll see little phyllo pastries filled with cheese, or yoghurt, fruit and jams.

Being on the ocean there was also a lot of fish. Unfortunately it was still hard to find inexpensive restaurants so we didn't have as much as we hoped. The fish we did have though was delicious!

The one cheap fish sandwich ($4) comes with a side of pickles in turnip juice.

Fish

Octopus salad.

And with almost every meal, you get a wide selection of amazing mezes and pickled chili peppers.

Oh my God. The desserts. One of the Principles at my company is from Turkey; he and his wife compiled a list of "must eats" for us. Tom made it his mission to try them all! We made it through 90% of the list and had so many types of baklava within the first week that we got sugared out. It is so hard to control yourself when every other shop has windows filled with treats!

Every shop window had a stack of this type of baklava.

A dessert from the Ottoman era made of chicken, milk, sugar and mastic. And yes, I said chicken!

Baklava.

Lokma: Little mini donughts soaked in syrup.

Kunefe: A pastry stuffed with cheese and fried. One of my favourites!

Sugar cookie stuffed with apple pie filling and topped with pistachios and almonds.

Peynir helveti: cake with cheese and topped with mastic ice cream.

Chewy meringue.

Just as in most of Asia, Turks drink a lot of tea. But there are a few other popular drinks as well.

Cay (said Chai) is the traditional tea always served in this style of cup

Turkish coffee; a thick, grainy and strong drink. Tip: don't drink the grinds at the bottom of the cup!

Turkish wine and beer. The beer brand is called Efes.

Salep; contains flour made from the tubers of orchids, milk, sugar and topped with cinnamon (tasted a bit like oatmeal water!)

Freshly pressed pomegranate juice!

Ayran: yoghurt drink

Raki; a anise seed based alcohol similar to Greek ouzo.

The food was delicious!!! Now I wonder how the Vancouver Doner Dude stacks up...

There is so much history in Turkey! We travelled down the west coast to visit Galipoli, site of a WW1 battle, and the ancient cities of Troy and Ephesus.

The Galipoli Peninsula was where a very important battle happened during WW1, specifically for the ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corp.) and Turkey. Turkey had sided with Germany in the war. They blocked transport via the Bosphorus straight therefore isolating Russia from the Allies. So in order to take control of the straight, in April 1915 ANZAC troups landed on the west coast of the peninsula with the objective of going over land and destroy the fortifications along the straight. Unfortunately, the battle did not go well for the Allies. They battled for 9 months and in December of 1915 they withdrew after only gaining a few kilometers from their original landing point. The Turks had won. This battle however is what gave Australia and New Zealand, relatively new countries at the time, an identity. We took a tour with Crowded House Tours and our guide was amazing; we learned so much about the military strategies, the obstacles and the battles.

Letter from Turkey's first President to the Allies who fought here.

Site where up to 15 000 Australians and New Zealanders have their annual memorial ceremony. This is the beach where the ANZACs landed.

Australian memorial.

ANZAC bunker.

Turkish memorial.

New Zealand memorial.

Turkish trench.

Everyone, of course, has heard of Troy. This ancient city is believed to have first been established in 3000 BC and eventually was abandoned in around 500 AD. What's left is really just a pile of rubble but with some imagination, and a really good audio guide, the city can come to life. The city was rebuilt nine times because of fires, earthquakes or wars. The most famous war is that described in Homer's Iliad where the Achaeans, who were unable to penetrate the walls of Troy, left a large wooden horse at the gate. The Trojans then brought the horse inside the city walls thinking it was a sign from the Achaeans that they have finally given up. After partying it up, the Achaean warriors jumped out of the horse and killed everyone, taking over the city. During our visit however we found out that this may not have actually happened and it was a fictional entertaining story imagined by Homer. Either way, its hard to dismiss the fact that this was a rich and significant city in its time.

City wall.

Ramp up to aristocrats part of the city.

Terracota water pipes. They were joined together with a mixture of lime and oil.

The bouleuterion (senate house).

Ephesus was a large city established in the 10th century BC and finally abandoned in the 15th century AD; at its peak it had up to 200 000 people! The site here is partially restored so as you walk through the city it is so easy to imagine what it must have looked like. It must have been spectacular! All the roads and buildings were all built of white marble and there is so much carved detail in everything.

Harbour Street; the road leading from the harbour into the city. How visitors normally arrived.

25,000 person odeon.

View of Harbour Street from the top of the odeon.

Gates into the 110m2 market.

Library.

Detail on the library all marble facade.

Library (left) and gate to market (right).

Temple.

Walking down Curates Way.

Uncovered aristocrat homes. Wall are all painted and floors are mosaic.

The living area. Kitchen on the left.

Here was the first time where I felt religion and history collide. I know that the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the Apostles were all real people but I've only ever thought of them in the context of stories in the New Testament. It turns out however that the Virgin Mary and St. John the Apostle came to Ephesus to live and spread Christianity. It was interesting for me to all of a sudden think of them in a historical context. They lived in the city, they had a home, they ate, they probably went to the local market.