Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Turkey - Travel through Turkish Culture and Histories with Franko
You ever wonder how it feels to grow up in a place where cultures from East and West blend seamlessly? Our charming guest, Franko, an Istanbul native and current US resident, takes us on an unforgettable journey through his colorful homeland, Turkey. This episode is an engaging concoction of personal anecdotes, enlightening historical lessons, and Franko's fascinating business adventures, including how he became a US agent for a Turkish hair transplant company.
Buckle up as we traverse the time-worn streets of the Ottoman Empire, revealing its profound impact on Greek and Turkish cultures. Uncover the hidden gems of Istanbul as Franko guides us through the iconic Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Four Seasons Hotel, which intriguingly was once a prison. Revel in the breathtaking views of the Bosphorus from Taravio Town and Chiron Palace hotels, and treat your taste buds to an appetizing discussion about Turkish cuisine, featuring burek, dolma, and the much-celebrated Turkish delight.
As we journey deeper into the heart of Turkey, we celebrate the country's unique cultural offerings, from honoring the women's volleyball team's victories to exploring stunning natural formations like Kapadokia's fairy chimneys. We swap tales about the best time to visit, transportation quirks, and the vibrant four seasons in Istanbul and Bursa. Winding down our Turkish adventure, we dive into the Aegean and European side of Turkey's unique holidays, music, food, and safety. Immerse yourself in this Turkish odyssey that is guaranteed to ignite your wanderlust!
Map of Turkey
Find Franko here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/franko-m-ismen-award-winning-performance-a0a659a/
https://www.instagram.com/realtor_franko
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Hosts
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Hi, welcome to our podcast. We're Next Travel with Kristin and Carol. I am Kristin. I am Carol. We're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure. Each episode, we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next. Welcome, franco, thank you so much for joining us today and we're excited to learn all about Turkey.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for having me. This is very exciting and I will be cheering for my own country today. I'll be delighted to ask any of your questions you may have.
Speaker 1:Wonderful. I guess, to start, you're from Istanbul, turkey, and how long did you spend? I'm sure you were born there. And then when did you come to the US? How did that all look? How did you end up being my neighbor?
Speaker 2:Okay, that's a good one. I was born in the capital city called Ankara, turkey. The most people don't know that Ankara is the capital. They think that Istanbul is the capital. So that would be probably I open it for a lot of people because I come across to that so many times in my life. So yes, and I grew up in Istanbul and I was at the age of about eight and a half nine years old when I came to Istanbul. Up until nineteen and a half years old I've been in Istanbul. Then I took off and came to the United States of America and I learned in California. So basically, I spent a lot more years of my life here in the United States than I did back home in Turkey.
Speaker 1:But you go back. You were there for six months just recently with your mom.
Speaker 2:It wasn't six months, it was almost like almost three months. This is the first year out of last 39 years that I've been in Turkey three times in one year and I'm going back again and reasoning behind that is my mother happens to be 88 years old and lives alone. For all these years that I spent in the United States, I always wanted to do some kind of trade business between Turkey and United States, which I wasn't able to do because of the workload that I have here in the US. But my mother is being a good reason now, since I want to spend some of my time there. But she's really pushing me because of the situation that I'm in for me to do such a thing. So I started about three different trade business between Turkey. As a matter of fact, right before this podcast, I was talking to my partner in Turkey. You guys have no idea what I'm bringing to these country containers.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, who can't wait? I didn't. Yeah, if you want to share a little, you're welcome too as well for our audience. That maybe it is well.
Speaker 2:Yes, I would like to. First of all, when I was in Turkey this is going to be funny now, okay, and you can laugh as much as you want so since my childhood, my hair was my everything, okay, so aging didn't really help because I lost a lot of it. So most people do know this, because this goes viral all over the internet that Turkey happens to be one of the leading country as far as healthcare, tourism, okay. So, oh, you wouldn't believe it. So when, when I was there? So I got my second hair transplant and if I was to take this off, you will see it.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm not going to do that.
Speaker 2:Thank God it's not being recorded with the video.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So what I did was that there is a company called Estetica Estetica, like Estetician Estetica. Yeah, I became their US agent and they have four major locations in Istanbul and three happens to be in European side of Istanbul and one happens to be on Asian side of Istanbul. I got my, I got my hair transplant done in Asian side because it's close to my house. So then I became their official agent for United States and now I am kind of, you know, advertising here to take those individuals who are in need of getting hair transplant or any other plastic surgeries back to Turkey because of the numbers are crazy in United States, as you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah $5, $6,000 versus $32,000, $33,000 here in US.
Speaker 1:And that's a question we ask is what's the money like and what's it called and how does it translate to your question? That's a great question.
Speaker 2:So money is called? Well, remember, before European countries today became European Union countries, they were individual countries. So there's one country in Europe called Italy. They used to call their money lira, if you guys would remember. Yeah, what do you think Turkish money is called Lira, just like Italian?
Speaker 1:Oh, so they're not. Are they part of the European Union, then, or no, they're not.
Speaker 2:They're not. They're not that even back then, when Italians would have the lira, that the value of the money is were same. So in being in Turkey, you grew up with the influence of Italian culture. So if I was to take a man from Italy, especially Southern Italy, and one from Greece, one from Turkey, and put him right next to each other and ask you which one is from what country, you would have a hard time determining which. They look almost identical.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't have known that Italy had such a big influence on Turkey, considering you know it's. It's far over.
Speaker 2:I'm looking at the map and then you've got Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and then take a look at how the boot goes down, how it comes close to Turkey.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, in the murder training and see yeah, and then there's some island that's kind of in between it. I don't know. I see Cyprus, but I'm looking at.
Speaker 2:Cyprus. How it happens to be Turkish, off happens to be Greek.
Speaker 1:God, yeah, Really Well 1972 or three.
