A trip to Safranbolu is a trip back in time to the grandeur of the Ottoman Empire. This tiny UNESCO preserved Ottoman town nestled in the hills of Karabuk Province, offers a magical glimpse of Turkish Black Sea life as it was during Ottoman times. It’s peaceful, hilly streets, lined with glorious 200 – 300 […]
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Travel
Safranbolu – Ottoman Black Sea magic
Esenyaka – the heart and soul of Turkey
Within the province of Sivas, in central Anatolia, sits the tiny rural village of Esenyaka Koyu. With a population of just 1,858 (Wikipedia 2000), the village is a short 15km drive from the nearby township of Susehri. When I came to Turkey, I came in search of this country’s heart and soul. I didn’t come […]
Western Black Sea – independent travel?
It came as something of a surprise when so many Turkish friends, mostly from Istanbul, warned me off travels to this area. “It’s not safe, you’ll end up at the bottom of the Black Sea!” Luckily, I love a challenge. And I’ve also learned (eventually!) to follow my own gut instincts in life. In this […]
Reality dawns on the Turkish pipe-dream?
Dream: When I’d planned my move to Turkey, I’d always dreamed of living somewhere green and rustic, close to the earth, immersed in structures of rough-hewn wood and cosy kilim furnishings. A romantic notion fuelled by memories of wide-eyed travels through amazing rural places such as Safranbolu, Sirince and Cumalikizik, amongst many others. Reality: So […]
Culture
Discovering Turkish music – a never-ending story
Turkish Pop A couple of embarrassing admissions: It’s probably true to say that the first Turkish song I’d ever listened to, without knowing it, was the cringe-worthy Aussie cover version (Holly Valance) of Tarkan’s Şımarık. I thought Tarkan’s music was fantastic and proceeded to fill home, car and exercise with sounds from Tarkan and Dudu. Sounded […]
Being a teacher in Turkey
What does it mean to be a teacher in Turkey? Is it the same experience as teaching in Western countries like England or Australia? Having spent my teenage years in Australia, in a fairly tough suburban Government school, I vowed never to become a school teacher. It was an era of cultural change in the […]
Food & Drink
Yaprak Sarma – It’s all in the roll!
There is something particularly evocative about sharing a plate of freshly made yaprak sarma with friends. It’s as much about the preparation and the appearance as it is about the taste. If I want to “feel Turkish” I make sarma. I can recall strolling through the gardens of a National Trust property back in […]
İçli Köfte – how Turkish are you?
I could see from the body language of my Turkish hosts that this meal was something special – içli köfte. Clearly, hours had been spent in the kitchen preparing this mountain of meatballs ready for my visit. I was proudly lead into the kitchen by my hosts to witness the final preparations. A boiling cauldron […]