Category Archives for Turkey
Istanbul has rapidly become one of the most visited cities in the world, thanks to its compelling “East meets West” culture, stunning architecture and fascinating history and museums. It’s also a major shopping destination, thanks in no small part to the Grand Bazaar, a covered market complex that puts even the largest shopping malls and [...]
Postcards from…. Istanbul
We loved Istanbul — and not just Cihangir. The capital of great empires for 1500 years, first Byzantium, then Constantinople, the city forms a boundary between Asia and Europe. The dome of the Aya Sofya, suspended high above, is jawdropping — 1480 years after it was first built. Big ships run through the Sea of [...]
What is Gallipoli?
World War I is ancient history. It passed from living memory with the death of the last veteran this year. It’s not a “good” war like the Second World War, a war that begins so neatly with a single bad guy who had to be stopped. There were no real bad guys in World War [...]
Is Troy Worth Seeing?
I wasn’t, honestly, going to let my spawn leave Turkey without inflicting Troy on him. I’m still in a strop with myself for missing Baalbek in Lebanon (some minor kerfuffle about carjackings and kidnappings…). And to leave Turkey without seeing Troy? Just ain’t gonna happen. When it comes to classics, I’m a complete geek. I [...]
One of remarkably few downsides to travelling with my son is, well, markets. I like nothing better than wandering around local markets looking at what’s for sale and buying (typically) whatever new fruit I can find, and veggies should we have a kitchen, plus perhaps some lurid underwear and/or age-inappropriate vest tops. But, for me, [...]
“I don’t know where that is,” says the guy, poring over the address I’ve hand-copied. “Just walk.” “Walk?!” I say. I mean, I know we’re walking distance from Cihangir, but… “But I don’t know where it is. I’ll take a taxi.” “The taxi driver won’t know it, either,” he says. “Yeah,” I say, trying to [...]
Getting Istanbul All Wrong – Again!
Our cunning flat plans don’t go entirely, ahem, to plan – there are any number of reasons why a flat might appear as available on the internet and not be, not least among them that the owner has forgotten to update its availability and/or gone on holiday – and we spend our first night in [...]
Cappadocia: It’s a Wrap…
We leave Cappadocia with, as the cliché has it, heavy hearts. But also some excitement. Yes, even with a hellish overnight bus journey ahead of us. Because our next stop is Istanbul, the capital of world empires for around 1500 years, a city bigger than New York or London, and somewhere we pretty much fell [...]
Maybe this is just me. (And my son, obv.) Maybe I have an unusually dirty mind. Maybe I am, in fact, a teenage boy. But I can’t help finding some of these Cappadocian rock formations just that little bit, umm, suggestive. What do you reckon? Have *you* seen many phallic rocks on your travels? Share [...]
A Bit of Green Without The Greenwash
Out of my ever-expanding portfolio of “THINGS ON THE INTERNET THAT MAKE ME REALLY SHOUTY AND CAPS LOCKY”, my current number one has to be greenwash. Because, oh boy, there’s a lot of it about. Especially in the blogosphere. But also in resort holidays and, umm, adventure holidays packaged as ecotourism. Which is why I [...]
