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Things to do in Istanbul: History Hunting in Turkey
I cannot believe I am finally here, in the Historic Areas of Istanbul — a UNESCO protected site. On the cobblestoned Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, I am out with a list scribbled “Things to do in Istanbul”. Vehicles are not allowed here. Thankfully, the warm June day is cloudy and breezy. The road is moderately crowded with tourists. My plan is to explore the Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Misir Bazar and the Galata Tower. Istanbul, a transcontinental city in Eurasia, is the cultural capital of Turkey. Established by people of Greek ethnicity in 660 BCE as Byzantium, it aligned with the Roman Empire…
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Gaziantep Cuisine UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Gastronomy: Culinary scenes at Emine Gogus Culinary Museum
The warm June day in Turkey is sunny. I walk along the shadows of the old buildings in a narrow alley right in the heart of old Gaziantep. Sehzat guides me to the courtyard of an old building. A huge flag of Turkey hanging vertically from the first floor to the ground floor flutters in the breeze. I am in Emine Gogus Culinary Museum— the first museum of Turkey which is dedicated to Gaziantep cuisine, cookery and eating etiquette! Ali Ihsaan Gogus, an esteemed journalist and politician of Turkey, who later went on to become the first Minister of Tourism of Turkey was born in 1923 in this building. The…
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Copper Market in Gaziantep : Offbeat Turkey
A man is sitting on a stool just by the door of his shop. On his lap is an intricately carved copper vessel. With his left hand he holds a big chisel over the vessel and with his right he gently beats it with a hammer. Every second he keeps changing the position of the nail, carving a pattern on the metal. The metal protests in pain, expelling a piercing sound, but that sound is muffled under the melody of the tune the man is humming. “Bazaars and bedestens are different. We call the covered bazaars ‘bedesten’. This one is a bazaar, not a bedesten,” says Sehzat. It is my…
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Turkish baklava : A sweet affair in Gaziantep
Emerald green nuggets drip from the edges. My nose inflates — it has smelled a feast. On my first bite, there is a faint crunch in my mouth. As I chew, the flakiness gives way to a mellow sweetness, and then comes the burst of pistachios. The turkish baklava disintegrates in my mouth. Reduced to bits and pieces, they roll around on my tongue. When it is finished, I open my eyes, eager for the next baklava waiting for me on the plate. I am in Gaziantep — a city on the silk road in south-eastern Turkey which has been added to the list of UNESCO Creative Cities Network for…
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Gaziantep city, Turkey : First Impression
It is a brand new feeling. Miles above the ground I am in an aircraft almost wholly surrounded by passengers who are all foreigners to me. The flight from Istanbul to Gaziantep is a short one, a mere 1.5 hours, nothing compared to the 6 hours 45 minutes of the first flight from Mumbai to Istanbul. As soon as the seat-belt sign goes off in the Turkish Airlines flight, crew members start distributing food. In a neatly packed (unfortunately) plastic wrap, bread, butter and salt is served. It is followed by another question, “What would you like to drink?” Options are given and I pick cherry-drink, a beverage ubiquitously present…
