There’s an awful lot of information on traditional Turkish life available, but things change. Read on to get a taste of contemporary life in Istanbul through this excerpt from my memoir Istanbul Dreams. “…Since I first came to Turkey more than twenty years ago, trade has opened up, overseas travel has become cheaper, and society…
Here are some of my favourite Istanbul neighbourhood parks on the Asian side of the city. Istanbul is a densely populated city sprawling over both banks of the Bosphorus Strait. It is a metropolis full of high rise apartments and office blocks. Nonetheless, Istanbullu (people who live in Istanbul) value their green spaces and make…
Back when I first travelled around Turkey on my own in 1990 there were no mobile phones, the internet didn’t exist and the only way to let my family know I was safe was via occasional expensive phone calls from the post office or aerogram letters that took six weeks to arrive. Needless to say,…
The two devastating earthquakes that struck south eastern Turkey in the early hours of Monday and again around midday, 6 February 2023 continue to effect the people of Gaziantep. However the city is once again welcoming visitors. Tourism dollars go some way to normalising life but there is still a lot to be done. If…
I’ve often said Istanbul isn’t so much a metropolis as a series of small interconnected villages and a set of coincidences I experienced when I went to Hatay and Gaziantep has really confirmed this belief. One day I was looking for a Whatsapp chat I’d had with someone at an animal shelter on this side…
Welcome to the second part of Sultanahmet – playing tourist in the city I call home. If you haven’t read part one already, here’s the link . The next morning we woke up ready to go out and play tourist again but to be honest, it was tempting to just stay put. We were staying…
I remember when I first came to Turkey as a tourist (more than a few years ago now I’ll admit) the one thing I found hard to take and then actually annoying, was the way sales people persisted in trying to sell me things. Of course it’s their job but when you’re new to a…
A few years ago I spent a fun afternoon and early evening picnicking with a big group of friends in Yildiz Park. After a lunch that went on for hours we decided to play frisbee, not an easy task as the park cascades rather steeply down towards the Bosphorus. This was especially unfortunate for the…
I’m excited to share my interview with Jane Gundogan. Jane Gundogan is an author and in her own words, “also a part-time comedian (in her own mind), half-assed blogger and a totally committed vinophile”. Most importantly, she’s the person behind Salep and Ginger, a novel set in Turkey (see my review here) and the only…
Embracing uncertainty and community in the time of Coronavirus Turkey officially announced its first recorded case of Coronavirus late on March 10, 2020. The next day the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. From the beginning many countries, their politicians and their media have framed the pandemic in combative terms, using the idea that…