The Turkish Files

 It was about 3 or 4 years back, my family and I had decided that we go on a trip to visit a country which is known to fall or lie on either ends of the Asian continent and the European continent. It is a country known for its extraordinary roots that go deep down in history right from the time of the last Roman Emperors- Justinian and Diocletian to the rise and fall of the well known and revered Ottoman Empire of the Islamic period in history. It is none other than the country of Turkey.

It was around the months of July-August 2017 as far as I could remember when we had made the trip to Turkey when at that time was the peak or onset of the hot summer months back then in the U.A.E. In my memory as far as I could remember, we had not travelled via Turkish Airlines, but had boarded another airline- a bit less costly as compared to Turkish Airlines to take us to the place which we had in mind for our summer holidays that year. We stayed at a small hotel in an area not very far off- but away from the hustle and bustle of the city life- a hotel named ‘Holiday Inn’.

Outside the Holiday Inn Hotel in Turkey

On our arrival at the hotel, I was really taken aback by how instead of AC’s, they made use of heaters which to me was quite strange. It was only later on did I realize that due to the cold weather in the country with temperatures going down to minus 2 or even 3 degrees Celsius, that really necessitated or made it really necessary to have heaters to keep the hotel warm amidst the freezing climate.

On our first day in Turkey, we went in and around the neighborhood to see all the shops and small eateries laden with outdoor seating, and a lot of people who gathered there by around evening time to have I would presume some lovely snacks by about 4-5 PM extending till about late 7-8 PM and also probably a heavy dinner to keep themselves satisfied or fulfilled after a tiresome day at their workplaces. There was also a phenomenon that I had observed, and this was something that I had spotted even in other European countries such as Austria and Hungary, that specially in the summer months, the days were very long and the nights were very short. As a result on that day, we had noticed even though it had already passed 9 PM, it was still bright and that really amazed and surprised us. 

Turkish Boza (Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/snapshots-from-turkey-what-is-boza-fermented-millet)

We had even gone to the grocery shops to see what was being sold there. I happened to spot something very much popular in Turkey- often referred to as the ‘Turkish Boza’ which if I would have to describe it was like Toddy/Feni which we Goans consume here in Goa, but it was a bit different in the sense that the beverage or item had a texture that resembled or looked more like that of custard, sold in those small jars in the supermarket. I had really wanted to try it specially since I had never come across this item before and also it was the first time it was being sold there. Unfortunately, we never ended buying the item, and just went onto see a garment store that was just nearby, some walks away from the grocery store which I think we had purchased some items from there after which we needed to eat somewhere. We chose to eat at a local fastfood outlet which was selling shawarma if I would presume and we all lay there busy eating while a TV lay there with a local football match being displayed on the screen. This was the first day of our vacation.

Hagia Sophia

Galata Tower

On the next days, though I can remember very vaguely, we had taken a tour around Turkey through something known as the 'Red Bus Tours', which took us on a sightseeing tour in a bus in and around to see some of the most popular sites around Turkey such as the famous Hagia Sophia, the Galata Tower where it is believed according to legends that a man once made 'wings' equivalent to that of a bird and what's more- 'swooped his way across the Bosphorous Strait to the other side of Turkey'.

One of the Palace Gates of the Dolmabache Palace

Main Gate to Dolmabache Palace

We had even visited the Dolmabahçe Palace and that is one of the sites that till today remains very pertinent in my memory. It is known to have housed generations of the Ottoman emperors right from the time the empire had come into being uptill the establishment of first Turkish Republic with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as it's president. It was really interesting to see and observe how the guide went about explaining the different parts of the palace such as the dining area, the meeting venue, the harems (rooms of the kings wives), the hamam (which was the place where the palace dwellers would have a bath but in a different sense as in to say, a person would be bathing the official) and a lot more other places. It was really astounding and at the same really interesting to see how the royals would live their lives in the palace, and what stood out amongst the most was the fact that one of the emperors was so fluent and learned in the languages of French that he even had a library that stored books and documentation in French. We wished that we would have been able to click pictures inside palace, however due to the official policy for the site, we weren't allowed to capture any photos and had to just admire the interiors of the palace.

Before I end with this post, I would like to share a short story and infact a really interesting incident  we had on our trip to Turkey. We had just boarded the ferry across the Bosphorous Strait (that connects both the Western and Eastern parts of Turkey). As we entered into the ferry, we saw a lot of passengers who had come into the ferry on that particular day which gave us the impression that it was a really busy day. As the ferry went onto sail across the Bosphorous Strait, all of a sudden a man amongst the crowd, picked out a violin and started playing it while singing in the local language of Turkish. It was a really great sight to witness and enthrall ourselves as the ferry sailed it's way across the Bosphorous Strait. As we were sailing we also saw a flock of birds which I would presume were seagulls that were busy trying to find their catch of fish from the sea amidst that fog and the mist that covered it, and compounding the background was a tall and erect 'Galata Tower' that could be seen from a distance from our ferry boat. It was a very lovely and a memorable ride that we had that till today I cannot forget of when recounting of our travels to Turkey. I also cannot forget the smell of fresh catch of fish that you would be able to get off the shores of the Bosphorous Strait that would be fried by the restauranteurs or chefs in their small cafeterias to their people clubbed together with two slices of bread to make a lovely and delicious sandwich that till today enthralls my salivatory glands as I keep thinking about how the experience was to have a fresh fish sandwich off the coast of the Bosphorous Strait, and what's more the beloved chestnuts that would be roasted in a nearby distance from the fishing boats, the smells of which filled the air with a lovely fragrance...