Çok Teşekkür Ederim

Or, thank you very much is a Turkish word I used most frequently this past month not just because it was the easiest word to use considering my limited Turkish vocabulary, but because I think I was genuinely thankful for the hospitality and warmth experienced in Turkey.

Walking Across Istanbul

I spent the last 3 days in Turkey walking across Istanbul (literally) and exploring old Turkish traditions and new Turkish traditions.

The city itself with all its history has a lot to offer, especially if you want to understand the Turkish culture and some of their handed down traditions. So, a walk through the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace gives you a good feel for how people lived in this area from as early the 1500’s. The Blue Mosque is still a working mosque and from what I saw tradition hasn't changed much over time as far as prayers are concerned.

Çemberlitas is the old Turkish bath… after all that walking; this was more than welcome at the end of the day. There’s so much hype today around Spa treatments; well here it just seemed like the natural thing to do (for centuries).

Nargile (or Hookah) is very very common in this region. There are tea gardens (and if like me you’re visualizing tea bushes and open spaces), a tea garden really is a place where they serve Chai. And there are some quaint Nargile places in these tea gardens which are typically housed in some ancient building. My favorite had to be the one at the back of the cemetery, and not just because they made an excellent Gözleme (potato and cheese crepe)! Looking around, it feels like Nargile is one age old tradition that’s survived very well; pictures on the wall depict men sitting around after work, talking and enjoying their Nargile and the place itself was filled with men with their laptops and iphones enjoying their Nargile! (And, I have to say facial expressions sure haven’t changed over the years)

Shopping at the grand bazaar is like walking into a 100 year old building, well technically the building itself is over a 100 years old, and then looking at everything from handmade in Turkey to I've seen that in Chinatown to hmmm, feels like something from a regular mall! Maybe lamps and carpets were sold here from the beginning of time, but it sure was interesting to see a make-up store like MAC and Godiva amongst everything else!

An afternoon walk from Kabatas station to Ortakoy to sit by the pier and eat Kumpir (baked potato with several toppings!) and stuffed waffles meant walking past palaces (the Dolmabache and the Ciragon) and Five star hotels (like the Four Seasons and Kempinski). Kumpir and waffles, no matter what you say are Turkish traditions of today; the area is famous for it and everyone was headed in that direction to do exactly the same thing we were. We picked the perfect time to be walking back through Beşiktaş that day as the team from that area, yes "Beşiktaş" had soccer match with a team called Trabzonspor and it was just about to start. The streets were filled with black and white t-shirts drinking beer, eating meatball sandwiches and singing; drunk singing or singing a team song, I wouldn't know but the locals certainly did as they all joined in!

My team will agree that I've become a little addicted to Turkish coffee over the past month and this felt like my last chance to drink as much as I possibly could… so I went to the really old places like Sultanahmet Köftecisi (Estd 1920) and Hafiz Mustafa (Estd 1864), the newer cafes attached to small inns catering to the ever growing tourist population, the street vendors and the larger chains like the Turkish Khave Dunyasi and the very International Starbucks. Turkish coffee is Turkish coffee and I loved everyplace that served it!

A Turkish Farewell meal!

Thursday being my last day in this city, I was determined to do something absolutely Turkish and enjoy everything Izmir has to offer. So, no I couldn't possibly do French food or pizza; it just had to be Turkish and having been in Turkey a month, I decided I was qualified enough to plan a Turkish Farewell meal for myself!

So, first stop Mangal for some Turkish grill. You order meat by the kilo here and we decided on some Turkish sausage, meatballs and chicken wings. Served with bread, yogurt and the traditional Turkish appetizers of tomato and aubergine; the meat we choose was perfectly grilled and couldn't have been tastier. Following tradition, we ended our meal with Chai and decided on Künefe for dessert. 

But it had to be the best so we walked across the street to Ora. Künefe is dessert made with cottage cheese, shredded wheat and sugar syrup with pistachio on the top. After I ordered, I think I may have surprised the waiter when he said Dondurma and before he think of how to translate that for me I said “yes, with ice cream”.

 

And then my favorite part… we walked down to the sea side; sat at one of the cafes right by the water and ordered Turkish Kahve!

Before headed back to the hotel, I decided to do a long walk along the sea. I remember when I landed in Izmir almost a month ago; I arrived as the sun was setting. Everything between the sky and the sea had turned an amazing reddish orange. As I was walking along that evening, I saw a crescent moon rising in the sky. I arrived with the sun set and left with the moon rising; seemed like a sign that my time here was done.

