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

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

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

The Grand Bazaar is amazing. It was established in 1453 by Mehmet II and the architecture is almost my favorite part. It is one giant building, the size of several city blocks, surrounded by a medieval wall with 15 gates (as far as I can tell). The gates are all numbered and my favorite area was around gate 12. It is a quiet area, but compared with the rest of the bazaar anything would be. There are antique shops, precious gem merchants and beads sold by the gram. Each area of the bazaar has a different specialty. There are some items that are sold throughout the bazaar, but some shops are located in only one part. In the section with leather works you can easily go from shop to shop, comparing colors, style, quality and price ... read more

On Thursday I went with a group of other teachers to a few places in the old city. We started at the Istanbul Modern Art Museum, where unfortunately I couldn’t take any photos. There were several amazing displays there, most of which I am unable to describe. It’s art; a description in words can’t do it justice. http://www.istanbulmodern.org/en/f_index.html However, one of my favorite exhibits was a progression from the first Turkish paintings under the Ottoman Empire through the present. Some of my favorites were from the “Generation of 1914” who were painters sent by the Sultan to study painting under master painters in Europe, mostly in Paris. Perhaps this explains the Turkish respect for France as a sophisticated and artistic country. The modern art, especially the 2000s paintings was just a bit much for me. I’ve ... read more