Reset search
Turkey
Satellite

Turkey
Birinci Kültür

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022
      1
      Day 49

      Murals Around İzmir

      May 6, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

      Longtime readers all know of my love of murals. The medium doesn't matter ... paint, tile, mosaic. So, of course, when I came across a few as we wandered around the city yesterday and today, I had to photograph them.Read more

    • Türkiye 2021
      Day 82

      Happy Thanksgiving

      November 25, 2021 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

      Had we been at home in Colorado, our Thanksgiving celebration would have been a quiet one. But we weren’t … and it wasn’t.

      In fact, we had a very festive evening. In addition to my immediate family — mom, Deniz (my brother), Aylin & Murat (my sis & brother-in-law), and Hakan & Serenay (my nephew and niece-in-law) — we invited Cici, my cousin’s widowed wife, and Nevra, mom’s neighbor.

      Thanksgiving is not a holiday that is celebrated in Turkey. But that did not stop us from doing so with all the trimmings. Mui was responsible for the turkey and the green bean casserole … both of which he cooked at mom’s. Mom was responsible for the mashed potatoes and stuffing. The gravy and cranberry were store bought from the commissary … as was the pecan and key lime pies.

      A festive and joyous occasion … with good food, good camaraderie. With the ongoing pandemic, we all certainly have a lot to be thankful for … most importantly our health and being able to share this special day with loved ones.      Read more

    • Türkiye 2021
      Day 83

      Happy 40th & Belated 33rd

      November 26, 2021 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

      When Mui and I got married in 1981, our wedding fell on Thanksgiving Day. This year, it fell on the day after. Forty years … that’s how long we’ve been married.

      To celebrate, we all — meaning, mom, Deniz, Aylin & Murat, and us — went to a new Italian restaurant in Alsancak … Da Enzo. We turned the occasion into a joint celebration … a belated one for Aylin and Murat, whose 33rd anniversary was in September.

      The food was excellent … as was the service. Mui enjoyed the chance to speak Italian with Chef Enzo, who came out to take our order himself. He’s rightly proud of his food. Alas, I completely spaced out taking photos of the delicious dishes we ordered … except for the dessert sampler with which we wrapped up our meal.      Read more

    • Türkiye 2021
      Day 98

      Fun Food Day

      December 11, 2021 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

      It seems like I have a lot of food-related posts when we are in Turkey. What can I say, the food culture is very strong here … lots of restaurants and cafés and patisseries. As a family, we enjoy visiting our favorites … and checking out new places to see if we can grow our “favorites” list.

      Today, we started our day with breakfast, joining Aylin & Murat, and mom and Deniz at Léone, a French-themed patisserie. This was a pre-reward for mom, Aylin & Murat, who then went to get their COVID-19 booster shots.

      Sandy, our neighbor in Colorado makes beautifully decorated cookies. When Aylin and mom were visiting us in 2019, they got to taste some of the Christmas cookies Sandy sent over. I had thought about ordering cookies to take with me to Turkey this year, but the timing did not work out. No worries. Aylin found some at a Turkish patisserie. She had us over for afternoon tea today so we could test-drive the cookies. Yummy!

      We continued our food-themed day with dinner at Paprica … an Italian restaurant just a few steps down the street from mom’s condo. The food is always good here … and the service as well. Murat made reservations in the indoors section … we had the whole room to ourselves. I usually have pasta, but opted for the Paprica Beef Special, which is not unlike çökertme kebabı … small chunks of beef served over shredded fried potatoes with yogurt and tomato sauce. We ordered the caramel cake to share six-ways just to refresh our palates. We were so enjoying our meal that I, alas, forgot to take photos!      Read more

    • TravelerIzmir
      23
      Day 1

      1. Day Izmir II

      August 7, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

      Alsancak Quarter is the place to be ;)

    • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022
      Day 27

      İzmir: Surprise, Mom … We’re Here!

      April 14, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

      Although I was born in the US, I grew up in İzmir, Turkey. Some forty years ago, Mui and I were married in İzmir, and soon after, we made the permanent move to the US.

