Travel Journal, Part III

Yesterday, we walked through a park in Ankarah. We ate at a cafe that had throw pillows and hammocks instead of chairs, then took a walk. I took a few pictures.

We stopped for ice cream about halfway through, and I must say that Turkish ice cream is… chewy. It's not really chewy like gum, and it's not really chewy like a candy bar, it's just, well, chewy. Chewy and delicious.

After the park, we went to an open air market, but by then it was getting late, and most of the vendors had closed up shop. We caught a cab back home, hung out until it got dark, and then went to a carnival. European amusement parks generally have little or no admission cost (this one cost less than a quarter to get into) but charge a fee for every ride or attraction. This means that the more fun you have, the more it costs, but i also means that even on a saturday night you never spend more than a few minutes waiting in line.

Andrea is downright tired of Turkish food lately, and the first week consisted mostly of American food, which they have a lot of here, so these last couple of days were my first experience with Turkish quinine. It consist largely of kebabs, which are very similar to a spit roast. What they do is take a gigantic block of meat, and set it up on a rotating stick, then rotate it in front of a heat lamp. This cooks it at first, then keeps it hot until served afterwards. They slice bits of it right off the stake when you order your food. It's very tasty, and I'm surprised we don't see much of it stateside.

Next weekend, I head to Istanbul, the 4th largest city in the world. With the exception of a day trip to Chicago (on which I didn't really get to see much) I've never actually been in a major city like that, much less a foreign one. Should be interesting.