Well begun is half done.

But certainly NOT in this case!

I remember starting off on this journey and how excited I was when I first found out I was going to Turkey. I also remember being quite anxious yet enthusiastic when I heard about the project itself. The scope seemed very vast and at the same time wasn't well defined. But of course, that was because our deliverable itself was to create those definitions and develop a road-map.

When I arrived in Istanbul a month ago, I met 14 others who reflected my feelings and were just as excited as I was. There must have been something driving us through this project, passion for the work perhaps, the fact that we had a closely knit team with diverse experience or maybe it was our clients and their commitment and belief in Izmir and developing this awesome city. So whatever it was, after a month spent working and deliberating, our last milestone had arrived and it was time to present our final deliverable.  I’m guessing most of us surprised ourselves with the outcome!

Thursday was the last time I would be driving to the Iztech Campus; we were to go to the main library building and present our findings and recommendations. I have to admit while part of me was thrilled to be sharing our project findings, most of me was just sad that it was almost over.

As expected, we had an excellent morning reviewing the projects and the outcome. The rector even mentioned they were going to publish two books based on some of our findings; I will look forward to seeing that. The Iztekgeb team had done so much for us and we’d grown so used to working with them and that just made the final goodbyes so hard.

 

Friday afternoon and it’s our last stop – IBM Istanbul and a debriefing meeting with County General Manager, Michel Charouk. Phew! All done.

So, yes it was well begun and well done.

And did I mention we even made it to the local newspapers? What a surprise that was!!

Globalization.

If I were to tell you what I did most of Tuesday and you didn't know where in the world I was, you might have had a hard time identifying the country! And that in my opinion is called Globalization. We live in a world where everything across countries has become so accessible to us that we no longer have to worry about going to Louisiana to each Cajun Chicken!

At 1pm, we walked into the French Institute where they have a classic French restaurant in their garden. The food is more European rather than just French and they do make an excellent Tiramisu.

 Later that evening, while my original plan was to get some Turkish coffee by the sea, Sanjay walked in with a menu from a Chinese Restaurant. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about Chinese food since I got her; so Red Dragon it was - Sweet corn chicken soup, noodles and Jasmine tea.

When I got back to the hotel, I ended up joining Sara, Subra, Frank and Antonio to watch Monday Night Football; NFL in Turkey! Chips, Doritos, popcorn and soda to go with it!

That was pretty much the last thing I thought I’d be seeing, but well living in a multicultural city and working with a global team, what else could you expect!

There’s a reason I never paid attention in Physics, Chemistry and Biology…

…. and that’s probably because those subjects just never held my attention. I remember back in school, I’d be waiting to get thrown out of Biology Lab so I could go sit out in the garden and string flowers together or I’d go to Chemistry Lab and make really good use my time drawing in my art book.

On Monday afternoon, the IZTECH Team arranged to take us on a tour of the Research centers at the university. And while part of me wished I’d paid more attention at school so I could follow the conversation better, the other part of me might have been admiring the artwork on the wall. 

As we walked through each of the departments and were shown all the equipment and told about wave theory and cell division, I couldn't help but notice how hi tech all the equipment at IYTE was. The students all doing the doctorates were clearly very very knowledable and passionate about their work. I can certainly see all them filing for some pretty exciting patents in the near future!

Some of the artwork at the Izmir Institute of Technology.

We love street food.

There isn't a country in the world where you don’t see street food and like they say; if you want to get really really local, then you just have to try the street food. Fortunately, having lived my whole life in India I have developed some level of immunity which helps as I can now confidently indulge!

Izmir has been no different… so apart from all the freshly squeezed juices, coffee and chai that’s carted around or driven around on cycles and motor bikes, there’s everything from corn on the cob to oysters. The oysters! No, I wouldn't try it even tho they’re in plenty when you walk down the seaside and everyone seems to be slapping on lime and eating them by the dozen. 

However, there’s tons I couldn't get enough of.

   My favorite by far has been the ‘Durum’; similar to shawarma, chicken or meat put into a wrap or a bun. They vary from vendor to vendor as I guess each has his own secret ingredient, but this never disappoints. The ice cream or dondurma as they call it here is to die for whether in a cone or between a sandwich. And you really can’t afford to walk around the bazaars and not pick up peanuts, cashew nuts or hazel nuts. Hotdogs, Simit (almost like a  bagel)... I could do those in passing.

