Visiting Turkey

Kas

Visiting Turkey — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:08:03 +0000

Kas (Kaş in Turkish. Pronounced ‘Kash’ in British English, where ‘a’ is as in ‘car’) is located about 170 kilometers (105 miles) to the west of the city of Antalya, in the south Mediterranean region. Kas was a simple fishing village, but over the years has developed into a main tourist attraction and has become the region’s one of the main and special resorts. Flying to Dalaman -rather than Antalya- is the best and the easiest way to get to Kas. From the airport, you can either take Havaş (coach) or a taxi. By taxi, you can travel directly to …
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Baklava

Visiting Turkey — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:37:49 +0000

Baklava is the Turks’ most important contribution to the world of desserts. It is made with flaky phyllo dough, layered with a pistachio or cinnamon-spiced walnut filling, and bathed in sweet syrup. It is crunchy, rich and very sweet. Well made baklava practically melts in your mouth and finishes with a crave for another one.

The best baklava is made in south-eastern Turkey, especially in Gaziantep -city famous for kebabs and pistachio related desserts. You may not easily find authentic Gaziantep baklava in western cities. I’d recommend you to try several alternatives, but “Güllüoğlu” in Karaköy İstanbul would …
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Manti

Visiting Turkey — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:43:53 +0000

Turkish Cuisine is best known with kebabs abroad, but one of my favorite dishes is manti. I strongly recommend you to taste it during your visit.

Little information on manti: Specially treated chopped meat is divided into pieces as big as a pea, and each one is wrapped with a small and very thin dough. They are boiled and served with yoghurt (with garlic if desired) and tomato sauce. The best spice to be added is sumac. I also prefer dried peppermint and red pepper along with it.…
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Istanbul: Ortakoy

Visiting Turkey — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:47:24 +0000

Ortakoy (Ortaköy) is an authentic neighborhood on the European bank of Bosphorus. It is famous with open-air handcraft bazaar; as well as cafes, bars and restaurants with reasonable prices. I’d recommend you to take a tour in the bazaar, then have a seat in a cafe by the sea. You may try hookah (nargile) if you are interested. Afterwards, if the weather is nice, I’d also recommend you to take a walk by Bosphorus heading north towards Bebek.

Turkish Hors D’oeuvres (Meze)

Visiting Turkey — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:10:13 +0000

Meze is a generel term for appetizers, mainly to go with raki. These dishes are mainly olive oil based, and main ingredients are vegetables, yoghurt and sea foods. There are tens of different hors d’oeuvres, and you are presented samples on a tray before you order. Just choose a couple according to your taste.

My personal favorites are: Feta (beyaz peynir), mashed eggplant (patlıcan ezme) and salt-marinated fish (lakerda). You can try fried calamari (kalamar) or skewed shrimps (karides güveç) afterwards. Also I’d like to recommend melon with raki…
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Istanbul: Galata Tower

Visiting Turkey — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:46:36 +0000

Galata Tower is a 650 year old, 67 meter tall stone tower. Built by Genoese colony as the tower of fortifications around Galata, but eventually used as fire lookout tower during Ottoman Empire. It rises on the northbank of the Golden Horn. It has a fabulous view of Golden Horn, Historic Peninsula and Bosphorus. The tower is open to public, so you can enjoy the view from the top (there are elevators). You can reach the tower by walking down the Taksim Square through Istiklal Street for 2 kilometers, and turning left downhill when reaching the Tunel circus (Please see …
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Turkish Raki

Visiting Turkey — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:23:52 +0000

Raki is a traditional Turkish alcoholic beverage. First of all, I would like to write about the sociologic role of raki. Raki is not just a booze. You don’t drink it in a couple minutes in a pub. It is an occasion for friends to come together, eat and chat for hours. It is generally consumed in dinner, together with special hors d’oeuvres (meze) and food for raki. There are two glasses per person on the table: one is for raki, and the other is for plain or mineral water.

Raki is made of grapes and anise. The smell of …
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Istanbul: Leander’s Tower

Visiting Turkey — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:24:56 +0000

Leander’s Tower (aka Maiden’s Tower, Kiz Kulesi in Turkish) is a small tower on an islet at the entrance of the Bosphorus from the Marmara Sea. There are numerous legends about the tower, heroes of which gave names to the tower.

The tower was built on 408 BC, rebuilt and restored many times since then. It had been used as a lighthouse and a watchtower, and now is being used for touristic purposes where you can take a boat to the tower and have your breakfast or dinner.

Click here for the official web site of the Leander’s tower and …
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Istanbul: Beyoglu, Taksim Square and Istiklal Street

Visiting Turkey — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:27:23 +0000

What is there in Taksim? Simply everything! History, culture, art, shopping, entertainment of all kind, Turkish food, all kinds of people, rich and poor, cosy and posh, anything… It is where you should not leave Istanbul without seeing. Taksim (a.k.a Beyoglu and Istiklal Street is the main part) lies on a historic region. The region is alive nearly for 24 hours. There are many opportunities for different tastes for entertainment. I recommend you to lift your head up in the street once in a while not to miss the historic buildings all around. The old buildings mostly host modern venues. You may be surprised …
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Istanbul: Palaces

Visiting Turkey — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:03:45 +0000

Istanbul hosted many empires through the history, the most important of which is the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Empire had reigned for nearly 600 years, and Istanbul had been the capital city since 1453 (Turkish Republic has been founded in 1923 after the Ottoman Empire). The palaces of the Ottoman Empire still stand in Istanbul and are used as museums. The most important one is the Topkapi Palace on the Historic Peninsula.


Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı): The palace has been built after the conquest of Istanbul (1453), and been used for nearly 400 years. It is a huge complex (700K sq.