Speaker 2:I believe that there was a conflict. Turkish aircraft took off from Adana, Angelic, which is the bottom of the Turkey. It took down 45 minutes to capture the hot. I'm not bragging about it, but yes, that's what it had. By the time that they took off from Greece, from Athens, Turks were already in there.
Speaker 1:So I'm very surprised that part of Turkey's in Asia Like because I see our meat Armenia is on the Eastern border.
Speaker 2:Well, actually only Iraq. Small part, small part is the Europe, which is the Istanbul. It's okay, let's put it this way. Yes, now I'm going to get you to take the code with you guys.
Speaker 1:Okay, geography lesson. I love it.
Speaker 2:There are 198 countries around the world. You can Google this information. There is only one country on the face of the earth that sits on two continents of portion of it's in Europe, portion of it is there, so we have a canal called Bosphorus, which is the Bosphorus Strait that separates Europe and Asia. That's the town that I'm from, called Istanbul. Istanbul was captured by Ottoman Turks, by the Sultan named as Fatih Sultan Mehmet the conqueror. He was only 20 years of age when he captured Istanbul. That's what the Ottoman Turks and the legacy of the Eastern European, eastern Roman Empire's legacy capturing Istanbul. It's used to called Constantinople. They changed it to Istanbul. We have bridges. One of them looks like Golden Gate. It's also red at night because they do it with lights. We have three bridges connects to Europe and Asia. If you really want to go to the European side from my side, it takes me about 10 minutes to get to Europe from Asia.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, so is everything west of Istanbul, the European, and then down to there's like a town called Kanak.
Speaker 2:Hadiköy, hadiköy, hadiköy. That's exactly where I'm from.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, and so there's a waterway. There Is that dividing west is Europe and the east is Asia.
Speaker 2:Okay, take a look at it. Says it should say in the map that says Bosphorus, bosphorus Canal, bosphorus Strait. It goes to the Black Sea, comes to Marmara Sea. You see, marmara Sea is the inland water right under Istanbul. Do you see that big sea?
Speaker 1:Yes, okay.
Speaker 2:That's called Marmara. Remember that 1999, massive earthquake that took, that took happened in the inside of that water. People were drawn on the fifth floor of their home because it created a tidal wave yes, because it cracked right in the middle of that water in 1999 and about nine cities were affected by it and we had a lot of casualties. And so, basically, what I'm trying to say is that canal connects the Marmaris to the Black Sea. There is a, there is a small canal right that that's called boss for us and that boss for us. We have a lot of dealers, we have a lot of. We call them, we call them yellow, which is zero to the water, right on the water those are. There are some palaces that they're priceless autumn on. Palaces are Right on that boss for us. One of them is called Dolmabah Cep, where where other Turk, which is our leader, that is, freedom fighter, was resting after he died for a while. Then he was moved to Ankara after that.
Speaker 1:So the bulk of Turkey's in Asia then?
Speaker 2:yes, way better. Okay, there are more population, more people live on the Asian side of Turkey than the European side of Turkey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it looks honestly like 98, 99% of Turkey is Asia, and then there's this little piece that's separated, and it's actually completely separated From there's no land touching it. And is that Bulgaria or no? It's Istanbul, yeah, but it's next to Greece and Bulgaria, right? And there's like a little tip, right?
Speaker 2:we have Greece, bulgaria, yugoslavia. I mean, if you take a look at the border towns, like the border of Turkey, you would see all those Balkan countries.
Speaker 2:Yeah we are surrounded with. But if you take a look at the history of European countries and Turks and we were occupied by a lot of European countries, so we declared our independence in 1923. So basically atatürk is the one that is a freedom fighter and got gathered, all his people basically got those, all those European countries the French, the German, the Italians, everybody and the last ones were the Greeks. They were just, you know, taken out of the country through ismir, which is the ismir is right in the middle, on the aging post it's. I see MIR. That's one of those, one of the most beautiful town there is in Turkey, with a lot of palm trees.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:It's right across from the Ismir. Ismir and we used to have a summer home in Tseşme, which is one of the most popular part of the summer vacation, summer vacation town in Turkey called Allah Chatter, alacati, alacati, alacati. Okay, they have worlds Competition, windsurf competitions there. Right, that's an amazing place. Take a look at it. That's the number two destination around the world for people to have hikes and windsurf and sailboat competitions, because the water is flat, the wind is amazing, so it's an inland water.
Speaker 1:Vila I see a ton of Booginvillea plants and just it will. The pictures it's showing is is Kind of or Mexican vibe or just but it beautiful if God allows me, which we call it inshallah in Turkish.
Speaker 2:Okay, inshallah means if God is willing. That's what I'm planning to retire. Ah I'm a child of Turkey.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2:It really is. Are you doing a Google images?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm looking off on my computer. On the side I type in the city and then I what kind of stupid question that I just asked you. Great, though really nice and it's. It's funny, though, because it kind of looks like it's Um the. The city is is not on the on the water, but a couple blocks away. Maybe I don't know how far away that, based on the map, it could be. Oh yeah, it's like landlocked a little bit.
Speaker 2:I'm between Izmir and Alecate. It's about 45 minutes drive, okay, izmir being the downtown, which is the one of the largest metropolitan city.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Alecate happens to be the holiday resort town. Okay and take a look at Cheshmet. You're gonna like that one to C E M S E. Oh, it's a CES, ces me, I'm sorry, yes.
Speaker 1:Oh no, no worries, it's right next to it. I was just looking, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:They're 15 minutes apart.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean that entire strip, and if you get bored with Turkey you could go to Cheshmet, the direct ferry boat from there to island called kiosk, which is the Greek islands you can go to just keep going.
Speaker 1:You're in Athens in no time If you want to culture and you don't have to worry about no visa either.
Speaker 2:So I did it before I saw America don't need a visa for Greece. Oh Nice, how does it change?
Speaker 1:for.
