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$Unique_ID{COW03787}
$Pretitle{280}
$Title{Turkey
Tourist Tips}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Turkish Tourist Society}
$Affiliation{Turkish Embassy, Washington DC}
$Subject{turkey
turkish
ottoman
state
turkey's
visas
ataturk
kemal
war
first}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country: Turkey
Book: Focus on the New Turkey
Author: Turkish Tourist Society
Affiliation: Turkish Embassy, Washington DC
Date: 1990
Tourist Tips
Get a fresh perspective on Istanbul by taking a boat trip on the
Bosphorus or one of the large comfortable ferryboats to the Prince Islands
in the Sea of Marmara.
In general, Turkish museums are closed on Mondays. The Topkapi Palace
is closed on Tuesdays.
Be extra careful how you cross the road in Istanbul driving is on
the right. Leave in good time for appointments, particularly during rush hour.
SIT DOWN TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT CUISINES
Ottoman troops, who grilled chunks of lamb on their swords round the
campfire before battle, would no doubt be astonished at the popularity today
of their idea. But the traveller to Turkey who knows only of sis (shish)
kebab has exciting discoveries to make.
Some experts rank Turkish cooking at its best with the French and Chinese
as the world's three great cuisines. Turkish culinary arts blend the earthy
traditions of country cooking with subtle skills once developed for the
sultans, adding a dash of Mediterranean influence for good measure.
Turkey is one of the few nations that produces all its own food, thus
assuring the diner both of superb freshness and low cost.
What should the tourist look for? For a start, starters. Turkish mezes
offer a stunningly varied and delicious selection: fried mussels, cacik
yoghurt and cucumber, stuffed vineleaves, kofte lamb meatballs, fried spiced
aubergines, hot pastries of herbs and cheese or meat, stuffed peppers and
tomatoes, an endless list.
As four seas wash Turkey's shores, the visitor can follow the mezes by
sampling such marine riches as red mullet, sea bass, swordfish, squid, giant
prawns. These are often accompanied, as are lamb and beef dishes, by salad and
rice. Pilav, rice Turkish style, is not a filler but an experience. One tasty
version is prepared with pine nuts, currants, butter, spices and herbs.
A little rarer but even more succulent is Circassian chicken. This exc
dish is flavoured with pounded walnuts, garlic and paprika, and is said to
originate from the comely palace concubines of the Caucasus.
And for dessert? Turkish sweets, memorably named the Nightingale's Nest,
the Lady's Navel, the Minister's Finger, and the Lips of the Beautiful Beloved
are mainly based on nuts, syrup and pastry. Excellent fresh fruit and milk
puddings provide an alternative, along with the incomparable Turkish Delight,
lokum.
It may surprise visitors to learn that Turkey is the 10th largest wine
producer in the world. The earliest known ancient people who had a deity for
fertility represented with a bunch of grapes happen to be the Hittites; the
word "wine" also originates from the Hittite language.
As for a national long drink, it has to be raki, powerful,
aniseedflavoured, turning milky with water. Locals dub it 'lion's milk'.
Proceed with caution.
No day in Turkey is complete without numerous stops for that strong,
black brew known worldwide as Turkish Coffee. Even the shortstay visitor will
find the tiny cups a habit easily acquired. Specify whether you like it
without sugar, medium or sweet.
Turkish breakfast, by the way, put many a continental roll to shame.
Freshbaked bread, cheese, olives, tomatoes, yoghurt and honey, fresh fruit
and boiled eggs will be on offer in many combinations to set the traveller up
for the morning.
Whatever the meal, eating is a leisurely, pleasurable event in Turkey.
Sitting outside under a leafy trellis enjoying a lunch of delightful variety,
the visitor may well feel that life tastes very good.
Afiyet olsun
TOURIST TIPS
Main Turkish taverns and dining places:
Kahve: menonly establishment; serves coffee, tea, refreshments.
Lokanta: serves homecooked Turkish meals with nonalcoholic drinks.
Ickili lokanta: as above but licensed for beer, alcoholic drinks.
Gazino: as above plus entertainment.
Kebapci: serves various Turkish grills.
Pideci: Turkish pizzeria, "pide" parlour
Restoran: serves Turkish and international cuisine, alcoholic drinks.
Order from the food display in a restaurant's cold cabinet rather than
from the menu. It's easier and you'll have the choiceoftheday.
Turkish mineral water, carbonated or still, is inexpensive. Drink it,
as locals do, in preference to tap water which can taste chlorinated.
THE SKILLS OF CENTURIES...BROUGHT UP TO DATE
In the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul tourists stand enthralled before an
enamelled and gold throne studded with 25,000 jewels. In the Museum of
Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara they are plunged back in time by a display
of artefacts dating from a Bronze Age settlement that traded with Troy. Inside
the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, visitors are awed by the thousandwindowed
design and incomparable ceramic decoration of this 16th century masterpiece.
For people interested in the decorative arts, Turkey spreads forth a
feast. There is staggering opulence. The Ottoman Sultans indulged in
conspicuous consumption of precious metals and gems. Topkapi's imperial jewel
collection houses an 86carat diamond, a single uncut emerald tipping the
scales at over 7000 ounces, and a chess set hewn from rock crystal, each piece
topped by a ruby or emerald set in gold.
There are techniques of incredible delicacy filigree jewellery,
marbling used to decorate books, more than ten script forms of calligraphy,
inlay work in motherofpearl, ivory, gold and silver, stunning ranges of
glowing silks.
The arts also supply fascinating glimpses into a past in which a dozen
civilizations, including Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine,
Selcuk and Ottoman came and went and bequeathed their treasures and skills.
One such skill to cross the centuries is in ceramics. Ceramic wall tiles
developed into the most distinctive element in Selcuk and Ottoman
architecture, adorning fountains, palaces, mansions, libraries, Turkish baths
and mosques.
Tulips were a favoured tile motif. Floral and leaf patterns in shining
turquoise, cobaltblue, coralred and deep green ornamented the finest tiles
of the 16th century, when some 300 kilns and factories were flourishing in
Iznik, the ancient city of Nicaea.
After an artistic decline during 18001900, ceramics have been
reestablished and artists are now producing contemporary works of high
standard. At one of the old centres, Kutahya, the classic tile themes
continue, reshaped on beautiful vases and wall plates.
Perhaps Turkey's most famous and longstanding speciality is carpet
making, first introduced by Seljuks from the East in the Middle Ages. By the
1500s, Turkish carpets were in great demand all over Western Europe. One
richly coloured design is named the `Holbein Carpet', because it featured so
often in the paintings of Hans Holbein the Younger (see `The Ambassadors'
at the National Gallery, London). This carpet was then, as now, produced at
Bergama known in ancient times as Pergamon.
Today the major carpet centres are in central and western Turkey. Yahyali
in the vicinity of Cappadocia and Hereke on the Sea of Marmara are two names
to look out for. Hereke's weavers, for example, have been producing superb
woolen and silk carpets since 1844.
A KNOTTY POINT
The city of Gordes was once Turkey's most important carpet centre,
producing the highest quality prayer rugs for some 200 years, and giving its
name to the Turkish carpet knot. This serves as a reminder of the fabled
Gordion Knot tied by Gordios, King of the Phrygians. Alexander the Great,
unable to unravel