Turkish delight is a whole different story; there’s so many varieties and flavors, you could try a different one each day and not get all the variations in a year.

Collaborate, Communicate and ?

And all those good things they tell you to do at work!

No, seriously. Those really are good things and we certainly have been practicing a number of them. Being divided into 4 sub teams, we each get to go away and work individually on our projects, but to get new perspectives and diverse insights our Sunday evening meetings as a whole team to deliberate and discuss our projects have been of huge value.

Being a part of Sub Team 1, we’ve put on our visionary glasses and have been strategizing far into the future… pretty much the same as reading the future in a Turkish coffee cup!

And what’s everyone else been doing, if you’re wondering….

Team 2 works very closely with us as we share the same client. They've been locked up in the basement most of the weekend writing process documents. I guess they’re working on a secret spell book.

Team 3 ran some pretty interesting knowledge workshops over the past two weeks where they got to do a lot of “ idea-ting”. Talk about thinking creative under pressure.

Team 4 hosted a ‘Young Entrepreneurs workshop’ where they got together some enthusiastic and as the title suggests young entrepreneurs to network and gather some new ideas for their businesses. 

Yesterdays Sunday evening meeting was the last one we’ll have on this assignment and I’m going to find it hard to go back to traditional meetings after this experience. What with coming to meetings in your shorts or track pants, walking in with your beer or glass of wine, running through the agenda over many fun discussions, sharing ideas and experiences and then wrapping up with getting presents! 

Everything didn't go according to plan.

As this is sometimes the case… we plan and plan and have everything all set but due to the unforeseen, things do tend to fall apart. And, that’s exactly what happened to us on Saturday.

It was a hard enough decision for me to choose between going to the ancient city of Troy (Yes, Troy is in Turkey and yes, it does actually exist… the same Troy with the Trojan horse, the same one where Helen lived) or Pamukkale knows for its white rocks that look like cotton with Thermal springs. Both equal distance from Izmir but in opposite directions... and with just one weekend left, I could do either one! I’d have loved to do both, but as a team we agreed Pamukkale had more to see.

We left bright and early at 7:30am and an hour away from the city the car we rented was overheating. So, we pulled over to the side of the highway, the rental guy sent a tow truck for the car.. But of course he forgot about us! Thanks to Çağrı, we found our way back to the city. If you’re imagining the 9 of us hitch hiking back or getting a lift from one of the passers-by; while I’d like to say that’s how we did it, the truth is Çağrı called a luxury bus to come pick us up.

I have to admit I was disappointed, but then there are always things to do in Izmir so I can’t say I didn't have a good day otherwise. As soon as I got back, I ran to the pier and got on the first ferry to the otherside where I indulged in some serious retail therapy, had Turkish Pizza and some chocolate.

When I got back to the hotel, Illiana and I decided we needed Calamari. Eating out in Izmir is never go grab dinner and head back… So, like the locals we first walked down to Passport and sat by the sea sipping our Turkish coffee and talking about all things girl related! Then we walked down to the Kordon to choose the seafood restaurant we were going to eat at; once we picked a place, being 8:30pm a table outside was impossible, so we told the restaurant we’d be back in an hour.

During that hour we walked down to the busy Alsancak area had lots of Turkish delight and some more Turkish coffee. By the time we got back the restaurant was still busy, but to humor our request for outside seating they did bring a table from inside and place it on the sidewalk… so outside was literally outside, among the badem (almond) vendors and the horse carriages and the rush of people walking by Kordon. And the Calamari was excellent!

Of fancy restaurants and stylish places.

So after trudging through quaint villages and old historic cities, it turned out that this was a week for fine wining and dining. Perhaps it’s a good thing, so as to rejuvenate before our next expedition tomorrow to the ancient city of Hierapolis and the thermal springs of Pamukkale.

We started off on Monday, with a dinner at the Nobili Park Balçova which is located half way up a hill and of course there were extraordinary views of the city below and sea in a distance.


Food ranged from fried calamari, chicken tacos and cheese rolls to the traditional Turkish appetizers, a cheese platter, several salads, a perfectly made Chicken Schnitzel for the main course and we finally had to skip over the Tiramisu and chocolate mousse so as to try some of the renowned Turkish desserts. 



Goes without saying, we didn't leave till we got out Turkish coffee. And it was served with a dark chocolate mousse.