Speaker 2:Turkey, turkey, you do, unfortunately.
Speaker 2:Okay, there's so many islands between Greece and Turkey, um there used to be all Turkish islands around Ottoman times, ottoman Turks, oh even the Rados islands, they were all ours. I mean, if you take a look at the history of the Ottomans, we had the southern Europe all the way up to Vienna, which is Austria. There is a, there is a square what I've been told I never seen it with my eyes there is a square in Vienna, in the middle of Vienna it's. There is a line on it says Turks came up to this point. So we were all the way up to Vienna, and all those Balkan countries, every single one of them, like entire southern Europe today is Turkey, entire Middle East and northern Africa, and all those great islands were Turkish territories.
Speaker 1:Wow, I was just looking Vienna, how far away I mean it's, it's not close. Yeah, yeah, so we wait out of men, or what was spelled out. I want to look that out.
Speaker 2:I'm an empire. It's o t t O m a n just like the chair, I was actually hearing a chair when it comes from.
Speaker 1:My name comes from there, I was so comfortable it sounds like an Ottoman chair, but I'm like it's not really, you know what I am going to grab something for you guys.
Speaker 2:Hold on, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:I'm looking the oh rest of Ottoman oh, but that looks like it's in France. Uh, ottoman Turkey, I guess I'll look at and there's just yeah, I remember before, like so many islands in Greece, and then that one that he just mentioned, the Kios or I think that he said is actually an a oh, that is a Greek. Then I see, like this line in the middle of the sea and the I don't know if that's a division.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah so that um the kios island, is that that's a greek island, or turkish island that's a greek island?
Speaker 2:And it's. I've been there with my wife. It's a beautiful island. When you get there, you see a lot of what we have in turkish, like homes. I mean, greek culture is probably it's one of the closest culture to us as far as food, as far as architectural, the design of homes and all those older homes in kios. They're beautiful. They're beautiful. There's so much influence. Do you guys probably know what I'm talking about? Hagia Sophia? No, it's a. It's a church that one of the oldest and biggest choice that was ever built, with the massive dome. It's an istanbul called Hagia Sophia. H a g, I a Sophia, hagia Sophia. So we converted Hagia Sophia to to mosque. Hagia Sophia didn't have the minaret, it's, but it was originally built as a christian church and it's a gorgeous place to visit. Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you already go inside of the Hagia Sophia. I'm telling you out of an experience right now. If you look up all the way to the door, you might fall backwards. It's that high and it's so big. So what they did? They studied the size and how it was built and they built Right across from it. It's called blue mosque, sultanahmet. Take a look at that one. Okay, it is as massive as this one. So one of them is a christian art, the other one is a islamic art, muslim art.
Speaker 1:Oh, that looks very similar right. It has extra um right, it does minarets.
Speaker 2:It's got six minarets versus the other one is only three or four.
Speaker 2:Yeah so we basically copied christian's bell. Okay, okay, check this out. This is I mean, I didn't know until I went this time. So this is the blue mosque, this is the Hagia Sophia. Right in between, there is a four-seasoned hotel. You know what that hotel is all about. It is a prison. One was over, maybe 1,000 or 1,500 years old. They took the cells, convert them into hotel rooms. If you want to have a wedding for your son or daughter, one of the ultimate place in the face of the earth will be on the top of that hotel or on the on the terrace, while you're looking at europe in asia and look at the christian and muslim art.
Speaker 1:Okay, I need to say. I'm looking at it right now and they did a great job, because to me it more looks like a palace. Okay, what's the hotel for season for?
Speaker 2:season Okay, for season is stumble.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's not cheap either. Six hundred dollars a night, wow.
Speaker 2:But it's one of the most beautiful hotel there is in istanbul, though, because of its location.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's beautiful, I mean just looking at it and it looks like it's also on the water too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I don't well close enough, but not on the water, I don't well, yeah, and you're right, between those Two amazing. If you want to stay in a hotel that it's right by boss for us. It's called taravio town.
Speaker 1:That is right, oh boss.
Speaker 2:Let me, let me spell taravio for you. Take a look at that city. It looks just like social new. We have Sol Soliro and Tibro on hearing San Francisco, and we have Bebek and Taranvi that they're identical. Can I give you one more to take a look at? Hold on to your chair on this one. I'm giving you the best hotel in Istanbul. It's called Chiron Palace. I may have to spell it Chiron C, that I R A, g, a and Palace. Oh yeah, came up.
Speaker 1:I'm actually writing it because I want to know.
Speaker 2:That's right on both forums. That's the most expensive and priceless hotel. They call it. It is out of this world. While you're staying in the room in European side, you get to see the people on Asian side right across.
Speaker 1:Wave to the other side. Let's see, it's like fanatically Cira Gan Palace.
Speaker 2:Chiron Palace.
Speaker 1:Wow, very regal. Wow, that would be worth a walk through. Stay there. This is like six months at $400 a night. There you go. There's the Golden Gate Bridge there.
Speaker 2:If you want to see the entire town from the top of the hill, there's a hotel called Swiss Hotel. It's on top of Istanbul. You get to see the entire Istanbul, swiss Hotel.
Speaker 1:Is it SWISS or is it S?
Speaker 2:That's like that Swiss Hotel.
Speaker 1:Okay, what kind of pictures we're going to put on Instagram? I know exactly For this episode some gorgeous hotels. Swiss Hotel is funny because it's not two separate words. It's Swiss Hotel S-W-I-S-S-O-T-E-L, not H-O-E.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's not hotel. Hotels in Turkey is called hotels. There is no H. We do have an H in our alphabet, but they don't use the H. It's a straight hotel, not hotel. Okay.
Speaker 1:They also have the word combined. It's not Swiss Hotel, it's Swiss Hotel Swiss Hotel. That's why they combine.
