5 attractions for tourists in Ankara

I have heard people saying that there is nothing to see in Ankara. Here is five destinations what you can visit when you come to Ankara.

Castle of Ankara

From the top of Ankara castle you can see the poor old part of Ankara and the new part of Ankara. On the way to the top you can see old houses and a museum.

Attraction park

Ankara there is an attraction park with many different attractions. Around the attraction park is a nice park with a lake.

Mausoleum of Atatürk

The most important person of Turkish history is Atatürk. There is a war museum and Atatürks contribution to the Turkey is explained.

Atakule

From Atakule you can see how big is the city of Ankara. Downstairs is situated a shopping mall what is almost completely abandoned. Many empty stores available for renting.

Hamamönü

Hamamönü is an old nicely restored neighborhood. You can stop for a lunch/dinner or take a coffee.

Language thoughts

Mountain in Cabbadocia

At the moment I am using four languages everyday: Spanish, English, Turkish and Finnish. I speak the most Spanish after that English and Turkish about the same amount. Mostly I read in English and Finnish. People speak often about mixing the languages but I have not found switching between different languages difficult. Sometimes the words what I want to say in one language comes to me mind in another language but after thinking I can remember the word in the right language.

Turkish coffee

I have not drank a single cup of Turkish coffee. I have taken just a little sip. Turkish coffee is served with water and after Finishing the cup of coffee there is a tradition to predict future from the cup. This video demonstrates how it looks like.
 

Hairless

We already know that Spanish women have hairy arms because they do not remove the hair. In Turkey I have noticed that women tend to remove hair from their arms therefore here you do not see many hairy arms like in Spain.

Virgin

I thought that maybe in Turkey you would not be able to see kissing couples in nightclubs but you can see them. In Turkey women are expected to be virgins when they get married. That does not mean that all Turkish would be virgins. Some exchange students have been able have affairs with Turkish women. Also in Turkey couples get divorced and married again.

Walking on the street

Demonstration with my flatmate

In Turkey you can see men walking on the street like I am demonstrating in the picture with my flatmate. Walking this way in Finland or in Spain would be considered gay but in Turkey it is even possible to see men walking hand by hand which is not a sign of a gay couple either. In Spain you could see often women walking like this or man with a woman. Also in Turkey it is common to see women going together or a man with a woman.

Spring

Street picture

Finally spring has arrived to Ankara and you can survive outside during the day without jacket. During the winter I noticed that generally houses are not isolated well to keep the heat inside is in Turkey. In many places you could see heaters plugged into a socket. Also they did not mind keeping doors or windows open during the cold winter and you had always tables available to eat outside  even it was -10 degrees. Seemed like they did mind using energy for heating.

Children working

In Turkey you can see children working in restaurants. Children do not prepare the food but they serve it, clean or take the food to the customers by bike. Usually children are working for their fathers restaurant. Once I was having a dinner at 10 in the evening and there was about 12 years old child working. I decided to ask are going to school tomorrow and he replied "yes".

Ice hockey

Belpa ice hockey hall

There is going to be an Ice hockey tournament between universities in Turkey on May. Therefore Gazi university have started to train for this tournament on Thursday and Friday mornings. I also participated to the trainings. In the team of our university is about 5 players who play in a ice hockey team so they know to play but their level is not that high. Then there are players who still have to learn to skate better and their stick handling is not so good either. I have had to borrow plastic figure skates for the first trainings so playing has been hard but university will borrow me skates next week and later also equipment for the tournament.

Cabbadocia

Castle of Uchisar

Mountains

Last weekend we did a trip to Cabbadocia. In Cabbadocia erosion have shaped mountains and the composition of the stone have made it possible to make houses inside mountains. There is even build entire cities inside to the ground to protect people during the war time. We visited one underground city and we were 30 meters under the ground level. In the underground city had been living a few thousand people. I can definitely recommend Cabbadocia for visiting.