A Night Out in Ankara, Not so Cheap.

Ankara, Turkey - A Friday night in Ankara is a happening time. The city is very alive with a mix of the young and old celebrating the end of the week. Anil's friend, Aybeniz, invited myself and the three swedes to join her and her friends to celebrate her birthday. I was curious as to what customs and different traditions young Turks have when celebrating a birthday so it was an easy decision to go.

So we caught a taxi from our house and managed to fit: Anil (my General Manager), Cagil (his brother and other goalie on team), Nicholas (Swede), Pontus (Swede), Daniel (Swede), and myself into a taxi car. Thats right, 6 people into a small taxi. We got dropped off about 2km from our destination because traffic was so bad (it is 9pm!). As we start walking everyone in our group notices how much nicer the homes and the cars are. Every vehicle parked outside a cafe or restuarant is a BMW, Mercedez, or Audi. Anil tells us that this is the street were all the embassies are located and all the diplomats and wealthy political officials spend their Friday nights.

We meet up with Anil's friends and walk to a small pub. It is here I discover the traditions of a birthday in Turkey; karaoke. That is right. All Anil's friends wanted to do was have a beer, cake, and sing karaoke. It was also here in this pub that I discovered that drinking alcohol in Turkey is a luxury. A pint of Guiness is 10 USD, a glass of Turkish red wine is 9 USD, and a bottle of Turkish beer (Efes) is 8 USD. So the Swedes and I purchased one drink and listened to the karoake. It was a shock to myself and the other pub patrons when an American performed the most amazing version of Frank Sintra's "New York New York". We all thought it was the CD playing, but it wasn't. This guy sang without barely looking at the monitor and taking sips from is martini during the breaks like a true professional.

It was a nice experience at the pub with a mix of languages being spoken; German, Dutch, English, and of course Turkish. I counted 4 other cakes go by with sparklers when it was close to midnight and Daniel and myself decided to catch a taxi back to the flat while the rest of the group was heading to club where a rock band was playing. I later discovered that this was a good idea because the club was so full that the swedes couldn't even lift their beers to their mouths and they left as soon as they arrived.

Here are some pictures of the night courtesy of Facebook.

The first photo is of Aybeniz (in white). Then Pontus, Aybeniz, Elif, and myself. And the last photo is of the group.