Whilst J and I were on our Magical Mystical Tour seeking out those beautiful and evocative painted mosques for convenience we based ourselves in the small town of Pamukkale. It’s a good few years since we visited the site of the travertines and, although mildly amazed, we spent the bulk of our time exploring the extensive [...]
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. . that what you say I cannot hear! A variation on ‘Deeds speak louder than words!’ Here in Turkey I am lucky enough to live in a country that is so enthusiastic about protecting its natural environment that it has probably signed up to more treaties, conventions, agreements and memorandums of understanding than any [...]
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. . they mean a trip to Paris or Rome tra-la-la . . or, in this case, Istanbul – to the historic dockyard, founded in 1861 by the former Ottoman Maritime Company. It lies on the north shore of the Golden Horn in the district of Hasköy. The site, together with the Lengerhane building (which [...]
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A few years back, my mate Ahmet conned me into giving an address to an invited audience at the headquarters of the Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Vakfı (Foundation) in the beautiful and very interesting Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi (Botanical Gardens) in Istanbul. aerial shot showing early days of the gardens creation The gardens are sited in [...]
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The Village Institutes - Köy Enstitütleri In the book ‘Okçular Village – a Guide‘ there is a section where our Yaşlı Çınarlar, literally ‘Old Plane Trees’ (a local term of affection for our more senior villagers), tell their stories. As one, Şevket Akgün, related his tale he recalled the following: ‘The local education manager then was [...]
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Çaliş Christmas Fair is a hoot! It is, after all, one of the few places in Turkey where one can squat in the loo and be serenaded by Bing Crosby singing ‘Sleigh Ride’ – ‘Just hear those sleigh bells jingling Ring ting tingling too. Come on, it’s lovely weather For a sleigh ride together with you.’ Tra-la-la! [...]
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There are moments when life presents us with revelations about ‘things’ so profound; so sublime that we think we must be the reincarnation of St John the Divine, or, at the very least bathing in his reflected glory! Such was the case today! We had been told by a friend of an organisation based in [...]
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. . an appropriate title for a trip back in time to 2004. J and I were on one of our periodic wanderings around the east of the country; Erzurum in general and the ‘almost’ town of Çat in particular. ‘Almost’, because the place is only about the size of a village and had to [...]
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Sometimes, living as we do in a country stuffed full of biological, historical and geographical gems, a land so overflowing with wonderful, wondrous superlatives, we forget to look around our own ‘backyards’. If you live by the junction of the A303 and A360 trunk roads in Wiltshire (UK), I bet that it wouldn’t take long [...]
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Göle is a rather grubby, nondescript little town in Turkey’s Ardahan Province. It was also the scene of a minor revolution that, with a little luck and a fair wind, will have a profound effect on the lives of hundreds of kids. Before going on, I need to give you some background; from our very earliest days [...]
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