ITCHY FEET TRAVELS

Gaziantep, Turkey

July 2, 2023

We were seated next to each other on the bus and talked non-stop the entire time. Mirsen is a teacher in a school in Sirnak and is on her way home to Gaziantep for the summer holidays. I was stopping in Sanliurfa but she extracted a promise from me to contact her when I reached Gaziantep. I had skipped this city in my wanderings in this part of Turkey in 2013 – an added impetus for visiting.

Mirsen turned up with her sister in tow and I put myself in their hands. They were going to show me the Gaziantep they liked. The whirlwind tour included the museum where the focus was the war of independence from the French. The panorama is well designed; we watch the large panorama from the viewpoint of overhanging balcony. The scenes are a collage of paintings and models accompanied with audio tracks of gunfire and battle.

Then we traipse through the streets. The earthquake from earlier this year has left its mark on the citadel and some buildings but left most of this city unscathed.

A visit to the bazar is of course mandatory and among the usual shops and I Iearn that Gaziantep is famous for their handmade moccasins. Brightly colored ones hang in clusters.

As in most Turkish towns, this too is peppered with caravan serais and these have been turned into museums and cafes and inns. One is a museum of typical dowry – filled with beautiful handmade embroidered clothes, pillowcases and sheets. One is a kilim workshop-turned-café. One even has a baklava museum where they demonstrate making baklavas and offer tastings. This area is famous for its pistachios, a main ingredient of baklava and locals claim theirs is the best in the world. I have no arguments after I taste.

We visit a popular café serving excellent Turkish coffee, try the pistachios from a shop, eat corn served in little cups with sauces and wash it down with fresh fruit juice as we wander in a park. It is a delightful afternoon.