I will be back, San Fran…
I am not sure what makes me want to go back (even move) to San Francisco? It could be because people are so nice, they offer you cookies (medicated ones at that) in a public park within five feet of a...
View ArticleWithout a travel coffee mug…
It is funny how you end up expecting the same things when you visit different places. The lack of what is familiar startles us and we are left wondering “now what to do?”. I have not “lived” in a...
View ArticleThe Pressure Release Valve of A City
Traveling in European cities will eventually make you realize the Europeans’ love for plazas. You want to visit that church? Then go to this plaza. You want to see that palace? Oh, you need to find...
View ArticleHow do you take your travel?
So many places to see but so little time. That is the complaint of many of us.We see a lot of articles on the travel magazines, newspapers and online, urging us to go to the top 10 or 20 destinations...
View ArticleWhen in Spain…Eat!
Time in Spain was an immersion course in tapas language also. Tapas (or pinchox) culture is definitely not what I am used to. The usual night out to drink for me normally goes something like this: Find...
View ArticleSame old…
There are some places in one’s life. No matter how long you are gone, some places which stay the same along with its roads, its fishing boats, its bakeries and its people. Yes I see the difference here...
View ArticleFinding your limits
Starting to live here for a short-term period after 15 years of not-being-a-resident was not as easy as I had thought. Getting used to the daily life, the intensity of people or doing business in an...
View ArticleBack again…
I am back to the States after a long nine months of studies. It was fast, fun, loaded and was worth every minute of it. Now I am adjusting back to my life here, the quiet streets, people not elbowing...
View ArticleA Quiet Scream
View from Pierre Loti, on top of Haliç A big city has a lot of problems. Traffic, waste, crowd, living expenses, unplanned urbanization, slums, air pollution… you name it. A big city like Istanbul has...
View ArticleA Walk Around Karaköy & Galata
I have realized that when someone tells me about their upcoming trip to Istanbul and asks me what to do/see/eat, I drop whatever I am doing and start writing a long email with lots of links. I have...
View ArticleThis old heart
Sultanahmet and Eminonu area is the old heart of Istanbul that has not stopped beating for thousands of years. When I am walking down the streets in this part , it overwhelms me just to think how old...
View ArticleSpanish Comforter
That is Patatas A la Importancia. You won’t find it in the dictionaries. But in mine, that is what it equals to. It envelopes you like a familiar comforter on a cold, winter night. When in Salamanca,...
View ArticleSunday Roast
On this cold Sunday, I have been thinking about something warming. Not only thinking, also wishing that it would just materialize in front of me without any effort on my part. Just like it happened...
View ArticleSalt Your Soul…
Sometimes you just need to cut the ties to the land and set sail. The air becomes stuffy at the office, the “have-to-do” list grows a mile long at home. You become consumed by all things big and small,...
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