There are 81 reasons to fall in love with Turkey and number 63 is Şanlıurfa. Şanlıurfa'ya hos geldiniz! Daha enerji istiyorum! I'm not alone I am with my good old friend Tulin! Hello! And together we're going to explore Şanlıurfa. Right now, we are driving to a place called Halfeti. So we are going there right now. We rented a car And let's do this This is Turkey This is Eski Halfeti, the old city of Halfeti. It is very special because it has a special history. We are going to find out more about this later. And the beautiful river is called Euphrates River. Wow. Do you like it Tulin? Yes Beautiful Cok güzel burada We decided to take a boat tour here. It's basically one of the main things that you can do. A ticket is 25 liras. The boat tour is one hour. There are lots of boats here. I wish there were a little bit less of them. They get super crowded and also they play really loud pop music. OK, stop. So this is the magical place of the old town of Halfeti What you can see there is the minaret and what belongs to a minaret? Correct. A mosque. And we cannot see that. So it means it's under the water. It's really, really magical to be here and to look into the water and search for the mosque. It's totally insane. Also, this area, the old town of Halfeti was flooded in 1999, which means that up until this time, people were living here. You can still see the houses, but today it's more or less a ghost town and people are not living here anymore. And I also had the chance to speak some German because I met Turan who grew up in Germany and just decided to come back to move back to his hometown Halfeti. I am here with Turan. He is from Halfeti and he will tell us about the story and how it was to come back to Turkey. Because you grew up in Germany, right? Yes I grew up in Berlin I came back 5 years ago Now I want to live here. It's nice here. Why did you decide to come back to Turkey? How should I say this. I grew up in Berlin No school. I went to a special school. Since 13 years I've been working 17-18 hours every day I am done with it I didn't like it Now I want to enjoy my retirement here Here is better. It's more relaxed Do you remember the year 2000 when the people had to leave this place here? Yeah. I can remember it. How was it? They moved. Many people were sad. It was really sad. Does someone still live here? No, only an old man is still living here. He is coming here in a bit. He also speaks a bit German. He is the only one who lives here He is 80 and lives here alone. And this person is Uncle Yunus who still lives there and he's running a cafe there I had one chance to ask him a question What do you want to tell young people? Gençler, pislikten uzak kalsınlar bir kere ? Namuslu olsunlar, namuslu yaşasınlar Yolda giden bayanlara, kadınlara sapkinlik yapmasınlar Benim dediğim bu, tek dediğim bu Can you speak the Berlin accent? Yeah. I was a hawker. 2 packages of strawberries 3 Euros 3 packages asparagus 5 Euro Buyrun I think we should talk about the name of Şanlıurfa, because it does not only translate to "Glorious Urfa" it actually is very glorious because this region has so many stories to tell. I want to show you something very special for Şanlıurfa or actually Halfeti, and that's this Rose. So when you look at this rose you might think, nothing special, just a rose colored black. But what if I told you that this rose is 100% natural? And they say that Halfeti is the only known place in the whole world that grows natural black roses And why is that? Because of the special soil here in Halfeti. If you take these roses and let's say you want to grow them in your garden in Istanbul, this rose will not stay black. It will actually turn into a reddish color. The mix of the climate and also the soil here makes it a perfect place for black roses to grow. Şanlıurfa is also a place where different religions and cultures come together and especially when you visit historical sites here, you will find a close connection between Christianity and Islamic traditions. Nowadays, there are some boats like boat tours. They come here to visit this place You can have a rest for like 10 minutes, get a cay and enjoy the view. Bye bye! If you need help, just call me and we’ll figure it out Alright, see you! Ciao. Even though there are a lot of tourists, Halfeti is indeed a very magical place It’s like a fairy tale that opens up a completely different world to you. And don't forget to go there and drink a cay at Yunus Dayi's place. So we just finished the boat tour and I told Tulin how much I want to eat fish now And what a coincidence! We were so