Our second full day in Ankara began with a Turkish breakfast kindly prepared by G. Fresh tomato, cucumber, white cheese, beef salami (and a bit of a German bent with pork based salami from Adelaide’s central market), boiled eggs, fresh bread and honey. It was delicious. TC, G, Little Miss K and I were joined on today’s adventure by G’s British friend Tony, as we strolled down the hill towards Ankara’s version of Double Bay (well as close as it gets anyway – it has a Marks & Spencer). Our first stop was a framing shop where G dropped of a load of stuff for framing which costs a miniscule amount compared to Australia. After that we headed towards the shopping strip for a coffe at Mado, a chain in Ankara (and possibly futher afield in Turkey. My latte came with a sweet that tasted like it had spinach and something similar to mung beans in it, and a vase of daisies. TC had some chocolate profieroles and Little Miss K hads chocolate ice cream which she proudly ordered herself.
After a pleasant coffee, we wandered up to our first shopping mall. In Turkey you have to be security screened to enter just about anywhere, including shopping malls. After we passed the screening point, TC went off to look at the price of electronics , G went to a phone store and then we all headed around to a jewellery store run by a friend of G’s where I looked at a cute amethyst and glass pendant and spectacular silver ring, which was a bit too small. G’s friend measured my ring finger and said she could have one that fits there the following day. [Perfect Government – NOFX – one of their overtly political efforts – I remember listening to this song at a friend’s place after going out to shows. When we did a requesrt round, it was always my pick.]
We wandered further down the street and grabbed a cab to head into Kizaly, one of the big shopping districts where you can find pretty much anything. First stop was G’s leather bag man who was located up a few flights of stairs in what one presumes used to be a private apartment– she stopped off to pick up a couple of bags. Our next stop was lunch at one of Turkey’s oldest restaurants where they served home-style cooking. You go up and choose what you want from a selection of bain maries and they bring it to your table – I chose lamb, creamed mashed potatoes and the spinach dish G had served on our first night. TC was a bit skeptical at first as he had been craving a kebap but eventually had the same as me. My only regret was not choosing the traditional buttered rice. Lunch was followed, of course, by tea
Our next destination was a fabric shop. It was a treasure trove and really cheap too. Conscious of the fact I still had quite a bit of travelling to do, I limited myself to one purchase – some gorgeous embroidered cotton which cost about A$2 per metre. I could have comfortably purchased my weight in fabric in this store but will wait until after our tour. The cheap crappy sewing machine is going to have to go when we get home.
After the fabric store it was off for what I consider to be another quintessential travel experience – the supermarket. There are a few oddities – a huge cheese counter that mostly stocks different types of white cheese – feta, goats cheese etc with an occasional flash of blue vein. Of course the cold meat section is all beef or chicken – no ham here. There’s lots of fresh in season fruit and no tampons. That’s right ladies, come prepared. We picked up the supplies for dinner – to make a pasta Bolognese and salad and headed home as Little Miss K was by this time a little bit exhausted.
After a short sojourn, TC and I decided to head back to Kizaly on our own for a bit more of a look around. With some handwritten instructions for the taksi driver from G’s Turkish house cleaner, we jumped in a taksi and headed back to Kizaly. First stop was the toy shop hidden inside the walkway across the main thoroughfare. TC was amazed to find incredibly realistic plastic guns, which are well and truly banned at home. It was also easy to buy a real gun and there were plenty of them on the street in the hands of the Turkish soldiers that guarded almost everything.
After a few more electronic shops, TC once again declared Turkey ridiculously expensive for electronics, and we only went into about one or two more after that. Shoes, however, were a different matter. Somehow we managed to stumble upon shoe row, which TC was really reasonable about. I was tempted a couple of times and too down the name of a store, I think is probably a chain so I can search out their wares in Istanbul.
We wandered a bit further and found some jewellery shops selling mostly mainstream jewellery – diamonds and gold and the like. TC also discovered some police stores selling uniforms and capsicum spray. We hoped that police officers needed to prove they were police officers to buy them but in Turkey, anything is possible. After a bit more of a wander, we decided to head back to G’s. We realized there wasn’t much beer so TC and I wandered up to the local supermarket and stocked up on beer and chips.
We enjoyed yet another home cooked meal on the rooftop terrace – this time Bolognese pasta, a fresh salad of lettuce and tomatoes. Tomatoes in Turkey are exquisite – rich plump and red, like the ones that come out of your garden at home and the cucumbers are fresh, crisp and flavourful. As it was Friday night and the end of their working week, a few drinks were consumed including a caparhina, made with bottled lime juice and lots of cacasa. I had noticed piles of what I imagined were limes at the markets but they were actually very small oranges. Limes are almost impossible to find in Turkey. After dinner we chilled out with G&S and chatted before hitting the sack ready for another relaxing day in Ankara.