Escaping from work on a Wednesday afternoon has never been more pleasurable for we discovered a hidden restaurant in a secret garden. In the back garden of the French institute of Izmir was La Cigale, a very contemporary style restaurant with a varied European food menu. Finally a Turkish menu card with some translation.... well, just my luck it had to be translated to French not English!

After a fab chicken pasta and lemonade, I ended that meal with a chocolate cheesecake. Then I totally broke tradition and indulged in my first cappuccino since I'd arrived in Turkey.







Boğaziçi, was something extraordinary all together; not just another a seafood restaurant situated on a pier. On Thursday evening, we were seated on the first floor glass balcony of this very classy restaurant where you could see the city lights all along the coast and the lights on all of the ships anchored across the sea.

And then it was 4 hours of nonstop seafood, some traditional, some not, but everything delicious. To keep with tradition, we didn't just end our dinner with Turkish coffee but it was also time for some coffee cup fortune reading thanks to Kayahan and his skills.



Whether it was the ambiance of these places, the excellent views, the food or just the great company, each one of these outings were truly memorable.

Beyond Boutique Hotels.

Given a choice of hotel, I would automatically pick a standard brand like a Hilton or a Marriott for any travel whether holiday or work. I think the reason (apart from the fact that you get to stack up on hotel points) is just that it’s so familiar; I can walk into the room blind folded and I’ll know where to find what.

Boutique hotels on the other hand seem to be getting popular not just for their local charm and appeal but for their themed furnishing and décor and the fact that they’re individual and chic.

On my work trips to Kuala Lumpur, I’ve always stayed at the Renaissance, tho’ the Maya next door looks very impressive and is similar in terms of price and facilities. In Izmir…. No, am not staying at the Hilton but a block away at the Beyond hotel.

The first thing that struck me about the Beyond is the color themes…. So yes, each floor is a different color right down to the lighting and the bed covers. Its six floors of color – Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red! I’m used to and comfortable with neutral colors in a hotel room, but I’ve been assigned a blue room and since my room back home has shades of blue, I have to admit I feel right at home.

On the day I got here, I asked the reception about a gym and the guy looked at me like why would anybody want to run indoors when you can run right next to the sea..  I have to agree, I’ve started to enjoy running outdoors. However, the fact that they decided to put in a gym 3 days after I reached the hotel is unbelievable. Swimming pool? Who needs one when you have a Jacuzzi in the bath tub! And no, they haven’t put one in as yet!

So large buffet breakfasts, comfortable dinners, customized service… I have to admit, boutique or chain I’ve had extraordinary experiences at both types of hotel… So given a choice would I still choose a boutique hotel? I’m really not sure!

Karsiyaka

Or, "The Other Side" when translated into English. And what does that mean? 

The city of Izmir is build up around a large bay and while you can travel from one end to the other using the roadways, the easiest and fastest way is to take a ferry across the bay to the otherside. So, after a long and lazy Sunday morning breakfast we headed out from Konak pier to Karsiyaka. (Yes, it is actually called the other side!)

Reaching Karsiyaka was almost like arriving in a different city; the contrast between both sides of the city is so apparent that it makes you wonder how that happened. This part of the city is definitely more residential, the roads seem wider and basically the layout looks newer. We got off the Ferry terminal and of courses, headed straight to the main street that was lined with shops on either side. 

There were a lot of local stores selling perfumes and clothes (Like Hotshop, not Topshop) and shoes. And as with every part of this country tons of places selling local food like Doner Kabab, Durum which in my mind looks just like shawarma, Turkish delight, cakes (that look like they’re taken from a story book), dry fruits and nuts and yes of course Burger King, McDonalds and Dominos which I’m sure classify as local in every country. 

After a good stroll, lots of nibbling and some shopping, we headed toward the water front, walked along for a bit and stopped in one of the cafes for some Turkish Coffee. Even the restaurants and cafés that line the water front have a different feel to it; maybe they’re just more contemporary and open. 

And then it was time to catch the Ferry back to… well, I can’t say the other side since this IS “the other side”, so I’m going to have to say home; as that is my home for these 4 weeks.

Handmade in Turkey; A story of local businesses!

One of the things noticeable about this country is the number of traditional handmade products that can be found in just about every bazaar and it ranges from scarves to pottery and even traditional homemade wine, olive oil or Jam. However, if you really want to get a feel for these local products being made at home and sold at home, the best way would be to head out to the village of Şirince.