Speaker 2:You were asking me earlier that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. You were asking me earlier about what is the value of Turkish lira. Oh yeah, you're going to be very happy with this one. Each dollar is 28 Turkish lira, so you become automatically rich going there with your thousand dollars. You can spend a lot of money there and get a lot of goods out of thousand dollars.
Speaker 1:Okay, so how about like a meal? What is that Like, just an average meal like a giro or just like a plate for lunch, you know.
Speaker 2:Let's put it this way Turkey is underrated with something that they have and I am hopefully I'm praying to God I will be the first one to start in this country in a massive scale. It's called Turkish breakfast. Please write it out on Google and take a look at how it looks like. There is nothing like that around the world. Take a look at the images. Okay.
Speaker 1:Looks good, it actually looks more. It's not sweet, it's more savory, you know, like cheeses and breads and cucumbers, olives, tomatoes.
Speaker 2:It's called Turkish spreaded breakfast, which they call it serp me kahvalti, which is Turkish spreaded breakfast. That's what you're looking at.
Speaker 1:It looks like. It looks like it's got hummus of some sort and oils.
Speaker 2:Many types of olive oils, green oils and also a lot of butter. Different type of cheese, many different type of cheese, different type of jams. They all are served at the same time.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's.
Speaker 2:Kristen, since you're my neighbor, this is what I'm going to do for you, and everybody else is going to hear this. I am going to invite you for a Turkish spreaded breakfast to my house, as much as I can do. Yes, for you to have the best of it, you have to visit Turkey, perfect.
Speaker 1:That sounds good. I mean, my kids may be joining me too.
Speaker 2:Of course, that's what I'm saying your entire family is very welcome. Make sure your dear husband, which I like him so much I think I start liking him more than I do like you oh.
Speaker 1:He's my favorite man. I really like them. He's a great guy, so make sure he's there with you guys. Got it Perfect. What was the thing that you had cooked? It was really yummy. Your wife made them. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:You're talking about the filo dough? Yes, it's called burek. Yeah, it's called burek, yeah.
Speaker 1:Those were good. Was it spinach and feta?
Speaker 2:Right, just spinach and feta.
Speaker 1:With filo dough and rice. Try and get one.
Speaker 2:Right, we'll make sure we'll get you those to the same day that you've helped, Okay.
Speaker 1:So how much would that breakfast cost? Just like a middle of the road place, Not super high end, not super cheap, but just you know whatever.
Speaker 2:Depending, depending where you're going. Really, if you were to compare US dollars I mean like a 10-minute one, the high end one that we went it costs us about 40 to 50 bucks, including the tip. So compared to here having something like that, it's very cheap in Turkey. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then I see the grape leaves wrapped in a very like the Greek, that's called dolma, I knew it was with a D. I was trying to remember what that was Like. What is that? And are there any interesting drinks that are very, you know, unique to. Turkish whether you know non-alcoholic or cocktail.
Speaker 2:Non-alcoholic drink is cold, which most Americans don't like, being honest, because it's made out of a plain yogurt. It's called Iran A-Y-A-Y-R-A-N. Iran, iran. Yeah, it looks like white milk, but to me I grew up with it and it is very healthy for you and but most Americans that I tried on they don't like it.
Speaker 1:Oh, that sounds like when you get like a probiotic yogurt drink, right, something to have that now, that's exactly what it is Okay, it's just handmade.
Speaker 2:You do it with a plain yogurt. All you do is just you put, you put water inside and you put salt in it. That's it.
Speaker 1:Oh, any sweetness.
Speaker 2:You could do that as well, but you know the right way of doing it having a salt in there instead of sugar. But people do eat sugar in it also.
Speaker 1:But you, you have the culture, right, the culture. And then you have water and sugar I'm sorry water and salt, and then that's what makes the makes it more gritty, right, that's right.
Speaker 2:What really makes it delicious? That if you were to shake it or you're making it, it comes out as a beautiful form.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was looking at some pictures. Right Mint on top looks like.
Speaker 2:It's very, very delicious.
Speaker 1:Which was it?
Speaker 2:It's called Yaiyikaira.
Speaker 1:But do you buy it? Do you buy the area on straight from the store, or you could do that, or you could make it at home.
Speaker 2:Either way Okay.
Speaker 1:And I see the recipe or I was looking at that too and does it have kind of like you know how there's Greek yogurt that has a plain taste, which honestly I like, and I mix some fruit in it or something. Does it have kind of that tangy taste?
Speaker 2:Greek yogurt and Turkish yogurt are exactly the same.
Speaker 1:That's, I figured Okay.
Speaker 2:They're exactly the same.
Speaker 1:It looks great.
Speaker 2:It's available here in the US and California. About 20 minutes away from here from me in Danville, california, and I call this restaurant called Sultans. Oh, that's my buddy that owns a Turkish restaurant in downtown Danville. He has four locations and that's where they have the Iran, so they have the Euro also, gyro Euro.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you guys call it Euro Euro?
Speaker 2:No, we don't call it Euro, we call it Duner kebab. Let me tell you why we call it Duner kebab. Let's say, let's say here, this is the meat on the shish. Right yeah, it spins. Right yeah, that moment called dunmek in Turkish, dunmek meaning spinning.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So we call it Duner kebab. That means the kebab that it spins.
Speaker 1:It's called Duner kebab, okay, so spinning oh, like a kebab, kebab, kebab, okay.
Speaker 2:It comes from Ottoman's culture and Greeks know how to enter it. It has it better than we do. That's why you hear it as a gyro all over the country, the United States.
Speaker 1:And it's lamb also.
Speaker 2:Lamb and chicken Lamb beef combination. The second one on a different shish. It's made out of a chicken.
Speaker 1:So thinking, turkish delight. Right, that's Turkey too.
Speaker 2:Now you're talking. That's my favorite. Oh yeah, it's called batlama.
Speaker 1:No, actually my batlama.