lucky that the boat… The last stop of the boat tour was a restaurant. So we decided to just sit down here with this beautiful view on the Euphrates River. Halfeti became 2013 part of the slow cities It means that the government of the city or the... What do you call this? When you travel? Tourism! The tourism here focuses on slow travel. They want to improve the local tourism, traditions and also the local cuisine. So in this restaurant, you can find the Sabut Fish, which is a local fish. You can only find this fish here in the Euphrates river. So I'm going to try this out, but Halfeti also has a Halfeti kebab with eggplants. So these are the two things you should definitely try out when you are in Halfeti. So this is the Sabut Fish and we also got the Hashas K ebab. How do you like it? It is really delicious. Yeah? It's not spicy. And can you feel a difference with the hashhash? No Welcome to Franzi's Food Review Let's try the Sabut Fish I was waiting for it the whole day. It's a grilled fish. Wow Okay Wow It is so good Really? So soft You should try it I don't want seafood. Try it. I'll give you, ok? No, no. Yes, yes I really don't like sea food. It doesn't taste like seafood, it tastes like meat So? Try it Give me your plate It's too big for me No It's really big for me. No OK. I have to film your reaction are you ready? I'm actually not But does it matter? It's really good fish. I really don't like sea food. Try it No one is gonna believe me. And now act like you love it. It's fine. Act like you love it. Your're in love. No it's fine. It's good But I prefer that one. You should try this It's good, it's really good. OK, which one is better? Wow, Tell me I can taste the real meat. Which one is better? I like both. For the fish - it's amazing Ok just be honest. Which one is better? I swear, I love fish. It's really good fish. I love the Kebab, too. The Kebab is really good. Really, really good. But the fish is so soft. It is. And it doesn't have any bones. Yeah that's right. Oh it does have. Afiyet Olsun! Wow, gercekten cok gül, cok gül gibi Where are you from? Germany. Germany? Thank you. Don't do this, she knows this very well. She's been living here for years. I really know it. (Turkish) small, big, medium? Small for me. Kücük ben. Look, she understands. How much is it? 2 coups, small size? 2 small are 10 TL. Wow very delicious. Do you like it? Oh my god it's amazing. Oh my god it's amazing. Yeah that's the reaction we want. Not me guys, I am so sorry. OK, cut. So we are now on our way to a Sira Gecesi which is like a
traditional evening in Şanlıurfa, where people come together. They listen to music, play music, and they eat a lot, especially Cig Köfte. Ok, ready? It’s not so spicy But it is spicy Yeah, yes This place is called Balikli Göl. Why? Because there are so many fish in the lake and there's actually a very interesting story behind that. There was King Nemrut and his daughter Zeynep. She... Not Zeynep, Zeylihan Saliha. She... She died? I think, yeah Ok The daughter of King Nemrut, she died right here, in this lake And she turned into... They say that it turned into water and the water turned into the fish, which you can see today. There are so many carpes which are holy. They protect them and they actually encourage the visitors to feed them. And also, when you see a white and yellow fish here, you can make a wish And this wish will come true. I just saw white and yellow fish. So actually there are so many different stories about this Balikli Göl that nobody actually knows which one is true. And I think it's just very interesting to read about all these stories. So there was not only Abraham, there was King Nemrut, there was his daughter. So many people. And there's also one story that says if you drink the water of the Balikli Göl, you will turn blind. So a legend says that this cave right next to the Balikli Göl is the place where the prophet Abraham was born. And today it is a very important pilgrimage place Welcome to Franzi's Food Review This is the place where we are going: to Ali Baba. Good morning, we want to eat liver kebab. One Ciger and one ayran please. THe place where I'm right now is the most important place in Şanlıurfa. A Ciger Kebabi restaurant Why? Because Ciger Kebab is very special for Şanlıurfa They love eating Ciger Kebabi here. What are you doing? I am cutting onions You're doing a great job. Ciger Kebabi basically translated means liver kebab,
