Oot & Aboot in Ankara
Posted By Erin on July 14, 2009
July 14, 2009: Ankara, Turkey
As I set out to explore Ankara over the next 3 days, here’re two great facts reported in the July 12th edition of the Daily News (so it must be true!):
- Turkey has the lowest crime rate of any European country.
- Ankara is the continent’s most secure capital city.
Given these stats, no need for me to pretend I’m Canadian. In fact, I have to admit, the little I’ve seen of the city, this is one safe and clean place! No litter and wide open avenues. Although I guess you would expect that from a modern and completely constructed, a la Brasilia, capitol.
Modern Ankara is only about 50 years old. And I set out to explore this 5 decades of growth by hoofing it around 3 neighborhoods all situated along Ataturk Boulevard:
Ulus: Home of the old citadel that was re-build in the 9th century. I’m not sure I even made it here but *I think so.* I just started walking for about 5 hours and ended up in some place that looked kinda old. Perhaps I should pop for a proper city tour…
The old citadel neighborhood of Ulus (I think)
Kizilay: Supposedly the bohemian, student section, filled with cafes and cheap shops. This area, I definitely found. Very cool scene full of cafes, bars, whatnot. I had to pass by the gigantic mosque to get there (weirdly there’s an entire shopping center under the mosque, complete with a modern supermarket and dry cleaner).
Kocatepe Camii, a modern-era mosque, in trendy Kizilay
Kavaklidere: This is fancy, up-town part, with the five-star hotels and restaurants and home to the embassy district. Ok, Ok I’ll admit it. I’m staying at the Hilton for this first bit – definitely not my usual type of digs.
The swandy up-town neighborhood of Kavaklidere
The shopping is pretty fabulous. I bought a purple bikini (20 Turkish Lira / US$ 12ish) in anticipation of next week’s sun and sand adventure. I also had a pretty killer lunch. Yum!
My type of lunch! (eaten about 5:00 pm)
Walking around aimlessly was great. I didn’t look at my map until I was about half-way home, just to make sure I was actually heading in the right direction. My innate sense of direction is surprising good, so it was fun to get a little lost and snake my way back home.
On tap for tomorrow: a trip to the hamami – better known as a Turkish spa – oh baby, here I come!
You'll see these fox tails at the end of each post. Just click on them and your rating will be added with others and averaged together. The two highest rated posts are always listed on your right.
C'mon, try out the fox-tail rating system. Remember, 5 fox tails is the highest rating. Rate a post today!
(Find out why I favor fox tails... Foxtails)
Loading ...
Looks amazing so far! The moque is stunning. Can’t wait to hear about the hamami!
I did find this a little puzzling (pardon my ignorance):
“Ankara is the continent’s more secure capitol city.” Can you tell us more about this?
Finally - popcorn? All that chewing…
Erin,
Sooo glad you landed safely! But here’s a question for you. How do you say “cool” in Turkish? The superlative cool, as in “fine”, “very good”, “excellent”… you know what I mean.
Firstly — tried to look up the Turkish word for “fabulous” and got nothing. Then tried “cool” as in “exciting” and got this: hoş — pronounced “hosh.” Me likey! :o)
Secondly — newpaper article just had the one line about the “most secure capitol city,” so no new info there.
Thirdly — popcorn softens up with a little beer in the mouth, allowing me to stuff much more in and chew in big ole bites. easy peasy.
Headed off to find the real “Ulus” today and get me a bath! WHOOOOOOOO!