Gaziantep
The city of Gaziantep is famous for being one of the world's oldest and continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is located in the southeastern part of Turkey and has about 1.400.000 citizens. We spent a day in Gaziantep and fell in love with the old markets and nearby workshops where coppersmiths and their apprentices were hammering on their beautiful, traditional pitchers and trays.
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| The old market |
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| Dried peppers and eggplants |
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| Prayer beads |
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| Antique keys |
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| Beautiful mirrors |
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Lovely old wooden buildings that seem to have
been the center for craftsmanship and trading for generations |
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One among us bought bigger trays than others, and had to suffer the stares of locals
and the verbal abuse of his fellow travelers... |
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| ...we suggested a coffee pot to go with the tray... |
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...and if you have a big coffee pot, you need a lot of cups!
Generations of craftsmanship
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| Like father, like son |
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| Precision, patience... |
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| ...and steady hammering |
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| The results are stunning |
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| Fresh vegetables for sale on this street |
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| I forgot to ask what this was, it just looked facinating |
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| Eggplants by the bushel |
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| The barber (check my reflection in the mirror) |
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| A mobile sales cart full of everything you might need |
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| A real tinker shop where you can get anything from a portable grill to a watering can |
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Recycled vegetable oil cans
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The Tin Man himself and his apprentice
He is fixing a portable teakettle, that salesmen carry around when selling tea on the street |
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| Fascinating scaffolding all over the city, made out of thin wooden poles |
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| Looks like the house is covered with toothpicks |
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| The scariest was to watch this worker disassembling the platform he was standing on, several stories up in the air! |
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| Lots of beautiful minarets in Gaziantep |
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| Fascinating windows on the wall of a pastry shop (baklava, of course) |
The hotel and neighboring streets
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| Google map told us to drive all the way up to our hotel, but we found it a little difficult to fit our mini van through these streets. Luckily we had an excellent driver, with good help from his co-pilot and some curious neighbors, we managed to make a left turn and wiggle our way back to the main streets. |
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The courtyard at the hotel
Local speciality coffee made out of dried pistachio nuts. Yummm... |
Lunch at a fantastic kebab house
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No menu, no choice, and they bring you several types of kebab along with the freshest of bread and salad.
You find a seat wherever you can and strangers share tables with one another. The clothing may have changed, but this place has been run the same way for generations. |
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