Ankara Awoken

The order of my Turkey posts is kinda weird, I know. All due to collating photos from a few cameras. Well, more on Ankara, Turkey. Swissotel Ankara is right smack in the heart of a residential neighbourhood - think Holland Village minus the happening restaurants and nightspots. Strange one might think but apparantly, many businessmen choose the hotel simply cos it's away from the main city. Ask around which is the capital city of Turkey and almost everyone will tell you it's Istanbul. Wrong. It's actually Ankara!

The WW Conference certainly awoken the Swissotel neighbourhood. Mid-afternoon games held right outside the hotel during one of the coffee breaks at a temperature of about below 10 degrees. That certainly got the neighbourhood peeking from their windows. We were given Michelin-looking wind breakers - so huge we looked like odd shaped snowmen getting together for afternoon tea.

And the night tour to the Ataturk museum was really cool. The musuem grounds are actually closed in the evening but special arrangements were made just for the Swissotel group! Ataturk is highly revered as the "father" of Turkey and the museum showcases his glorious battles and bits of his private life.

I think there were lots more of Ankara we missed. And despite its understatedness as compared to Istanbul, I am sure Ankara will emerge as a thriving city very soon.