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Homeschooling: World History In A Spreadsheet
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 22 March 2010
While we’re travelling, our kids can’t help but learn about history, but the sheer amount of events and their corresponding dates can be overwhelming. Does it matter that the battle of Gallipoli was in 1915? Who cares if Alexander the Great died in 322 BCE? Will it really matter if we forget that Ramses II completed the Abu Simbel temple in Southern Egypt in 1257 BCE? With all the information that we come across, it helps to be choosy; stick with the big events…the ones that shaped their time or future eras.
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At peace with the past in Patara
Blog: The Turkish Life - 22 March 2010
I've got no quarrel with Ephesus or Pergamon in Turkey or the Acropolis in Athens or Rome -- some sights are popular for a reason, and I'd certainly encourage anyon
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Cold Turkey
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 20 March 2010
“Next time that I come back to Turkey it’s going to be in summer,” said my wife as she turned over in her bed and pulled the wool blankets over her head. She, like myself, had been to Turkey over twenty years ago and remembers being cold the entire time she was in the country. The only time she ever warmed up during that November was while taking a Turkish bath. Now, we were in Goreme, in central Turkey’s Cappadocia region, and we were freezing our behinds off in early March.
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Leaving Egypt Behind
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 5 March 2010
Our Cairo-Istanbul flight lasted two hours and connected two great, populous Islamic cities whose countries have most of the eastern Mediterranean coastline. Within the first few hours of our arrival in Turkey there were clear differences. In Istanbul, there were fewer head scarves and burkhas and more tight jeans and high heels. We saw virtually none of the forehead bruises that shouted “look how devout I am” and not once had we seen men rolling out prayer mats in the middle of the street to pray.
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Off-season on the Aegean
Blog: The Turkish Life - 22 February 2010
Come summer, or so I'm told, the Aegean towns of Çesme (right) and, especially, nearby Alaçatı (below) will be mobbed with rich İstanbul'lus as some of the city's poshest and most popular restaurants and
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Deve güreşi
Blog: The Turkish Life - 21 February 2010
First, let me clear up a couple of misconceptions: Turkish oil wrestling has nothing to do with girls in bikinis and camel wrestling does not involve men tussling with dromedaries. Having now witnessed both sports, I can say that there are some surprising similarities between the two.
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On the road again
Blog: The Turkish Life - 20 February 2010
Strange as it may seem -- and I know it does seem very strange to some -- there's something I really, really love about sitting at a makeshift roadside bus stop, eating crackers and watching the traffic go by.
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A guide to getting ripped off without losing your dignity
Blog: 501 Places - 16 February 2010
Almost everyone has their own story of getting ripped off while travelling. Whether it was a dodgy waiter, a hotel that tried to charge too much or a driver that took you for a ride in more ways than one, however smart we think we are, people will get the better of us from time [...]
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Turkey Recap: The Land of Awesome
Blog: 12FOOT3 - 11 February 2010
I’ve been trying to find words that can capture the incredible affection we’ve developed for Turkey, and I’m afraid that nothing I write can adequately describe how amazing this place is. Like our three other favorite countries (New Zealand, Taiwan, and Japan), Turkey feels magical somehow. Maybe it’s the jaw-dropping landscape, maybe it’s the kind [...]
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Traveling in Turkey during Ramazan
Blog: 12FOOT3 - 9 February 2010
You may know it as Ramadan, but it's Ramazan to the Turks. Ramazan is the Islamic holy fasting month, when Muslims refrain from eating, drinking (even water), chewing gum, and smoking during daylight hours. It's meant to remind Muslims of the difficulties the less fortunate face, and to teach compassion and charity.
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Van: Where we get taught a lesson in Turkish hospitality
Blog: 12FOOT3 - 2 February 2010
There comes a time in every travel blogger’s life where you fall behind on your blog (four months in our case). And there comes a time when something so unexpected happens—something so amazing that it manages to infuse your cynical spirit with pure faith in the goodness of this world—that you feel like you can’t [...]
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Lady on the Bosphorus
Blog: A Lady in London - 1 February 2010
I haven't been to Turkey since I was 14. My eighth grade class took a cruise through Greece and stopped in Kusadasi for a day. We ran around Ephesus, tried our bargaining skills at a bazaar, and it goes without saying that we got a factory tour at a rug shop that belonged to our guide's "cousin".
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Ani & Kars: Blasé Busters!
Blog: 12FOOT3 - 26 January 2010
As an around-the-world traveler, you tend to hear a lot of the same questions: What are your favorite countries? How much does a trip like this cost? Where do you do your laundry? But every once in a while, you’ll get a query that really stops and makes you think. Do you become blasé about [...]
