As someone celebrating a big birthday this year ending in 0 (I’m not saying which one), I know how important it is to treat yourself. As a freelance travel writer and well, just me, I always have a project on the go. If I’m not writing an article I’m making a new blouse, reading a…
Another small suburb tucked away on the edges of the Bosphorus is Kurucesme (Kuruçeşme). The name translates as dry fountain, and it is believed to have been named for a 17th century fountain attached to the Tezkireci Osman Efendi Mosque. At one time the area was an industrial zone where coal and sand were stored….
Named after the Albanian (Arnavut) builders brought to Istanbul by Sultan Abdülmescid in the 19th century to lay sidewalks in the city, Arnavutkoy is home to beautiful wooden houses, many of them lining the Bosphorus waterside. The original population was a mix of Turks and Albanians, and there was a large community of Greeks and…
Tucked away on the shores of the Bosphorus, next to the far more fashionable and better known suburb of Emirgan, is Boyacikoy, which means ‘Village of the Dyers’. The suburb is so named because in the eighteenth century a large family of dyers from Kırklareli in Thrace, north west of Istanbul, were resettled here by…
Over the centuries Diyarbakir, in south east Turkey, has seen dozens of civilizations and empires come and go. The Greeks, Romans, Sassanids, Arabs, Byzantines and the Ottomans all ruled here at one time or another. The Mervani, a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty of Upper Mesopotamia and Armenia ruled Diyarbakir between 978 and 1085 AD, and…
What to know about Turkish National Public Holidays On any of the many Turkish national public holidays, thousands if not millions of people are on the move. Istanbul residents take advantage of free public transport to go sightseeing in Sultanahmet and Eminönü while others head east to places like Şanliurfa and Diyarbakir, to celebrate Şeker…
Recently, my neighbourhood Goztepe Istanbul, 20 minutes inland from Kadıköy by bus, has become somewhat popular with Chinese and Taiwanese tourists. Apparently my middle class, middle average nothing much happens mahalle has been featured on Weibo, what I’m told is the Chinese version of Instagram. The very fact Goztepe’s so normal and ordinary is what…
Of the nine Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara off Istanbul, Heybeliada is the second biggest after Büyükada. The Turkish name translates as Saddlebag Island, as hills at either end of the land mass make it resemble one. However locals call it Halky (pronounced halki) which is also the Greek name for the island….
Pera Palace Hotel History The Pera Palace Hotel opened in 1895 to host passengers arriving in Istanbul on the famous Orient Express train. Renowned architect Alexander Vallaury oversaw the construction of the building. It has an Art-nouveau façade and inside, the grand ballroom and the glorious Kubbeli Lounge, combining oriental grandeur with geometric patterning where…
The internet is bursting with ‘best of’ lists about where to eat in Istanbul, where to have a drink, the 10 best cafes and so on. As a professional freelance writer I know a lot of them are PR generated, meaning new restaurants open up and pay a public relations company to get them noticed….