      We’ve been back and forth practically every year since to visit family. Flying in and out mostly, but on a few occasions, we departed by ship out of İstanbul. This was our first time arriving in İzmir by ship, however, so it was a special occasion for us … especially doing so on Insignia’s maiden call to the city.

      What was even more special today was that my sister, Aylin, and I had made arrangements to surprise mom. Aylin and her daughter-in-law, Serenay, conspired to get mom out to a café for brunch. Unbeknownst to her, we were waiting for them at the café. We had a delightful reunion and meal, joined also by Murat, my brother-in-law, and Hakan, my nephew.

      After brunch, we all went to mom’s place where we had an afternoon of catching up. From the non-stop chatter, you would think that we had not visited them for four months just last fall.

      Aylin and Serenay had a surprise for me as well … a birthday celebration redux. My birthday was actually on the 11th and we had already marked the occasion while in Haifa! I enjoyed the surprise birthday cake … after making sure that two celebrations within just a couple of days didn’t mean that I would be adding two years to my age ;-)      Read more

    • Türkiye 2021
      Day 12

      Murano’s Kitchen

      September 16, 2021 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

      Today is Aylin and Murat’s 33rd wedding anniversary. Hard to believe so much time has passed since my younger sister got married, but there you have it. Time flies whether we want it to or not. They’ve gone off to Karaburun for the weekend, so we’ll celebrate together belatedly in October.

      In the meantime, the four of us — mom, Deniz, Mui, and I — will be heading to Bodrum tomorrow. Our bags are packed and ready to go.

      Not wanting to have left overs sitting in the fridge, mom shut down the kitchen yesterday. So, we went out to dinner. The plan was to go to Venedik Pizzeria for some Italian food. Alas, the place was booked solid with a long line of patrons waiting to be seated.

      Plan B took us to Murano’s Kitchen, another Italian restaurant just up the street. Tasty food … no complaints.      Read more

    • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022
      Day 49

      İzmir Tradition: Lokma Dökmek

      May 6, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

      Lokma is a pastry made with leavened dough. The dough is shaped either like a ball or a doughnut and deep fried. Then, it is soaked in simple syrup just long enough to coat the exterior. It is often garnished with cinnamon before serving.

      The name lokma literally translates as a bite or a morsel. When shaped like a ball, they are just that … a bite-sized sweet treat.

      It is possible to find a “lokmacı” (lokma maker) where one can enjoy this sweet treat. But that’s not how we came to be eating lokma today.

      You see, there is a tradition in Turkey called “lokma dökmek.” The literal translation is “dropping lokma” … from dropping bits of the dough into boiling hot oil to fry it. This is done by the family of a deceased person to honor his/her memory. Large quantities are made on the street, often in front of mosques, and the fresh, still-warm lokma is distributed to neighbors and passersby. It’s not uncommon for people to queue up to receive a plate and recite a prayer for the soul of the deceased after they eat the lokma. Though traditionally this is done forty days after someone has passed, it might also be done on the anniversary of the death of the deceased.

      The lokma that was “dropped” today was at the request of the young man who owns the neighborhood bakkal (mini market) … in honor of the anniversary of his mother’s death      Read more

    • EuroCrossing & Türkiye 2022
      Day 47

      Apple Pie Bakers

      May 4, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

      Mom and Mui decided to bake an apple pie today ... she prepared the filling; Mui handled the dough placement. Sherlock, Hakan and Serenay's cat, visiting mom while they are away for a couple of weeks, supervised from his perch above the counter.

      End result ... a delicious dessert for tonight!      Read more

    • Türkiye 2023
      Day 16

      Breakfast at Léone

      September 18, 2023 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

      This morning, after a routine lab visit for Mom, I joined Aylin and her for a delicious bite (or two, or three) at Léone, a favorite patisserie & boulangerie in Alsancak.

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Birinci Kültür, Birinci Kultur, 1. Kültür

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android

    • 2024© FindPenguins
    • Home
    • About us
    • Blog
    • Group Tracking
    • Press
    • Terms
    • Privacy Policy & Cookies
    • Support
    • Legal notice
    • English