Speaker 2:I love that Batlama is one of the most famous Turkish delight, and there's also a Turkish delight.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:It has white powder on it. Yeah, and yes, it's kind of gummy like a gummy vitamins yeah. Okay, well, it's aphrodisiac. It makes you walk on a ceiling. Oh really, you gotta be careful with that one.
Speaker 1:It's a joke, I know there's like some sort of song with Turkish delight and I guess maybe I got, I didn't know.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Afternoon delight.
Speaker 2:You might be chasing your ex-husband around the house.
Speaker 1:I had no idea. I really could say oh yeah, and then it looks like there's. You can have different flavors. I think it's called ginger cloves, mint cinnamon.
Speaker 2:Turkish delight yes, so I'll think about it in Damville, california, as a mall.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a place in Boulder, I think there's a store.
Speaker 2:You will find it. No one in the US. I like the Turkish stress drop.
Speaker 1:The one with chocolate covered. That looks amazing.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's one of my favorites, yeah.
Speaker 1:There's like a fries Turkish delight fudge, so, but these are just candies, but there must be another kind of like that kind. And then there's the candy kind, right. Right, right, right I'm too oblivious to that there is one called Manisa, mesir Marjano.
Speaker 2:There is a pure aphrodisiac. Okay, I don't know what would happen to me or you or anybody else wants to eat that. That is a real deal. Okay, it's called Manisa, mesir Marjano. It comes from the part of this Asian region called Manisa, m-a-n-i-s-a Mesir is M-E-S? E? R Mesir. Last one is Majunu. It's M? A C U N? U. When you say Mesir, majunu, take a look at that one.
Speaker 1:I had to write it down too. S U N U. I wrote that down right. It looks like a, not a jam, or it's like a. It looks like some plum jam or something in a jar. Is that what it is?
Speaker 2:Yes, if you're the reader, it does see your face. You don't live in a way. I'm gonna hold on to. Okay, let me all.
Speaker 1:Let's see. Oh, let me go back to the. I was looking at images.
Speaker 2:What is it made?
Speaker 1:out of Is just the spice in it.
Speaker 2:That out of the suspects? I have no idea. I would be lying.
Speaker 1:Do they sell it to people, young people, or do you have to be 18 years old? They?
Speaker 2:don't sell it to anybody. It's very natural, it is very healthy, it's a very good stuff and it's also, I think, it gives you a lot of energy to the kids. You know it gives them boost.
Speaker 1:It almost looks like it's like like moji, like rice based, is it? It says very old tradition in the history of Monsenah Matsuma, turkish sweet associated with that city. Early version we're not sweet, rather spicy in flavor. It's a sweet Turkish confectionery toffee paste that originated from spicy preparation of Mesur Bakunu. It's like a paste. It doesn't sound like it's gonna do something to you, but you're saying like it does something. Tell about the chemical reaction.
Speaker 2:Everybody knows that Mesur majlis the number one oh and there's Ottoman candy and Istinfans street food.
Speaker 1:It looks like kind of like taffy.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Wow, I had no idea.
Speaker 2:You guys are really into it. I love it.
Speaker 1:We are into food. Yeah, so food wise, is that normal? It looks like also like cucumbers and fresh fruits, vegetables. I know fish is big too right, and very big in Turkey.
Speaker 2:Yes, as a matter of fact, one popular salad that I should give you I mean you might want to look at it's out of this world it's called shepherd salad, shepherd salad, it's called choban salad, but you say shepherd salad, it'll come up.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's try it. Oh, it looks like a Greek salad kind of like lots of fresh.
Speaker 2:Please don't say Greek salad.
Speaker 1:Sorry, sorry, my bad Cucumbers, tomato, feta cheese, olives. They just did a lot of advertising. I guess you're in the US, or so.
Speaker 2:Right, they do a lot of things Very Mediterranean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very cucumbers red onions, tomatoes, olives, feta cheese.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean, that's the reason I gave you that example, because you named every single one of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it looks amazing. Yeah, that's I definitely like that.
Speaker 2:And then you don't make that at home. I mean, it is so easy to make, it takes a little bit of time, but the taste at the end, oh my it looks very fresh.
Speaker 1:Is there mint in it or some sort of other?
Speaker 2:You could also put mint in it.
Speaker 1:Oh man, they can have still so many tomatoes from my harvesting.
Speaker 2:There you go.
Speaker 1:Parsley, is there parsley? Is it mint Parsley? I don't know if that's in there too.
Speaker 2:I'm just taking a look, she is parsley, correct.
Speaker 1:OK, got it, that's parsley.
Speaker 2:Now, Carol, what state are you in?
Speaker 1:I'm in Colorado we just got our first winter storm and our first spree, so we had to pick all our tomatoes and my coverage was drowning in tomatoes.
Speaker 2:That's good yeah, so that would be a good salad to make.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think you're ready for that.
Speaker 2:So what are some of the sites that are popular in the city or country? Is that something that we should talk about?
Speaker 1:Well, we talked about the moss, but is there certain like oh, when you go to Istanbul, you have to see outside these moss and church that you mentioned?
Speaker 2:Yes, I would like to tell you there is a historical person. More ever was invented. It's called Kavut Bazar, it's in Istanbul and there are 4,000 shops in there.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, it's a mall, oh, ok.
Speaker 2:But let me tell you the size of the shops. There is two meters in square. Shops in there making hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars. I'm not even kidding, Because most of the Turkish gold reserves are in there. If you were to say to Google it, so Kavut Bazar in Istanbul, which is Kapalıç Arşı, you take a look at what they have inside.
Speaker 1:It reminds me of the amazing race. They always have to go to this bazar and they have to find these 12 different items OK. I just said the mall in Istanbul. It says what's the most famous one is.
Speaker 2:It says you say Kavut Bazar, or say Kapalıç Arşı, which is K-A-P-I-L-I.
Speaker 1:Oh, so it's indoor, huh.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's all indoor.