On route to the village, we stopped by a carpet weaving factory. After a quick tour of the factory where they showed us how the girls who work there spin their own silk, use natural dyes and put in every single knot that goes into weaving a carpet, we were taken to a room to be shown the finished products. I might have been transported to one of those epic Persian tales as carpets in vibrant hues and colors flew past me.

Şirince is a small mountain village south of Izmir with a population of 500 (Yes, just 500 people!). While it might be on top of a hill, it’s still quite hot and is characterized with cobbled streets, small houses with flower gardens, local businesses selling what they produce and a single minaret mosque. 

The most distinctive product here is fruit wine as every third shop seems to be selling wines made at home using cherry, mulberry, peach, raspberry and every other fruit grown in their back yard. After many pitstops for some unusual wine tasting, we stopped for lunch.

I might have discovered my new favorite food over here. Gözleme or as they tell the tourists Stuffed Turkish pancakes, which are pancakes or what I could call roomali roti stuffed with anything from potatoes  cheese, mince, spinach, mushroom, just to name a few. I felt like I was sitting in someone’s backyard under the olive trees eating an assortment of appetizers, bread with olive oil, yogurt dip, Gözleme and grilled fish. O wait, I was actually in someone’s backyard!

Turkish Ice cream is the most unusual ice cream I’ve ever tasted; it’s completely handmade and has a chewy yet crunchy texture. If you don’t want to eat it in a cone, they can sandwich it for you in between wafers.

 As I continued wandering around the village I saw many stores making their own olive oil and olive products. In one store sat a man cross legged carving wooden spoons. There were handmade scarves of silk and wool all created with natural dye. The ladies of the village must be excellent seamstresses as they work their own lace and use it to make tops, dresses and skirts.

After we left this quaint village, we stopped by a pottery factory. I have in the past few weeks realized that ceramic tiles, bowls, plates and figurines are a big market here in Turkey, so it was an absolute treat to see how it was made. We got to see Mustafa do his magic on the potter’s wheel and create a bowl with a cover and then a vase; we then met the painter who intricately applied each stroke using natural dyes to a plate. Then we gasped in awe as we walked around and looked at all their creations.

To keep with the local feel, we even opted to drive back over the country roads rather than the highway and spotted the Greek island of Samos in a distance over the sea just as the sun was setting that evening.

Walking through History…..

……and lessons from the Bible!

Our first stop was at the House of the Virgin Mary. Mary is said to have to come to this area 

together with Saint John, and the house on top "Bulbul" mountain was where she was said to 

have spent  her last days.
A sign at the entrance of the house mentioned that when Jesus died, he left his mother in the care of Saint John as he was given Asia minor to spread the gospel, he took Mary with this as the persecutions were to have started by that time. 

About few kilometers away is Ephesus where we headed next and I feel really lucky to have

been able to explore this ancient city because while it existing over 2000 years ago it just seemed so modern. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city dating back to the 1st century BC. The city appeared to be well planned and well laid out. Apart from houses and underground water pipes they had hospitals, chemists, public baths, a library, an impressive open air theater built for 25,000 people. It was just as any modern city would have been built. As you walk around you see references to Persia, Alexander the Great, the Emperor Constantine and things you would only find in history books; and to imagine I was now walking down the same marble road as them.

The city of Ephesus was famed for the Temple of Artemis which was built around 550 BC and is now one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Thanks to our stop at this ancient wonder, this is now 2 down on my list of 7wonder sightings! Currently, the temple is represented only by one inconspicuous column. However, and this takes some imagination, if you think of a 127 such pillars the temple in its time must have been absolutely imposing.

We drove past the "Paul tower" where St Paul was imprisoned for a short time. Bible references capture letters he's written while imprisoned at this location. His imprisonment reminded me of a something I've always heard my grandmother say. She's always said that the God we worship is ‘omnipresent’ and hence we never worship idols. Now apparently, St Paul went around preaching the same thing and was then imprisoned because of a dispute with silversmiths whose livelihood depended on selling the statuettes of Artemis in the Temple of Artemis. If Nana lived in this time, she'd have never been popular with these silversmiths either.

They say the Gospel of Saint John might have been written in Ephesus. As we walked around the Basilica of St. John built in the 6th century AD, I wondered many times where he must have been sitting while writing this gospel and what he drew inspiration from. Had I ever read this gospel, I may have had more ideas!

Ephesus, was once the trade center of the ancient world and a religious center of early Christianity. So, this day was essentially like walking on the same ground as the apostles and all those other famous people from the past.