Hamamonu nights

Growing up, I only knew of Ramazan from social studies classes, and associated it with religious ritual. That ritual being fasting, the goal of which is intensified devotion to God and rigorous self-discipline, I kind of assumed that the month of Ramadan is a pretty somber event.

Not in Turkey! The days are long and people do tend to get a bit cranky in the mid- to late afternoon when their stomach bells start ringing, but there's a lot of anticipation in the air too.


And there is an ongoing festival for Ramazan in my favorite area of Ankara, Hamamonu. This is a fairly small district, only a few blocks, but with the refurbished historical Ottoman mansions and narrow streets preventing motorized traffic, you easily forget that you're smack in the middle of a city of five million. Every afternoon during Ramazan, the streets fill with tables and vendors selling everything from rose water to t-shirts. On "Art Street" you can peruse the displays of paintings and photography or watch artists making ebru, a traditional style of paper marbling. In the evening drummers in traditional costumes wander the streets, and a stage is set up for concerts every night.

So this is where a few of the teachers from work decided to come in the evening for iftar one night last week. And the fact that everyone in Ankara seemed to have the same idea as us only served to heighten the atmosphere of a full community celebration. Every outdoor table of every cafe had a "reserved" sign at about 7:30, with dishes of bread and salad. Around 8:00 the tables filled up and bread and salad appeared. Finally at 8:10 the ezan called and everyone dug into the delicious Turkish food.

Nothing like al fresco dining in the midst of history. As an added bonus, Ankara's dry climate means that as the sun descends, the temperature drops too, and the evenings here are lovely and cool, usually with a fresh breeze to revitalize you after a long, hot August day.

We were all pretty stuffed after our meal, but that didn't stop us from leaving room for delicious baklava and a few relaxing cups of tea! Meanwhile my coworker's 1 1/2 year old son was enthralled by all the passers-by on the street and wouldn't pose for a single picture.




We found this door very photogenic. These houses are all over three hundred years old, and people still live in them!


This is one of several mosques in this tiny district. You run into one every two blocks or so, which seems like saturation but this one was pretty full when it came time for evening prayer.



This building is a library dedicated to Mehmet Akif Ersoy, the poet who wrote the the Turkish national anthem.


My coworker's boyfriend insisted on taking several pictures of me with these old buildings so that I could share the beautiful Turkish architecture with family and friends at home. Consider his wish granted.