Daring to #travel where few Europeans do: South-Eastern #turkey #gaziantep

South-Eastern Anatolia: GAZIANTEP

Typical Turkish tea glass in front of me, a small plate of kadayıf to my left, my friend to my right and the spacious pastry shop brimming with people and energetic chatter all around us... Oriental music in the background. That's the first image my memory conjures up when I say the word Gaziantep.

Then I remember I was not only in Southeast Anatolia, but in the ancient Dülük… possibly where Antiochia ad Taurum was also located.

I believe in Antep one truly understands the meaning of "synesthesia" - different perceptions combined to form an homogeneous and fascinating whole I deliberately sunk in: from the Selçuk fortress (11th-12th century) to the mosaics of the ancient Zeugma, from the former kervansaray to the covered market all colors and aromas. The core of this place has a life of its own…

narrow streets, chaotic traffic, the mosques, the Armenian church, the synagogue, artisans selling all kinds of things - however, leaving history aside, food is the "soul" of the trade in the old town.

"People from all over come here especially for the food", my friend said… and they definitely have good enough reasons to: restaurants, bistros, "cave cafes" and endemic delicacies everywhere - the "menengiç kahvesi" (pistachio coffee), the celebrated pistachio katmer, baklava or kadayıf, a myriad of kebap variations, soups, innumerable spices. Food is, after all, an essential part of the culture and social life here, in a region that cherishes greatly its traditions and struggles to push through… in spite of all economical difficulties and the delicate geographical position.

Still, even brighter than the night lights of the busy city was the turquoise sky and waters of the Euphrates I hungrily breathed in around Halfeti, during the boat trip that got us not only across to the neighboring province, Urfa, but also back in time, somehow, away from the fast-paced new Gaziantep.

On that sun flooded day, I recall catching sight of the Rum Kale (the Greek fortress) and of the sunken minaret of Halfeti - Time had spared these vestiges of the past as well...

And the gözleme I had right there in Halfeti with my friends remains unequaled - it was more than the scent of freshly baked wheat pastry,

Antep cheese, strong black tea and the view to the Rum Kale… it was the feeling of being in the right place at the right time, with the right people, which I felt throughout the entire journey… even if Time itself wasn't a real issue there: the hours we spent at the sumptuous and utterly Ottoman Bayazhan or Hışvahan also seemed a way of escaping the present… which I think is the best thing one can do, at least once in a while: trick time into stopping… carpe diem.