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No “Turkey” Here!Kusadasi’s History, Bazaars, Beaches and Food are Great!By Marty Martindale
Tourists are just beginning to appreciate Turkey. So, it is little wonder Holland America’s Prinsendam brought many eager visitors to Turkey’s port of Kusadasi in the fall of 2004. They were eager to visit Ephesus, one of the most magnificent archeological site in the entire Aegean region. This is where the Virgin Mary is said to have spent her last days. Also, on this site are the ruins of the Temple of Diana, as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
It’s a good time! ©Marty Martindale, 2005, Largo FL For information contact: HOLLAND AMERICA LINE |
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TM
Turkey’s beauty is punctuated with many landscapes --
snow-topped mountains, miles of golden sandy coastline, lush green valleys, and
for contrast, some dessert-like areas. She is also one of only seven countries
in the world producing more foods than her people consume. Located between Asia
and Europe, she is bordered by Greece, Bulgaria, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Georgia and
Armenia. She has 430 inland lakes, and her shores front the Black and Aegean
Seas as well as the Mediterranean. This positioning gives Turkey great climates,
soils and abundant seashores. 
With her varied climates, she manages to grow tea in her
cool north, hot peppers and melons in her south, and her vast shores yield
boundless fish and shellfish. Cultural exchanges with neighbors mix her wealth
with Greek wines, Persian sweets, sugar and rice and traveling nomads’ offerings
of shish-kebabs, flatbreads and yogurt. Add olives, fruits, nuts and pungent
spices from the days of the old Spice Road, and you find some exciting eating! 
Kusadasi is popular with well-to-do, European, seasonal
residents. Her well-filled marina proves this. The busy bazaar elevates
shopping to an exciting verbal duel. The Turks delight in bargaining for their
expensive, hand-woven, double-knotted carpets, jewelry, brassware, leatherwear,
dishes and statues. In some instances, they will even do a certain amount of
shopping for you. Visitors are also no strangers to Kusadasi’s baths and nearby
beaches.
It’s not easy to avoid ambling into a waterside restaurant
close by the Aegean Sea. Just as you enter, you’re apt to find iced display
cases of fresh-caught seafood. Effficient, professional waiters are very
intuitive. Besides seafood, lamb is the most popular meat with beef and chicken
distant second. Typical sides includes yogurt, salads, fish in olive oil,
stuffed vegetables, lemon and egg yoke sauces and stuffed vine leaves. Desserts
abound. In addition to highly-favored Baklava, find sophisticated pastries with
mysterious names like: Twisted Turban, Sultan, Lady’s Naval and Nightingale’s
Nest. Turkish coffee is powder-like in grind, strong and frequently spiced with
cardamom. 
When sauntering back to the Prinsendam, you will have
opportunities to buy some Turkish staples from your Kasadasi visit: boxes of
Apple Tea (which you can re-order over the web), tiny crates of ancient spices
from the days of the Spice Road and boxes of Turkish Delight, tasty jellied
candies filled with pistachio nuts and dredged in sweet, powdery sugar.