Showing posts with label Ottoman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ottoman. Show all posts
Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Turkiye or Turkey: ten weeks of exotic adventures!

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Not many people in their right mind have the desire (or privilege!) of spending ten weeks playing in a foreign country. But spending ten wee...
Saturday, 4 May 2019

Why ten weeks in Turkey? Blame Ataturk and the Ottoman Turks!

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Spending ten weeks in any country outside your own is a commitment. It costs money, requires energy and, most importantly, the country mu...
Saturday, 13 April 2019

Mosques more beautiful than Istanbul's Blue Mosque – maybe?

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Istanbul's Ottoman Turkish monuments and architecture are well known. Istanbul buildings like the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque) ...
Thursday, 4 April 2019

Istanbul not Constantinople; Kadikoy not Sultan Ahmet

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There is a historic – mainly Ottoman – Istanbul in the Sultan Ahmet district. Then there is the rest of Istanbul. Within 'the rest...
Monday, 25 March 2019

Istanbul – not Constantinople

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Turkey is a long way from Singapore. And despite 97 percent of the country's land mass and approximately 90 percent of Turkey's ...
Saturday, 27 June 2015

Sarajevo: Bosnia’s microcosm of humanity

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If Serbia was an eye-opener then Bosnia was no less an amazing experience ! As the crow flies, the distance between Belgrade...
Tuesday, 14 April 2015

Bulgaria: the gateway to Europe

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Sofia is not well known for tourism. The capital of Bulgaria has no recognizable icons like the Eiffel Tower nor commercial attr...
Monday, 6 April 2015

Byzantine churches, Ottoman mosques and Constantinople's conversion to Istanbul

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Many in predominantly Christian parts of Europe associate Turks and Turkey only with Islam. I have even heard some refer to a mosqu...
Monday, 30 March 2015

Ataturk's withering Istanbul?

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Istanbul is one of my favorite cities. I first visited Istanbul in February 2003, on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. From 2003 on...