The best Turkish ice cream

Turkish ice-cream, or dondurma, is a treat as unique to the region as the better known "Turkish Delight" (thank C.S. Lewis for that one).  Unlike gelato, which can be found in lesser manifestations almost anywhere in the world, dondurma has stayed close to its roots (with some minor exceptions). 

Dondurma is composed of all the normal ice cream elements (cream, milk, sugar, etc) with a few odd-balls, namely salep (a flour made of Purple Orchid Root) and mastic (a resin).  I'm not sure what the salep does, but the mastic is immediately distinguishable in true turkish ice-cream by its tell-tale "gummy" character.

Unlike gelato, ice-cream, sorbets, sherberts, and other scoopable frozen concoctions, dondurma is chewy.  It takes a second to get used to it, but this girl finds it a delightful summer refreshment. 

Dondurma is most often served by street-vendors who offer a sort of entertaining show.  Because of its gumminess, vendors can flip and steal a cone topped with the stuff with great ease, to the amusement of all passerby, for whom the same joke (mysteriously) never gets old.  However, the flavors that come with the show are usually pretty generic (lemon, chocolate, nondescript pink, and plain).

For this reason, we were surprised and gratified to find a dondurma place in Eski Foca serving a panopoly of flavors to rival any gelateria.

 We were at first drawn to this shop by the unceasing lines at all hours of the day (they're open til 3am in the busy season).  The wait isn't terrible - they move people along quickly and while you wait you may be lucky enough to watch an elderly man with the charm and demeanor of a retired mafioso (raspy voice, kind to children, gruff appearance) make waffle cones.

 

First run: on the left, lemon atop black mulberry.  On the right, cappacino and pistachio.

Second go (we may or may not have gone twice in the same day): on the left, cherry astride apricot capping yogurt.  To the right, mint and dark chocolate, capped with a dark chocolate shell.   BAM.

Ephesus, Selcuk

Alex at the Library of Celsus, in Ephesus

 Everyone who goes to Turkey makes the trek to Ephesus.  This site was originally an Ancient Greek city, then a major Roman city, and 4 devastating earthquakes later was evenutally abandoned.

At one point this city was the 2nd largest in the world and housed the 2nd largest library in the world, the ruins of which Alex is standing in front of.

Alex had been before, but in the decade since his original visit a lot has changed.  There is now a major archaeological restoration project at the terrace houses which you can walk through, for an extra fee.*

The terrace houses were a network of several homes built on a hill which have been painstakingly reconstructed.  The floorplans are clearly visible, as are some detailed mosaics and frescoes.  The reconstruction is still in process and its also interesting to watch the archaeologists work.

Another important building at Ephesus was the Temple of Artemis.  The statues of the goddess are now in the Archaeology Museum in Selcuk.  The statues are an interesting amalgam of beliefs, featuring bees (a symbol of the region), what are possibly bull testicles (or eggs, or breasts, or ____), zodiac symbols, etc etc.  The museum is worth going to, especially as any visit to Ephesus likely requires a night stay in Selcuk.

Selcuk is a small town whose claim to faim is its proximity to Ephesus, as well as the tomb of St. John and what is possibly the dying-place of the Virgin Mary.  You'd think with all the important Christian, Roman and Greek sites that the Christian church would have a huge presence or archaeologists would overrun the town or, at the very least, some tourist companies would lord over the area.

Nope.  The CRANES run this town.

Small groups of beautiful large cranes have nested on all the best spots in town, including tops of crumbling aqueducts, mosques, and the amplitheater at Ephesus.  It's their world, we're just passing through it.


*Something important to note about travel in Turkey.  Whenever there's an additional charge to see something at a site (eg. the Sultan's Harem at Topkapi palace, the Dark Chapel at Goreme, the Terrace Houses at Ephesus), PAY IT.  We were incredulous at first (an extra 15 lira after paying 20 already?) but each time its been more than worth it.  Yeah its still tourism robbery, but if you don't suck it up you'll miss the best stuff!