All that is Worth Remembering
There were two international graduate students who became close friends and made a pact to go around Spain together one day. That was 2005 and the trip happened 17 years later. Madrid was just a short stop and our destinations were Toledo, Cordoba, and Granada. However, we had enough time to stop by Calle del …
Continue reading “Spain – Pata de Jamon in the City of Kings”
Merchants moved to the area currently known as the Grand Bazaar after the Conquest of Constantinople. In other words, the Grand Bazaar has been active for 650 years. It is not the oldest Bazaar in the world (Tehran Grand Bazaar, for example, dates back to the 7th century), but it is fully covered and hosts …
Continue reading “Istanbul 5 – the Grand Bazaar, the Islands, and the People”
Visiting the old homes of fallen dynasties always makes for a deep contemplation – the right and wrong of what they did in the hindsight of history stays with me for a long time. In that sense, the Ottomans were in a very interesting position. As an international power controlling a substantial amount of land …
Neil Gaiman writes in “American Gods” that humans do not know about the world’s magical places, only gods do. Humans keep building places of worship without understanding that this place of worship, this specific piece of land, is closer to their god. That was my first thought when I saw Ayasofya. The first church in …
The structure of American cities is completely different, but if there was one thing I’d wish after this trip, it would be having kiosks selling “simit” for breakfast. It’s cheap, it’s everywhere, and it gives you a boost of energy. Though “burek” is fried, I could say the same thing about it. These two cheap …
Kadikoy is magical. It is for the poor, the rich, the sad, and the happy. For everyone, there is something at Kadikoy. The simple state of being there gives you a sense of being in a large modern urban area. Taking the ships to go from the Asian part of Istanbul to Old European Istanbul …