One of my friends was kind enough to have me over for Christmas in Mersin, and she made me try all of the delicious Turkish food.

Tantuni was my favourite, and apparently a specialty of Mersin. It was similar to doner, but longer and skinnier and with ground meat and some sort of herbs that gave it a great tang.

WP_010301
Iskander.

Iskander is something everyone should definitely try once. It was completely delicious, though a bit too rich for me to enjoy regularly. It consists of bread with thin meat and tomato sauce on top, and they literally come and pour melted butter over it. Sooo tasty. We also had kunafe at a place called Ünlüoğlu, which was incredibly rich but amazing

While on the topic of food, I have to give a huge shout out to pomegranate juice. (My obsession with pomegranate juice is similar to a friend’s obsession with mango juice and diet pepsi… :)) It’s really cheap in Turkey at about 1-5 lira (because Turkish pomegranates are the best!) and absolutely delicious. I also am obsessed with the doner available on street stalls–for around 5 lira, you get a filling and delicious wrap similar to schawarma but better.

12463937_10208368067698411_1947997266_n
A very strange bird looking out on Mersin.
WP_010300
This is what one finds in the malls of Mersin. Weird, but okay!
WP_010302
Outside the Mersin Deniz Muzesi, a naval museum with a lot of Turkish history.

12436028_10208368063778313_1614213090_n 12443163_10208368062018269_202262322_n WP_010310 WP_010312