Intro to Turkey

This post is not current by any stretch of the imagination, but if I'm ever going to catch up, I need to do these in chronological order. So here goes. 

At the beginning of December I took a small ferry over to Turkey. It was a short trip, they charged me something for a 90-day visa, and then I was--free. In the little port of Ayvalik, which no one has ever heard of, even in Turkey. My first task was to find a bus station so I could get out of town and head north to Canakkale (the main attraction of which is its proximity to ancient Troy. But more on that later.)

Turkish tap water is questionable at best, so these single-serving waters are popular on buses and even in restaurants.

This is the first stage of making donut holes. A man swung this machine back and forth, while little blobs of dough plopped out into the oil. After a while, he scooped them out and passed them to another man, who put them into another basin, possibly filled with more oil.

Pepper star!

The covered market in Canakkale, a huge area filled with tables of clothes, vegetables, meat, and candy.

Fish market.

Simit, the ubiquitous seed-covered bread ring sold out of wheeled stalls all over Turkey.

Turkish tea, another staple. It's very bitter, so it always comes with sugar cubes--but never milk. There would often be a waiter walking shop to shop with a round silver tray, delivering full sets and collecting the spent glasses.

Aaand of course, here we have the good ol' meat-stack, for slicing up to make donner kebabs.

Peanut butter is virtually unknown (it's an exciting find in a large or foreign grocery store,) but nutella is much more popular than at home. Also, it's a real option at breakfast.

Instead they have helva, a sweet, nutty, crumbly substance made from sesame. I wasn't paying much attention and bought some on my first day in Canakkale, assuming it was cheese. >.< It most definitely is not cheese. But it's good anyway!