Speaker 1:And then Karsi C-A-R-S-I.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow OK.
Speaker 2:Yes, wow, this is the historical mall was ever invented. There are 4,000 shops in there.
Speaker 1:This looks, yeah, really neat. So is there a map to get around? You can buy shoes or belts or food, Just everything it looks like.
Speaker 2:I'm sure there is, but I don't know. But you guys are typical Americans. I knew that you were going to ask that.
Speaker 1:Where's the kiosk? I see plates like painted plates that look like they're metal. Oh my goodness, yeah, you could probably spend all day in there, huh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can spend an entire day or a weekend Day, is not enough.
Speaker 1:OK, you can spend an entire weekend.
Speaker 2:And you know what they love Americans there. Because you know why Because Americans are the only ones that tip. Well, europe will tip at all.
Speaker 1:OK, so do we want to haggle when we go there? Is it? To what degree? Do you want to negotiate the price?
Speaker 2:Oh, you mean as far as negotiation with them? Yeah, ok, first of all, unfortunately, I'm going to have to tell you this, because God is listening. I cannot lie to you about this when they see you're a foreigner, you are going to, let's say you're buying this. You're going to get it three more times than what it's supposed to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ok.
Speaker 2:So you have to $9.
Speaker 1:I paid for that bottle of water at the Chase Center last night and they unscrewed the lid because they didn't wash and cut and I was like you've got $9 for water. Oh my goodness. Ok, yes, ok, so do negotiate, because they see you're a foreigner and they're like OK. I'm in trouble because I'm an obvious foreigner.
Speaker 2:Let me give you guys a clue, if you happen to connect yourself with someone like me, moa, that you would never get screwed by Tors.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Ok, just make sure I go with you. Ok, yes, you have to start doing tours. Yeah there you go, you're going to do your own. Do the hair replacement slash shopping tour. Well and OK. So I have to also ask a question about because I love being outdoors and active, like what do most of the turkeys do for activities and keeping in sleep or just having fun. And are there mountains and kind of nature, love to learn?
Speaker 2:about that and the weather. Well, when you hang out an Asian part and, of course, the Mediterranean part of Turkey, there are a lot of hiking trails. Air shooting is very hot in Turkey, in Kapadokia. Balloon rides the hot balloon, air balloons rides are pretty popular. People love those. And as far as water sports, I just want to let you know that I am very proud of it. I have to tell you guys this you guys probably never heard of it, but you never will. Turkish women's team, turkish volleyball team got the world championship and right after they got the European championship, the only team in the face of the earth got both back to back in a row European championship and world championship. They beat United States. I cannot believe it. It is such a big sport here. Because my daughters are volleyball players, I know how big it is here, how competitive it is Country like Turkey to become the world champion in the US and China. We played the finals with China. It was amazing.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, I was just looking also. I guess I'm going to ask you because I'm all about the whole nature side of things, but I was looking up. It says 15 beautiful places in Turkey that you should be on your bucket list, and the second one is the one I noticed was Kapadokia.
Speaker 2:Kapadokia hot balloon.
Speaker 1:Those are the fairy chimneys.
Speaker 2:We call them fairy chimneys. Yes, those are natural. Those are all natural. They're not man-made. Those are caves. Those are hotels or motels and restaurants inside of those.
Speaker 1:Really, what's it called? I'll catch up here C-A-P-P-A-D-O-C-I-A.
Speaker 2:And it's a Kapadokia.
Speaker 1:Anatolian region, a-n-a-t-o-l-i-a-n region. This looks like Moab if anyone's been to the Needles National Park. But it's like Moab. It's red, but look at the makeup strange natural sculptures formed by Mother Nature. It's all their uses throughout history local carved homes, churches that got carved into it. I think I've seen these kind of pictures. Is this also near Istanbul? I'm looking at this.
Speaker 2:It's far away from Istanbul. It's Anatolia. That's where I was born, anatolia. Remember I said Ankara, yeah, it's Anatolia region, middle of Turkey. That's where they're at.
Speaker 1:Oh, I think that's what the last time we interviewed someone from Turkey, that's what he had been, because he had these pictures of all this white sand where he was.
Speaker 2:You're talking about Pamukkale cotton castle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the number one on here.
Speaker 2:Well, it's the first one, that's Pamukkale, you're talking about Pamukkale, which is, it said, limestones, those are limestones.
Speaker 1:Yes, ok.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, the Japanese government came to Turkey. They wanted to rent that for 99 years, that mountain, entire Pamukkale region. They wanted to blow up the entire mountain to get more out of that mountain, because the mountain has a lot more inside of it. They were going to do the entire mountain like a cotton castle and they were going to wind serve areas, the kite areas. I mean they were going to build hotels, hotels. Turkish government many against that, so they didn't let them.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, and then what about like getting around transportation? Is there high speed trains, buses? Do you want to rent a car?
Speaker 2:That's great. You know it is. That's very interesting. You asked me that question. Getting around is super easy in Istanbul. You could almost think like like it's like a downtown New York. There are all kinds of metros, trains and a lot of mini buses and I mean it is the, the, the taxi cabs are very cheap. Taxi cabs are, if you were to compare it here, probably, I would say, one fourth of what you pay here than what you pay in for a distance.
Speaker 1:Do you need to worry about like legit taxis versus scam taxis at all? Or Well, there are.
Speaker 2:Uber in Turkey. But the way that Uber works, the individuals cannot do Uber's in Turkey. Your Uber driver with a taxi cab coming to you, so it was banned in Turkey. Uber tried to make it in Turkey. They did, but the taxi drivers lobbied against it and that Uber lost and they had to leave. So they, the taxis, do Uber. Now you can Uber a taxi cab, they will come up with you.
Speaker 1:Oh, so they're using the Uber technology.
Speaker 2:Yes, they do. Uber technology for taxis.