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Ayder: Drama in the Kaçkar Mountains
Blog: 12FOOT3 - 19 January 2010
If you’ve been following along, you know by now that Turkey has got it all: a wandering coastline bordering lucid blue waters, a cosmopolitan city wrapped around a chewy historical center, snowy white rock springs so lovely that visitors are moved to strip down to their Speedos (in a Muslim country no less), and a [...]
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Do other tourists annoy you?
Blog: Rice and Rock Concerts - 18 January 2010
I've carefully phrased the above subject as I don't want to pretend that I'm a) not a tourist, and b) not annoying. I am keen though to know what really gets your blood boiling when you're on the road travelling. (Image of tourist blatantly ignoring 'No Photography' signs at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, 18 October 2009. Jamie McDonald Photography)
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Cappadocia, Dude
Blog: 12FOOT3 - 9 January 2010
It’s not often that party banter will bring you half way around the world. Before we left on our trip, we met a California surfer at a party, and after finding out he had been to Turkey several times, we asked the obvious question: “What we shouldn’t miss in Turkey?” His answer: “Cappadocia, dude.” Even with this [...]
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The modern side of Istanbul
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 30 December 2009
We started bright and early on our last day in Istanbul, with a great breakfast with amazing view in our hotel.
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The bazaars in Istanbul and crossing the Galata Bridge
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 30 December 2009
After one week traveling all around Turkey, it was time to return to Istanbul. Taking a flight from Cappadocia to Istanbul, we started off exploring the other side of Istanbul in the afternoon. We went to the Grand Bazaar, a large covered area that started as a small bazaar, but today was one of the largest that I have ever seen.
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The Turkish Mediterranean (Patara, Kaş, & Antalya): “In like milk, out like rosé”
Blog: 12FOOT3 - 30 December 2009
What comes to mind when you hear the word “Mediterranean?” Heat. Blue. Yachts. Olives. And…Turkey? Yup, Turkey shares that same incredible blue sea…the same glorious shining sun…that same fresh, delicious cuisine…and all at about a quarter the price of those Western European countries. When we were in Istanbul, J and I met a really nice Finnish [...]
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Cappadocia from above and underground
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 29 December 2009
We started the day cold and early for a hot-air balloon ride. We were initially reluctant to spend the exorbitant amount of money for the ride. However, we thought it could probably be a once in a lifetime experience as it would be the first time for both of us to be up on a hot-air balloon. After reading many great reviews, I was looking forward to it.
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Fairy chimneys in Cappadocia
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 29 December 2009
We reached Urgup in Cappadocia early in the morning. We waited in the cold for our transfer to the hotel but it never came. Some helpful guys at the bus counter helped us to check our bookings, but we found that there has been some mistakes in the bookings. After an hour or so, we finally ended up in a quaint little bed and breakfast managed by an extremely nice Turkish man. We believed that he converted his home into this bed and breakfast.
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Old town Keleici and the Antalya Museum
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 29 December 2009
After spending a day travelling out of Antalya to Myra and around the Mediterranean coast the day before, we had a free day to roam around the beautiful harbour city of Keleici and the surroundings. After a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel, we set off for a walk around the old town.
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Lycian tombs in Myra and the Mediterannean sea
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 29 December 2009
We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning in Antalya in a beautiful quaint hotel in the old town Keleici. Our hotel room gave us a great view of the town (below) with Kesik Minare sticking out of the old houses around town. Kesik Minare, which means Cut Minaret, was the remaining of a minaret of a Roman temple, which was eventually converted to a church. We planned to spend a day walking around the Roman town the next day.
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Pamukkale and Hierapolis - Cotton Castle and the Roman spa city
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 29 December 2009
We left our hotel in Kusadasi early in the morning with quite heavy rain, while the bus made its way to a town called Pamukkale which meant cotton castle. The town was about 3 hours away, and we hoped that the rain would stop before we got there. Our tour guide was a retired English teacher, who mothered us pretty well!
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Seaside town of Kusadasi and the ruins in Selçuk and Ephesus
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 29 December 2009
Our 5th day started with a beautiful view from our hotel in Kusadasi. We arrived pretty late the night before, and so we could not really enjoy the view. We went out for a short walk in the morning to soak in the scenery. Kusadasi is a town by the Aegean Sea. It is a beautiful seaside town that is mainly catered for tourists. And so, like all seaside tourist town, it doesn’t have much of a culture.
