I arrived at Antalya airport in the early hours on Monday morning. I was to meet the Friendship Arabia team in Ankara that evening. Because it is my first visit to Turkey I decided to take the bus to Ankara, rather than a plane to see as much as possible of the country during my short visit.

It was great to see everybody with whom I had spent part of the 2008 Tour with again. On our second day in Ankara we first made a visit to the Turkish Ministry of Culture. We were greeted by Mrs. Berrin Kavlak (Head of Department for Phonetic Arts) who gave us a warm welcome and also a brief insight into their tasks of promoting and supporting Turkish artists. We were also presented with gift boxes with CDs of various Turkish musicians and instrumental pieces. 

It was not the first time that we got a taste of the friendliness and generosity of the Turkish people. Then we visited the Bahrain Embassy. Next on the program was a visit to Ankara’s Town Hall where the Deputy Mayor of the Kecioren Municipality Resan Ozcan welcomed us and presented us with a beautiful watercolour painting of tulips and a book about Ankara’s Municipality. We were invited to have lunch with them at the Cesni Restaurant and afterwards were given a guided city tour.

The major attractions were a visit to the newly opened Aquarium, the Estergon Castle (now a Turkish Culture Museum) and a round trip on the Sistem Teleferik “Kecioren Belediyesi” (a cable car operating between the castle and the Botanic Gardens).

To round up the day, Nader Al Mosawi (Ammar’s cousin who currently works in Ankara) suggested to take the metro from Ulus to Kizlay. Here we had dinner and visited the "10 o'clock market". A late night street bazar, not to be missed.

Petra Beuchert