which is actually the most consumed food here in Şanlıurfa. They eat this for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner. They basically eat this all the time. So I'm going to eat this right now. Can you guess what that is? Probably not. So I'm going to tell you! This is Köpüklü Ayran, which means ayran with bubbles. Very good. It's so fresh. And of course, we got the spices, chili I think Şanlıurfa loves eating spicy, so we have to eat this, too. These are onions with Şanlıurfa peppers. Also very special, I guess. Thank you You’re welcome How can I eat this? I have no idea how to eat this. Where are you from? From Germany Germany. Almanya Munich. Berlin. Where are you from? From here, Turkey. From Urfa. Very nice. How does Ciger Kebabi taste? Very good. Good? Very good. Is it spicy? It's spicy. Very spicy. Thanks so much Thank you. You're welcome. All right, Ayran. Ayran is very important. I'm going to try this Ciger Kebap now, made in a dürüm Let's see. Also, I don't like spicy. Let's see if I can eat this. Hmmm, ok. Hmm I can feel all the different flavors, like mint, parsley, the lemon. It's really good. I need to eat a little bit more Ok. My real honest food review about Ciger Kebab. Mixed together with the bread and all the things. I do not taste the pure liver meat, which is good because I'm not a liver fan. So it's nice that there is... It’s nice that there's a mix. It's not that spicy, to be honest. It is quite spicy, it is spicy now. It is spicy It is, it is spicy. But I like the mint. Mint gives it a great taste. You wanna try? And now you're one of them. I am from Urfa. I am from Urfa. now I can feel the.. It is very spicy right now. Oh, it's really burning inside my throat. For liver meat, it's quite good. I like the taste. It, is spicy. Comes perfectly with ayran. So a very popular beverage here in the southeastern part of Turkey is the menengic coffee. You can find it everywhere in Şanlıurfa. It can be translated to as pistachio coffee or also Kurdish coffee. So this coffee is made out of fruits and they put pistachio on top of it. This coffee is actually caffeine free Afiyet olsun! It's more sweet coffee for me. It doesn't really taste like coffee. It's not coffee. Yeah, but I really like its taste. It tastes a lot like nuts. A ticket was 55TL, but actually if you have a museum card, it's for free. So I just got a museum card for 60 TL. Have you ever wondered how humans actually evolved? If so, this place is extraordinary. This place is called Göbeklitepe. And why is it so special? Because they say that this is the first known temple of the human history in the entire world. They think that this place is over 11000 years old. Actually, a German called Klaus Schmidt discovered this place in 1996? We love you Klaus Schmidt You're our hero Actually, this place was discovered in 1963 by a Turkish American joint project. And they thought this is just a graveyard from the medieval times. But then Klaus Schmidt came here in the 90s. He looked at the site and he was like, no, this is a very extraordinary place. He investigated more and actually found out that this might be the first temple in human history. So he thinks that this was a place where they worshipped the gods. This place is still a big mystery because all the signs that they could find in the stones, nobody actually knows what they mean because human writing was only invented 5000 years later. Today it's one of the biggest museums in the world. It's very modern, very nice to visit here. They give a lot of information and it's just amazing to be here and to imagine how this place must have been looked like ten, eleven thousand years ago. Thank you, Klaus Schmidt, for investigating further into this place. a beautiful breakfast. This is all healthy, but of course we have French fries, It has always French fries for breakfast. I don't get it. So we just made it to the archaeological site of Harran, which is an ancient city from 6000 B.C. And this is actually very popular for the beehive houses, which you can see behind me. And the special thing about these beehive houses is they are constructed entirely without any wooden structure. And the cool thing about this is that in winter when you are inside, it keeps you warm. And in summer, the architectural style keeps you cool inside and it looks very pretty Now it's a tourism site So you can come here, go inside and visit the place So behind me, you can see the Bazda Caves, which are very close to Harran as well and here are actually many tribes Most of the people here are ethnic Arabs We are here at the Cumeli tribe and they are very cute people You are very cute That's it from Şanlıurfa. See you next time in Kayseri! This place is called Balikli Göl. Why?
