Blogs from Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 4

From Conde' Nast: Here are the global top 10 airports as voted by readers: RankingAirport/CodeStandout features1.... read more

Travelling in the post pandemic world is full of stress and uncertainty- cancellations, staff shortages, queues. It is, then, a miracle to behold that two travelling parties, their origins on two separate continents can agree to meet on a third continent and arrive within 30 people in the passport queue. Particularly when one of those parties can answer with genuine ignorance when he’s asked upon boarding his flight from Tanzania what his onward travelling arrangements from Turkey are. So, we have arrived in Istanbul, pleasantly stress-free compared to the last trip, but not lacking in vomit. After settling in to our apartment and admiring the view, we had a wander around Sultanahmet, refuelled the tanks, rekindled our love for Efes and enjoyed some warmth. A Turkish feast in a beautiful garden before the whinging about fatigue ... read more

Our 90-day visa for staying in Turkey was almost up so it was time to leave. When looking at the schedules for flying back, we knew with the covid regulations constantly changing we would fly back on Turkish Airlines as didn’t know how much would change between the time of booking the flight and actually flying. There were 2 reasons for this – 1) on the international flight each passenger is allowed 2 checked pieces of luggage, each up to 23 kilos (50 lbs. each bag) and 2) more importantly this year, they have a direct flight from Istanbul to JFK so no need to deal with any other countries covid regulations while transiting through. The increased baggage limit is important to us when we go to the boat as we are always taking boat parts ... read more

First off, yes, the dates on the title of this blog post are correct. We spent 4 wonderful days in Istanbul as a stop over on our way back to the US when leaving Tsamaya in the water in Fethiye, Turkey. Our plan was to spend the winter in the US and return to Tsamaya in the spring of 2020. As everyone knows plans changed with the spread of Covid. As a result, we have been in the US since the end of October 2019 and as of June 2021 are still here. I did have the best of intentions and it was always in the back of my mind that I really should sit down and pull together a blog post on our time in Istanbul and then provide updates throughout our time back in ... read more

07 Feb 2020 Istanbul As often happens, our easy, unplanned days often turn in to some of the busiest. After walking through the long, winding park at the back of the Topkapi Palace, we found ourselves by the banks of the Bosphorous Strait, overlooking the Asia side of Turkey. Those of you watching the new series, Ottoman, will know exactly where that is, and what it means to Turkey. We walked over the Galata bridge, which crosses the Golden Horn. Shane has had quite alot to say about the Golden Horn over the last few days. I have been ignoring him!Finally....I found someone selling Gozleme! Apparently it is only a summer food here so my dream of consuming most of my calories eating the stuff will die here also. Shane is making up for it eating ... read more