Market to market to buy a fat fig. Home again home again jiggity jig.

Peanuts, limes, apples and yes, those wonderful figs

I am stuffed as I write this, all thanks to the awesome Alanya farmers markets we have discovered. On Mondays, the market is stationed exactly one block from our apartment. Yay!  The last two weeks the kids and I have headed down early, around 9 am (yes that's early for this beach town). Many of the vendors are still setting up then and the crowd is sparse making it easier for the kids to get around on their own and make friends with the vendors. All they have to do is flash a smile and they are showered with free samples of Turkish goodies and Ruby is always especially appreciative.

Dried spices, fruits and other prepared goods.

Local fruits including bananas, strawberries, grapes, limes, peaches, figs, nectarines, kiwis, strawberries, oranges, water and other melons, and pomegranates are everywhere.  Slightly less popular with the kids but no less stunning are the countless fresh greens, vegetables, marinated olives, spices, dried fruits- including those heavenly Turkish apricots - honeys and cheeses.   Many of the varieties are still completely foreign to me so for now I am sticking to what I recognize based on sight (It seems that very few of the vendors speak any English at all). I hope to learn more about the local produce through Nese and restaurants so that we can expand our palate with time.

 



A vendor with her dried herbs

Olives, olives and more olives



Our purchases

Mountain o' strawberries

Ruby admiring some juicy nectarines

Needless to say, The kids and I loaded up this morning and I was rewarded with a lunch of plain yogurt topped with fresh, perfectly ripe nectarines, figs, nuts (cashews, almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts) and honey that Alan bought on their recent school trip to Cappadocia.  Yes, it was every bit as good as it sounds. -- Kelly