• Victoria's Voyages
  • Hasancan Zubaroglu
  • Victoria's Voyages
  • Hasancan Zubaroglu

Turkey pt. 2

Seeing the other half of Turkiye Read more
  • Trip start
    May 11, 2022

    First day in Antakya

    May 12, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Today we started with the mosaic museum which was really nice! The top 3 favorites were the statue of Suppiluliuma, the Antakya sarcophagus, and the skeleton mosaic who says "cheer up, enjoy your life." It was really cool seeing ancient preserved mosaics. After that, we visited the first cave church founded by St Peter called St Peter's Church. Interesting to be at the site of ancient history. Afterwards, we went into town to eat at a nice restaurant for lunch. It was so cheap, a plate of pasta, a mojito, and ice cream for $6 🤯 then we walked through old town which was really nice, I pet some dogs, and we stopped by at a retro pub. We also saw the spot where there is a church, a mosque, and a synagogue in the same area which was really cool to see. Afterwards, I went over to Can's place to drink tea and eat desserts with his mom and sister which was very nice 😊 I can't believe how much we did today! After that, we went to Hatay Expo...which was nothing like Dubai Expo 😅 it was...lacking haha, to say the least. Then we got dinner at another mosaic museum restaurant in which Can so kindly let me steal his beef rice dish because it looked better than mine 😂 much appreciated 🙏 an eventful first day, but I'm really liking Antakya so far!Read more

  • Turkish Healthcare System

    May 13, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Went to 2 dentists and to the neurologist to ask some questions. Pleased to say that healthcare is speedy and cheap here. An mri cost only $16. Now I have a DVD with my brain. Also there are tortoises and baby birds in my airbnb garden, so cute! Later we went to Antakya Kalesi to look at the view. Ate a chickpea plant. Later got dinner with Can and his friend.Read more

  • Gaziantep

    May 15, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    Left Antakya and went to Gaziantep today! The land of katmer. I am looking forward to eating that tomorrow. But today was baklava!

  • KATMER DAY

    May 16, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 63 °F

    Noisy as heck boutique hotel, didn't sleep well. After breakfast, we walked around for a bit and found an outdoor bazaar. During Can's meeting, I talked with one of the other hotel guests who is a lady from Croatia who lived in Germany for a while, so we spoke German. She gave me the tea on how she doesn't like the woman she is traveling with and I felt bad for her. After that, Can and I finally went to get katmer from a nearby place! Interestingly enough, we seemed to be in the middle of a crime scene. There were police inspecting a car where supposedly the owner of the car's brother shot 2 bullets through the windows. We were literally sitting there eating katmer and drinking tea as they inspected the crime scene hahaha. Other curious onlookers unashamedly walked right up too. Strange but funny. After that, we walked around the Gaziantep castle, I learned some history, saw some views. Then during Can's next meeting, I chatted with both the ladies in German. It was an interesting interaction. After that, we got juice, explored the city a bit, then I checked out the indoor bazaar and the copper bazaar. Later on, we got chicken dinner from a Syrian place and then got katmer from a restaurant. Yessss, more katmer! Finished off by getting pistachios for the road tomorrow.Read more

    Trip end
    May 25, 2022