Some Europeans and Americans think that Istanbul is an Arabic city in the desert. Simply, it’s not. It’s cold, humid, rainy, and even snowy in winter. Snow is common between December and March. Rain is also common, especially in autumn,…
St. Anthony of Padua Church is the largest church of the Roman Catholic Church in Istanbul. It is located on İstiklal Avenue (see notes 1) in the historic Beyoğlu (Pera) district, the social and cultural center of Istanbul. It is also known as the Sant’Antonio…
Olympos, Turkey (also Olympus), an ancient Lycian city, offers a truly unique experience where history and nature blend seamlessly. Nestled in a river valley along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, within the borders of Antalya province, the city’s ruins, over…
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…
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…
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.
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)…
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,…
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…
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…
On the European side of Istanbul, just one kilometer away from Maslak, one of the city’s main business districts, there is a lovely place to spend some time in greenery: Emirgan Park. It overlooks the Bosphorus (see notes 1) in…
Jason Moran’s “Ringing My Phone” (Straight Outta Istanbul) features a sampled phone conversation between a girl (his hostess) and her mother in Turkish.