Ezeur
Heather Jasper Joined: May 27th 2005
Logged in: February 11th 2012
Logged in: February 11th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Istanbulkart
Istanbul is a fascinating city and so is its transportation. It didn’t take me too long to figure out how to get around the area I live in, but I honestly think it would take a lifetime to learn the entire transportation system here. For this blog, I’m going to stick to what I know. To get from where I live to the ferry landings in Kadıköy I can take a taxi, which is expensive, a dolmuş, which is always so crowded there’s only standing room, or the 8A bus. Since I’m at the end of the line I always get a seat on the 8A. Even better is that I can use my Istanbulkart. The Istanbulkart works for all city transportation and gives you a reduction on each leg of a journey after the first ... read more
Bienvenue!
It has been over three years since I’ve been to France, and it was wonderful to see my friends there again. As with London, I was more focused on visiting with my friends than going around to tourist sights. I went straight from the Charles de Gaulle airport to the train station, which is conveniently located right next to the airport. You don’t even have to leave the building, and there are moving sidewalks the whole way. My first train ride was to see my friend Céline, who everybody calls C7 (pronounced say-set). The closest train stop to her place is Marne La Vallée Chessy, which is also the stop for Euro Disney. It was a cold and rainy day but that didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of all the kids running around with Mickey ... read more
South Bank
London is an amazing city. I wasn’t sure what to expect, since it was more of a social visit than a touristic one. I have two weeks of vacation for the end of first semester and decided to do a London-France trip, even though January isn’t really the best time to be a tourist in London. At least the plane tickets were cheap. I really didn’t have any agenda or list of sites I wanted to see. I was more excited to see my friends and taste the cuisine of all the cultures that make London such an international and cosmopolitan city. This was my first time in London, despite twelve years of telling my friend Catherine, who I met in France in 1999, that I would visit her. At least she came to see me ... read more
Outside my window
I always love the first snow (kar means snow in Turkish). We didn't get a day off school, but it was so beautiful to see the city covered with snow that I didn't care. Snow is magical no matter where you are.... read more
Ski Turkey!
Traveling and living abroad is a lot about firsts. For my first New Years in Turkey I decided to also make it my first time snowboarding in Turkey. There are several resorts in the country, although the ones that sound really good are in the east, near the town of Van. I asked around at work to see where the other teachers and students go skiing. They almost unanimously voted for Uludağ. (Note on Turkish: the ğ is a silent letter that draws out the preceding vowel.) It’s one of the closest to Istanbul and my students agreed that if I want a place that has more than just easy beginner slopes, then Uludağ is it. They were right about it being close to Istanbul. It was a fun trip although it took longer than I ... read more
Bucharest
Bucharest, Romania has cheap flights leaving Istanbul Friday after work and returning Sunday evening. That’s just about the only criteria I have for weekend trips. I have never been to Romania before and really didn’t know much about it, but when another teacher told me that there was a deal on airfare and several others were going there for the Christmas weekend, I jumped on board. Istanbul has two great airports with flights all over the world. I live and work on the Asian side of Istanbul, so I keep an eye on cheap flights from the Sabiha Gökçen airport. Now that I feel like I’ve seen most of the sights in the city, I’m looking for ways to see more of the region. There is no Christmas vacation in Turkey since it’s a Muslim country, ... read more
Julie on the Bosphorus
My friend Julie was my first visitor here in Istanbul. It was so wonderful to see her and to have somebody from home come visit. I had three days of vacation November 7-9 for Bayram and am so lucky that she was up for traveling so far for such a short trip. Even though Julie was only here for five days we saw a lot of the city. I had already seen quite a few of the tourist sights, but not all and it was so much fun for me to both play tour guide at places I knew and explore others for the first time with her. In some ways her visit reminded me of when people would come see me in Morocco. It really made me appreciate where I am and all the amazing ... read more
Kariye Müsezi
Istanbul is home to endless historical monuments, tucked away in corners of the city. Some are thoroughly in the middle of the tourist trail, like the Aya Sofiya and Topkapı Palace. Others are known to tourist guides but not necessarily to all Istanbullus. Our taxi driver knew of Kariye but not really how to get there. Once we were in the general area he asked people on the street for directions. Even then not many people could tell him where to go. The church wasn’t packed, but there were still a lot of tourists there. I got the impression that most were on guided tours and had arrived on busses. Like the Aya Sofya, Kariye has been both Byzantine church and mosque but is currently a museum. When Kemal Atatürk set up the secular Turkish government ... read more
The Starting Line
Last weekend was the Istanbul Marathon. Every year the second bridge is closed to traffic and the marathon starts in Asia and crosses the bridge to Europe. They say it’s the only marathon in the world that takes place on two continents. Istanbul is split by the Bosphorus, which runs from the Black Sea down to the Sea of Marmara. There are only two bridges to get from one side of the city to the other, and they are unimaginatively called the “first bridge” and the “second bridge.” I am not a marathoner and don’t aspire to be one. However, the opportunity to walk from Asia to Europe on a bridge that is entirely closed to pedestrians the rest of the year was not an opportunity that I could pass up. Happily, there is an option ... read more
Swim Break
In Turkey they call Ramadan “Ramazan” which I think is kind of fun. It’s like a snazzy, spiced up version of Ramadan. The last day of the month is the end of the fast, and therefore something to really celebrate. In Arabic it’s called Eide, but here they say Bairam. There are two Bairams, one for the end of Ramazan and one for Eide el Adha, when Muslims sacrifice a ram in remembrance of Abraham’s sacrifice. I got a whole week off for Bairam, so I decided to visit a bit of Turkey outside the city. As amazing as Istanbul is, and as many sights as there are I haven’t visited yet, I can do that any weekend. If I have a whole week off I should try somewhere a bit farther afield. I have never ... read more
