Eğirdir Gölü Lake EğirdirWe have recently learned a new expression: ferahlık duymak. If you look ferahlık up in the dictionary you will find a few flat words including spaciousness, airiness, contentment, happiness, relief. In truth, these translations fail to inspire the real meaning. If we understand right, it means the swell of emotion, the liberation from clenching internal anxiety, the broad beautiful peacefulness that alight a person when they see tranquil waters reflecting the day’s last rays of sun. It means a profound sigh of contentment, the suggestion of a smile in one’s eyes. This is how we felt when visiting Eğirdir Gölü, Turkey’s second largest freshwater lake, and possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth. One meandering hour east of Isparta and southwest of the ancient ruins of Pisidian Antioch, Lake Eğirdir has been a preferred stop for travelers since the Babylonian traders of the 5th Century BC. When we visited we were once and again amazed by the exquisiteness of nature and its Creator as well as the warmth of the family whose guest house we stayed at, whose owner, wife, sisters, and daughters, were kind enough to share conversation and tea, fresh seasonal apples, and homemade baklava with us. Nothing really is much better than that.