Speaker 1:Brilliant. Yeah, we should do that here, yeah.
Speaker 2:We use a lot of those very well.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's fantastic. And then what's the weather like and the various times of year, and what is the good time to go and visit?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. Okay, I'm going to be really honest with you guys about that. Okay, the climate climate is just like San Diego in Southern Turkey Perfect, Very similar, very similar climate. The best time to go to Turkey for summer vacation would be May and June. You don't want to be in Turkey anywhere in Turkey July and August. You're right, oh, hot and humid. It's just too much moisture in the air.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:September, October is another best time to be in. Turkey Schools are out. I mean, the schools are in. Okay, the kids are gone. You'll have a great vacation.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:In Turkey around that time.
Speaker 1:Oh, fantastic. No, that's. What about the winter? Does it rain a lot or does it get too chilly? Istanbul has four seasons. It rains.
Speaker 2:It has four seasons and what we do is metropolitan society. There is a city called Bursa, b-u-r-s-a. It's only our now, from Istanbul, b-u-r-s-a, which used to be the capital city of the Ottoman Empire. Okay, that was the capital of the Ottomans, ottoman Turks, bursa. So we go to Bursa. There's a mountain called Reys Mountain, luda, u-l-u-d-a-g. Okay, that's where you go for skiing, just like we go to Tahu here.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay. And then what about like more the southern parts? Are there other areas that maybe February, march, that is nice with the Greek Islands at all, or is it just too cold?
Speaker 2:Well, the thing is very part, the very southern part of Turkey. It's almost summer all year round Very southern part of Tarkabad.
Speaker 1:Is it like Cyprus?
Speaker 2:Mediterranean war. Exactly, it is just like San Diego, okay.
Speaker 1:So I was looking at Ulu Dag, the mountain, and it's a little below, well, that Marmar, the.
Speaker 2:I don't have that Marmarasih, Marmarasih.
Speaker 1:And it's on this, but Istanbul is right above it, so is there snow in Istanbul too, Is that?
Speaker 2:Yes, Usually, growing up, when we celebrate a new year, they don't celebrate Christmas, as you know, and because they're not Christians really, and so so when we do celebrate new years, I remember growing up when we would wake up to the new day of the new year it would be all covered with white but the entire is double the covered in white. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So what was it? So you're going to go back. You've been back. What's a typical day? What do you like to do when you're there?
Speaker 2:Well, what I okay. So if it's a weekend, the best way to start your weekend, like either Saturday or Sunday, is having that Turkish spread at breakfast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:We usually don't do it at home because the restaurants there are a lot of restaurants in Istanbul. I mean, take the restaurant count in San Francisco Bay Area, multiply it with two or maybe three.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:There's so many restaurants.
Speaker 1:And is it like a buffet style or they just bring it to your table?
Speaker 2:You just don't do buffet in Turkey unless you're still in big hotels or holiday resorts. Got it Okay? So they do serve you. They bring it on a large trays, huge trays, and bring it on your table and just spread it for you.
Speaker 1:Nice, fantastic. So you do that, and then what do you do? Or what do people do?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm a sailor, so I live right by Marmara Sea and my mother still lives there, so I belong to a club called Istanbul. Yeah, I can't believe it. Istanbul Sailing Club.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:I go and get on a boat and I go to Princess Island. Those famous Princess Islands are in Marmara Sea, of the shore of Istanbul. You can see. Those are about seven islands there. I'm gonna lift that up. Yeah, they're beautiful. You know where? The Kadıköy is? The Kadıköy, she saw Kadıköy earlier. I said that I was from that region, that area.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:They're right across. If you can see the water right there, you can say this is what you could say A-D-A-L-A-R. A dollar of Istanbul. It'll come up. They're gorgeous.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. So I've seen the islands and then wow the pictures here I used to take my boats when I was a little kid.
Speaker 2:I mean as big as your table that you're sitting on right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I used to go to those islands.
Speaker 1:Wow, it says the water.
Speaker 2:it's pretty calm because it's very protected Pretty calm, because the thing is, first of all, you don't have a shark in that water, it's an inland water.
Speaker 1:You have no shark problems there.
Speaker 2:Even if you sink, you don't have to worry about it. Okay, and it is, since it's an inland water, you don't have big waves like you do here in the ocean, so for that reason it makes it very safe. But being a nine, 10 years old kid, you don't just get on the boat and go to the princess islands, but that's what we used to do.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2:Like this, never know that.
Speaker 1:Oh, they didn't. Oh, okay, don't share this with your mother. Actually, I think you will share it with your mom. So, hi, mom, and sorry you did that, but hey, you're here, so that's good.
Speaker 2:These islands, they're big, they're pretty big, they're very big, as in the Barakul is called Big Island, which is Bukada. The other one is called Hey-Beli, that's also big, and the one that we spend most time with my family is called Knale. Knale K-I-N-A-L-I.
Speaker 1:And are there any of these islands, or so many throughout Turkey that are there?
Speaker 2:that is just for like nature preserves, or Rules and regulations are not like what we have in the United States. There, you know, it's about who you know. In Turkey, you know, if you really wanna do something like in an area that it's not supposed to be constructed like you cannot build on, there is a way that you could do it in Turkey.
Speaker 1:Okay, so there are people like living on most islands.
Speaker 2:The people rich people will buy their way out and do some amazing stuff in areas that they're not supposed to.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Now you know what you guys taught me today. I had never knew that in a podcast or a talk like what we were having earlier, there is a rapid fire questions at the end. I think this must be the way to do this right.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, there are some people I see a lot of this or that, you know ask people, but yeah, so we just we ask the same questions to everyone and then, because we're collecting this for everyone, so the first question is there a certain popular holiday tradition that you really love? I mean, you did mention New Year's, but there's, you know, snow, but anything specific.
