Children's' Day

The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk once said, "Children are the new beginning of tomorrow." He dedicated April 23rd to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation. It is celebrated every year with children's parades, marching bands, school performances, and other events.

UNICEF recognizes this day as International Children's Day now.

The monument in the picture behind the children is the Republic Monument in Taksim Square in Istanbul. During the Ottoman Empire, public monuments were not allowed and forbidden as idolatry. Under Ataturk, and the new Turkish Republic however, he wanted to show that Turkey was now a secular republic with division of state and religion. Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica was commissioned to make a work honoring the leaders of the struggle for independence and the formation of the republic in 1923. It was just restored and unveiled for the start of Friday's events.

Meşhur Sur Tatlısı ("Famous Walls of Dessert")

We were in a part of the city called Fatih today and ate at a restaurant that specializes in a dessert we had never seen or heard of before. We chose the restaurant because it was crowded and that's usually a good sign and now we know why. They have a dessert that if translated into English I think would mean the "famous walls of dessert." The outside is made of semolina halva - a kind of course wheat flour - with honey and cinnamon. The texture is almost like sweet chewy grits. Then inside is vanilla ice cream and strawberries. All I can say is I will be going back to have this again. Super delicious.

Happy April Fools' Day

An article from the ISTANBUL Hürriyet Daily News

Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue witnessed an unusual event today as many people popped 100,000 balloons thrown from rooftops. The April Fools' Day event, was planned by a tourism firm to make people smile for a day and play like children, and seen by many as a way to relax as well.