8 articles tagged with turkey
Standing in the shadow of the Hagia Sophia as the muezzin's call to prayer echoed across the ancient city, I realized Istanbul doesn't discriminate between the wealthy tourist and the budget traveler—its magic is freely given to all who seek...
Standing before the Library of Celsus as the early morning light caressed its ancient façade, I felt that familiar tingle of excitement that only comes when perfect light meets perfect history. After decades in hot restaurant kitchens, trading my chef's...
Blimey, it's been nearly a decade since I swapped my Liverpool bus route for these mountain trails, and I've never looked back—except to check for loose rocks, of course! This spring, I tackled what I'm calling the 'Ancient Heights Circuit'—a...
Standing at the edge of Izmir's azure coastline last spring, I couldn't help but feel like I was perched at the crossroads of human civilization. This western Turkish city—once known as Smyrna—has witnessed the ebb and flow of empires for...
The ferry cuts through the Gulf of Izmir like a knife through baklava, revealing Turkey's third-largest city spread across the hillsides in a sweeping panorama. After three decades of analyzing municipal budgets in Riverside, I've spent my retirement years charting...
There's something profoundly humbling about standing amidst the columns of Ephesus one week and finding yourself beneath the canopy of Mount Apo's rainforest the next. After covering sporting events across continents for two decades, I've developed a certain rhythm to...
Standing among the ancient columns of Ephesus as the morning light filters through, casting long shadows across marble streets once walked by Romans, I couldn't help but analyze the molecular composition of the limestone beneath my fingers. The scientist in...
Standing on a rooftop in Beyoğlu, the warm spring breeze carrying hints of the Bosphorus, I watched as Istanbul transformed. The call to prayer had long faded, and now the city pulsed with a different kind of energy – one...