Blogs from Middle East - page 2

We had moved location from our usual cafe to another one closer to Sultanahmet Square and our next port of call the Blue Mosque . I guess the fact that the guy outside Otantik began to wave at us as we arrived and the waiters blew me hearts and kisses it was time to move on and sample something different . Not that a few blown kisses go amiss at times . The cafe stretched along the street , was under cover , blankets were available if it were cold and the cost of electricity seemed nothing as the heaters were put on above every table at night . In the sunshine we enjoyed our baklava and coffee and discussed what next . We had a short window of opportunity between prayers to walk up to ... read more

After the sights inside the bazaars and the smells it was time to load up a route on Holafly and let it take us from close to the Galata Bridge to the great mosque of Suleymaniye. It was built like all our cathedrals on a hill meant to impose itself on the city. I wondered how many mosques there were in the city as we had passed the New Mosque built in the 17th century , the Tulip Mosque the Princes Mosque . One dedicated to Kalenderhane . They just popped up everywhere dominating Istanbul . I did consider if we were going to be mosqued out . A case of ABM - another bloody mosque . But to be fair up to now that had not happened . We were being pulled in by the ... read more

We seemed to be moving at a frenetic pace to catch everything we wanted to see in the city in our few days away. We did not want to come home and say we missed something we had desperately wanted to see . So our time was packed with as many things as we could pack in. I wondered if we would have done things differently if our van had been parked on Kennedy Cadesi and we had lived in the city rather than been in a hotel . Or would we have found a campsite outside the city and got the train in, stayed at a hotel for a few days and packed the sites in over a couple of days . We did that in Athens and it worked . I am sure it ... read more

Last day of an amazing holiday. We went a little way into the Troodos mountains where the scenery is wonderful, just the foothills this trip. Last year we went up to the top, to the snow line and across to the north coast. Stopped at Monagri where the scent from the citrus fruit trees will stay with me forever. Then on to Lofou a tiny villlage with streets so narrow the tiny car barely made it through. Absolutely loved this little place, in the middle of nowhere too. The buildings all so old and such timeless beauty. Had a wonderful lunch of deep fried Haloumi in a carob syrup with honey and sesami seeds. It was sooooooo good. Back to Limassol via the Kouris Dam where the low water levels bear witness to the lack of ... read more

In 2020 Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the conversion of the city’s historic Hagia Sophia back into a mosque after a court annulled a 1934 presidential decree that made it a museum. Shortly after Turkey’s top administrative court released its long-anticipated decision Erdogan issued a presidential decree transferring the management of the site from the Ministry of Culture to the Presidency of Religious Affairs which paved the way for its conversion. Erdogan has been a major proponent of the move. I am not sure that the population were entirely happy as this was at odds with the idea of allying Turkey to the West and the EU . I wish we had visited before he had changed its status as viewing was going to be less of an experience than it could have been. There ... read more