Speaker 2:There are, right, well, there are religious holidays in Turkey. You know that Turkey is about 99% are all Muslims. Oh, okay, they're not Arabs. Turks are not Arabs, but they're Muslims, okay. So people get confused. When you say Muslim, they are automatically thinking you're supposed to be Arab.
Speaker 1:So do they do that where they just stop at a certain time of day and everyone prays You're gonna be stopping very shortly, oh, okay, I thought we did this earlier, okay.
Speaker 2:The quote for the prayers called Ezzan, E-Z-A-N. Ezzan. Okay, so the reason I mentioned that? Because there's one religious holiday where the Muslims the sacrifice sheep. Yes, I know, but the thing is so. You don't see it, but in this country they slaughter animals every day for us to eat, Right? So in a religious way, with the prayers, we only feed the needy, that who doesn't eat meat ever in their life. If they don't have that, they give it to the poor people.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:You see what I'm saying. So only the poor benefits out of that. Oh nice. You're not supposed to have alcohol with it because of holy meat. You're supposed to feed the families that they cannot afford it because meat is one of the most expensive food that you could buy. Necessity for you to eat so you can buy a turkey. And there's, if you take a look at the Islamic stories, like Islamic history, there's a reason that sheep needs to be sacrificed.
Speaker 1:And what's that holiday called? It's called Kurban.
Speaker 2:Vitamins K-U-R-B-A-N. Kurban, kurban. Okay, kurban means that sheep is being sacrificed. It's called Kurban.
Speaker 1:Okay, and when does that happen?
Speaker 2:Oh God, you got me on that one.
Speaker 1:Or just the month.
Speaker 2:Well, it changes every year. It comes, I believe, 10 days to 12 days ahead of time, like it comes closer to the winter. Now it's Ramadan, oh Ramadan.
Speaker 1:It's June 16th. Oh, I think different. It says E-I-D-A-L-A-D-H-A.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of them is called Ramadan, where we fast.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The other one is called Shekhar Bayram, which is the candy celebrations. That's also a holy one, so that's what the people give you a lot of Turkish delights.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, nice Okay, it's bringing up this EID. Eid al adha.
Speaker 2:It's Mubarak, it's E to where we do it in Ramadan. That's what it is. Okay, that's probably it.
Speaker 1:Because it says Kurban by B-A-I-R-A-M-I Istanbul as well. Well, and also that Kurban, the first one you mentioned, it looks like it said it's four days, the celebration goes.
Speaker 2:Four days.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:They don't work four days and, yeah, they celebrate for four days straight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, All right, okay, we already talked a lot about breakfast, so I won't go into that. But what would you say if you get one Turkish meal? What would you want to eat?
Speaker 2:Neil yeah Carnieruk, it's a stuffed eggplant. That's the stuffed eggplant.
Speaker 1:Carnieruk.
Speaker 2:Carnieruk, k-a-r-n-i. The second word is Y-A-R-I-K. Carnieruk.
Speaker 1:Is it vegetarian or is it stuffed with me?
Speaker 2:Well, stuffed with meat, but the eggplant is. It's like an outside, but you put it in an eggplant.
Speaker 1:It's like it's sliced and cut open, almost like the cucumbers that you cut out. Yeah, and if you have no idea how delicious that that food is, it sounds sauteed chopped onions, garlic, black pepper, tomatoes, green pepper, parsley, ground meat.
Speaker 2:It's my all-time favorite. I could have a breakfast, lunch for dinner every day.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great. I mean, and is there any specific Turkish music?
Speaker 2:Turkish music. That's a very good one. Well, turkish pop is pretty famous around the world, and Tarkan happens to be a man that went to school in New York. His name is T-A-R-K-A-N. And he became pretty famous, even in the United States, and now his one song was translated in 44 languages. It's called Kiskes Song. Kiskes, kiskes, yeah, okay, kiskes Song by Tarkan T-A-R-K-A-N. Yeah, okay, listen to that that song was translated in 44 languages around the world.
Speaker 1:Wow, okay, very good. Oh, wow, okay Okay. And closest surfing. I doesn't sound like there's much surfing, unless we do the wake surfing in a boat, because there's not a lot of waves.
Speaker 2:Surfing takes place in Alacete, turkey. Alacete is a windsurfers paradise. That's called it.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, Wind surfing Alacete.
Speaker 2:Wind surfing paradise.
Speaker 1:Yes, Sure, okay, that makes sense. Yeah, and how about safety? Just last question Safety is a very important thing.
Speaker 2:So safety. I know there's a lot going on around the country, but when you're in the Aegean and kind of European side of Turkey, you're pretty protected because you're too far away from what's going on on the borders. So you're Iraqi or Iran. So as far as your safety, interesting areas and Istanbul and everywhere else there's nothing really going on. There's no terrorism there at the moment Nice, thank God but you know if it happens in the future. Of course I cannot see the future, but right now it is safe to go. But unfortunately, when you try to get a ticket to Turkey as a US citizen you are going to get warnings.
Speaker 1:Oh right, oh okay.
Speaker 2:I'm going to give you the red warnings, okay, and they're going to say that thing twice before you go. You know, but we just came and my daughters are American. I'm a fake American. They're real deal Americans. They were born here, so they saw and they every time they go, that they fall in love with. Yeah, but other than that, I really appreciate for your time and I'm delighted that we did this. I never done anything like this in my lifetime.
Speaker 1:Okay, thank you, it was a pleasure meeting you, Carol.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you it's always a pleasure to be with you. I appreciate that We'll talk next week?
Speaker 1:Absolutely Take care, okay, bye, bye, have a great day.
Speaker 2:Take care you guys.
Speaker 1:Thank you Bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the podcast, can you please take a second and do a quick follow of the show and rate us in your podcast app? And, if you have a minute, we would really appreciate a review. Following and rating is the best way to support us. If you're on Instagram, let's connect. We're at where next podcast. Thanks again.
