Uzbekistan is a captivating blend of history, culture, and flavors that hits you like a whirlwind of turquoise tiles, fragrant plov, and relentless carpet sellers they could sell sand to a camel. I recently returned from this Central Asian jewel, clutching four cashmere shawls I did not know I needed until the bazaar vendors worked…
Tag: History
Pompeii Past Preserved
What do you do when you binge-watch “Sopranos” again? You book a flight to Napoli, or Naples, if you will. The Other Me and I had this overwhelming need to go back to Italy and Tony Soprano convinced us that it was time to go back. With less then 2hour flight from Istanbul it is…
Lale Festivalı – More Than Just a Pretty Bloom
Every spring, Istanbul transforms into a living painting. The city’s streets, parks, and public spaces become awash with the brilliant colours of tulips – lale as they’re affectionately known in Turkish.
Three Castles
The Kingdom of Cyprus was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader States that existed between 1192-1489. It comprised not only the entire island, but also had its foothold on the Anatolian mainland: Antalya (1361-1373) and Corycus (today’s Mersin Province, 1361-1448). Initially it was ruled as an independent Christian kingdom. Cyprus under the Crusaders experienced significant…
Yabancı in İstanbul, part 1
yabancı (tur.) – a foreigner, an alien I believe that everyone has a city that feels like it is part of one’s soul. It is not necessarily a city we were born in. Over the years I have heard people saying that Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, and many other cities are “their cities”. The…
My pandemic…
The events of year 2020 took us all by surprise. The world turned upside down within few weeks. Suddenly what I had known as the “normal” living ceased to exist, and the new reality had taken it place. Things that I had taken for granted, as going for a walk to the mountains or beach,…
kasiasteps 