Happy Children's Day

Since today April 23rd is National Children's Day in Turkey, we thought we'd continue with our annual tradition of posting images of Turkish children for this blog entry.

It was 35 years ago today that I participated in a Children's Day parade in the town of Eregli in Zonguldak province.

The TRT (Turkey Radio Television) organizes a festival each year where children from around the world gather in Turkey. Last year, children from Azerbaijan, Egypt and Vietnam were among the participants.

The first Children's Day was celebrated on April 23, 1920, and it was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's iconic political leader who formally established The Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923. October 29th is now recognized as Republic's Day. May 19th, a day set aside to recognize youth and athletics in Turkey, is also one of Turkey's main state holidays.

50 Beers From Around the Globe- Mythos (Greece)

It may seem a bit ironic (since I am a Turkish-American) that today's entry features Mythos Beer from Greece, which is bottled in both green and red bottles, but hey we like Greeks except those fervent nationalists who claim every city in Turkey except the western, industrial Black Sea port city of Zonguldak (Turkish people will get the joke; I hope!).

Mythos is apparently available in the USA.

While thinking of Greek restaurants in the USA, I found two unique-looking ones in Philadelphia, which has a large Greek-American population. They include Byblos Restaurant and Bar and Karnella Restaurant, which appears to be run by a Greek Cypriot family.

Closer to home, there is The Acropolis Restaurant in Greensboro.