July 21. Day 202. Turkish delight

 My love affair with Turkey began just after my 25th birthday on my first big solo overseas adventure. It was the most beautiful, exotic, mystical place I had ever encountered. From the Grand Bizarre to the Blue Mosque  to the thermal terraces at Pamukkale, it was an Aussie tourist's dreams come true. On that trip I drank my weight in Turkish apple and orange tea and raki, a potent anise-flavoured liquid capable of giving you a hangover just by sniffing it. And then there was the food. These days we'd say hashtag yum but back then we spoke in sentences ...mostly ... at least before the raki. Unfortunately, I've never returned to Turkey but I do like to visit a Turkish restaurant as frequently as possible. Tonight was one such night, this time courtesy of a my dear friend Alison.
We devoured a banquet and washed it down with Turkish apple tea ...  and wine.  My appetite for Turkish food has not diminished at all in the intervening years but the older, wiser me now avoids raki. Some things improve with age ... at least a bit.