Why you should go to Istanbul
“Hello! You walk like an American” said the smiling stranger in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square. How was I walking? Having been to the city a few times, I knew where I was going but… Continue reading
Tag Archive: Istanbul
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Love in/ing Istanbul
Seeing a US fast food chain in Istanbul is like running into a crass, boorish American tourist in the Hagia Sophia; not far from my hotel there’s a Burger King talking on its… Continue reading
Miracles, misery, and memory on my last night in Turkije.
We live in an age of casual miracles. Yesterday I woke up in Hasankeyf, and went to bed in Diyarbakir. Tonight I will sleep in Istanbul, and tomorrow I will travel to Tel… Continue reading
Ancient romans, modern riots, and finally, Eastern Turkey
At breakfast in Antalya I pile my plate with fresh French bread, olives, feta, and slices of cucumber and tomato. I go back twice more, balancing the ratios and refilling my cup of… Continue reading
I enjoy being abandoned on the side of a highway in a foreign land.
I woke up on the side of a warm highway, somewhere in Turkey. My bus was getting smaller in one direction, while from the other a tractor was approaching with more noise than… Continue reading
Shock and awe
I’ve reached saturation point. I can’t take any more. I am in stunning-mosque shock, have had all the beautiful Istanbul views I can handle…and I feel like a toy with the battery taken… Continue reading
Istanbul makes a man out of me
It was K who noticed the barber shop. “Did you want a haircut?” My head felt like a chia pet left untended somewhere with plenty of water and sunlight, and it was speeding… Continue reading
“I” is for Impressive, I am for Istanbul.
I’m not sure when the last time was that a city struck me so quickly, so strongly, so impressively as Istanbul has done. We’ve only been here two days, but it is rapidly… Continue reading
It’s all ending; it’s all beginning.
On the night I left for Nicaragua, a year and a week ago exactly, I took a moment on the drive to the airport to take my hands off the wheel (the road… Continue reading
