Thoughts About Turkey

Throughout our trip we would jot down quick thoughts about Turkey, Turkish culture, food, drink, tourists, people watching, whatever.  Here are those thoughts:

- Selfie sticks are EVERYWHERE!  It's truly a menace to society
- The best clubs are hard to find.  They might be through unassuming doors and long hallways that open to amazing spaces
- The wine is just so-so
- Turkish women are beautiful (noted by Sara)
- Turkish men are hot as well (also noted by Sara)
- 80's music is alive and well in Turkey
- Beach clubs play reggae versions of pop hits...some are interesting some not so much
- The Algean Sea is clean, blue-green, salty, and doesn't smell.  The small fish liked to eat Anthony's feet.
- Less plastics and more glass
- You eat dinner at 9pm and the clubs don't "happen" until 11pm or later
- Lot's of smoking which was odd to see but they do have the cutest ash trays
- The Turkish "evil eye" (for good luck) is everywhere!
- No bugs, mosquitoes, nats, or anything
- The clubs in Alacati didn't have dancing. Weird, right?
- Alacati is the wedding photo capital of Turkey - big Cinderella dresses are super popular and flowers in the hair
- The Kuna (bachelorette party) is a lot of fun
- Kursad is a great translator!
- Kursad's cousin did Claire's makeup for the Kuna night.  It was funny seeing Kursad try to translate makeup related concepts
- Anthony was mistaken to be Syrian and Turkish a couple of times (including Kursad's brother).  I guess the beard really helped him to blend in even without knowing the language.
- Turks seem to really love their nation.  We sang the nationalistic song 10 Year March at the end of the Kuna night
- Nuts served as appetizers everywhere
- At the beach we were parked in by another car and the beach club manager did some creative car maneuvering to get Kursad's car out.  Pretty impressive
- There was huge debate on how long Sara should keep her henna on her hand.  The longer it stayed on her hand the longer the stain would last.
- Mint and lemon "miracle" water.  This was the water offered at the La Grenadine Hotel.  Tasted awesome.
- Kursad is excellent at reading Turkish coffee grounds
- A fresh fig is wonderful
- Stray cats and dogs are everywhere
- Lots of corn on the cob street vendors
- The Blue Hotel Restaurant has a good view but the food is just eh
- The Spice Bazaar is surprisingly better than the Grand Bazaar.  The Grand Bazaar is a tourist trap.
- The Tram system is easy to use and cheap
- Some roof top places are "safer" than others (according to Sara)
- Sara looks good in traditional mosque wear for women (see previous post for our Flickr photos)
- Having a guide (Murat) was awesome and saved time by getting to cut lines
- The Bosphorous tour was like the Beverly Hills tour (we imagined)...it was really nice and showed off the beautiful houses along the water
- The Blue Mosque is very impressive.  Women prayed separately from the men.\
- The Hippodrome is not a building, just an open area with a few columns
- The Spice bazaar is also known as the Egyptian Bazaar
- The Seven Hills Restaurant has amazing food and views.  The fish was awesome.  We highly recommend
- The ice cream stand show was pretty fun.  It was a like a magic show
- "Kevin at home" - We met a nice man on the Tram that talked our ears off.  One of the things he said is he loves American movies and one of them was "Kevin at home".  Anthony of course knew right away he meant Home Alone.  Of course.
- Interesting fact: The Silk Road and Orient Express both end in Turkey