How to celebrate New Year in Turkey

Meet the New Year in Turkey is a double pleasure. Firstly, you can celebrate this joyous date without salad "olivier" and other, nabivshih nauseam, traditional scenery, and secondly, to discover an unfamiliar for most tourists the country. After all, they come here mainly in the summer. Winter Turkey offers much more for tourists. And one of them - to scream when midnight strikes, "Mutlu Yillar!", Make a wish and drink a glass of raki, mixed with soda (a milky-looking drink, reminiscent of champagne).

New Year in Turkey began to celebrate not so long ago - since 1935. The political leader and head of state Atatürk decided that the Republic only develops successfully when it is secular. Meet the coming year here began in 1926, but since the country then lived on the Julian calendar, celebrated the holiday on the first Saturday of January. At first, ordinary Turks did not particularly celebrate this day, but later they got involved. Now in any small town or village in late December, houses, streets and shop windows are adorned. Most Muslim Turks decorate Christmas trees in their homes, although Christian roots are attributed to this custom.

More traditionally, the New Year in Turkey is celebrated according to the Hijra - the Muslim lunar calendar. But this holiday with a "floating date" basically has a more religious meaning, whereas the night from December 31 to January 1 is full of fun, fun and gifts. Especially love this holiday children: to them at this time, as well as to kids from other countries, Noel Baba (New Year's Grandfather) comes and brings presents. In general, in recent decades, thanks to television, Turks are increasingly copying European traditions: cards are sold everywhere, Christmas sales are held, and families, gathered at a table, eat stuffed turkey.

Having realized to celebrate the New Year in Turkey, do not expect that it will be a budget: a holiday - it is for that a holiday to fork out. Where should I go to have fun in this enchanting night? The festivities take place in Ankara, Istanbul, as well as in towns and villages of the Mediterranean Riviera. There is another option - ski resorts in Turkey (yes, there are such!), Where, as well as on the coast, the "all inclusive" system is practiced.

The places of greatest fun and emancipation in Istanbul are the areas of Pera, Kadikey, Sultanahmet, Taksim. A lot of hotels for their guests organize a gala dinner. The city is flooded with tourists who came to celebrate the New Year in Turkey. The reviews enthusiastically mention that this night can be spent aboard the ship, slipping over the smooth surface of the Bosphorus. There guests will enjoy a festive treat and show program. By the way, New Year's fireworks are best admired from the sea.

The same people who chose the Mediterranean Riviera as a place for Christmas vacations also did not lose their fortune. The weather in Turkey for the New Year is significantly different from ours, and for the better. There are, however, rains, but the air is still warm, and the sea is even warmer. If you are uncomfortable to swim at +20, on the territory of fashionable hotels there are heated pools, hammams and other SPA-procedures. Another "token" of celebrating the holiday is the New Year's lottery. Turks - people are gambling, and the rallies are held constantly. However, at the end of December a special prize was announced - a very significant amount. Some hotels as a New Year's gift for their customers buy lottery tickets in batches. It is not excluded that, waking up on January 1, you will find in your room such a "happy coupon".