Olympos is an ancient Lycian city, its ruins lie at the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, in the borders of Antalya province, in a river valley near the coast. It was presumably taking its name from nearby 2,375 meters height (7,792 feet) Mount Olympos (or Mount Olympus – Turkish: Tahtalı Dağı, Timber Mountain), one of over twenty mountains with the name Olympos (Olympus) in the Classical world.
Continue reading “Olympos ancient city (Antalya, Turkey)”Uzunya Beach
Uzunya is a small and beautiful cove in the north of Istanbul, near the Black Sea. It has a beautiful beach, one of the best beaches in Istanbul actually. There’s also a restaurant on the beach.
I went there during a training road bike ride. It is a good place for a train ride because it has a steep road, and very little car traffic.
Continue reading “Uzunya Beach”Cycling through the Black Sea shore
I went for a training ride yesterday with two friends. We headed up to the north and cycled through the Black Sea shore. We climbed a lot.
First, we headed to Kısırkaya, where the road has a lot of short-but-really-steep (up to 20%) climbs.
Cycling to Karaburun
Karaburun is a small village in the northeast of Istanbul, near the Black Sea. Me and two friends cycled there and swam in the sea.
Continue reading “Cycling to Karaburun”Maiden’s Tower
Since the medieval Byzantine period, 200 meters off the shore of the Salacak district in Üsküdar, at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus, a tower lyes on a small islet: The Maiden’s Tower (Turkish: Kız Kulesi).
It is also (mistakenly) known as Leander’s Tower (Tower of Leandros), which comes from one of many legends about the construction. Mistakenly, because the legend of Hero and Leander took place in the Dardanelles, not in the Bosphorus.
Continue reading “Maiden’s Tower”A bike ride on a sunny but windy day
1st day of April… It was windy but sunny and warm. I jumped on my bike and ride it to the North, to the Black Sea.
Rumeli Lighthouse (Turkish: Rumeli Feneri, aka Türkeli Feneri), a historical lighthouse still in use, is located on the European side of Bosphorus‘ Black Sea entrance in Istanbul, Turkey. Rumeli (or Rumelia) is the former name for the Turkish lands in Europe. It is across from the Anadolu Feneri lighthouse, which is on the Asian side of the strait at a distance of 2 nautical miles (3.7 km).
Continue reading “A bike ride on a sunny but windy day”A bike ride on a chilly, sunny Sunday morning
Another Sunday bike ride in Istanbul: I started as early as 6:00 in the morning, first headed to South (Ortaköy), then climbed up to Maden (Sarıyer) and went to Rumeli Lighthouse village.
At the end of the ride, I covered 83 km and climbed 921 meters in 2:54:38 (avg. 28.50 kph)
Then I returned back to home through Kocataş. Here are the photos below, enjoy.
A bike ride in Istanbul on a beautiful morning
It’s March now and March is the month of misty, chilly mornings in Istanbul. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the roads were empty. A perfect day for a bike ride in Istanbul!
The roads would be crowded soon, so I hurried to ride my bike for an hour or two.
It was really chilly and misty this morning. I first did a fast downhill to the Bosphorus, then headed south to Ortaköy.
Continue reading “A bike ride in Istanbul on a beautiful morning”Emirgan Park
On the European side of Istanbul, just one kilometer away from Maslak, one of the main business districts of the city, there is a lovely place to spend some time in greenery: Emirgan Park. It overlooks the Bosphorus (see notes 1) in the suburb of Emirgan. It is one of the largest parks in Istanbul. There are lovely gardens, a grotto, fountains, quiet picnic areas, and three former Ottoman pavilions (they are in use as restaurants now) in the park.
Continue reading “Emirgan Park”Ringing My Phone (Jason Moran & The Bandwagon)
Jason Moran’s “Ringing My Phone” (Straight Outta Istanbul) features a sampled phone conversation between a girl (his hostess) and her mother in Turkish.
Continue reading “Ringing My Phone (Jason Moran & The Bandwagon)”