One of the easiest and cheapest ways to get to the Sabiha Gökçen Airport (Asian side) from the Kadıköy area is by Havataş Airport bus. Costing only 10TL the buses run regularly from the bus station at the Kadıköy waterfront area (P2 zone). Targeting a weekday 9:00am airport arrival, I took the 7:15am departure from […]
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Travel
Kadıköy to Sabiha Gökçen Airport
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 […]
Turkish village – paradise or ‘pipe-dream’?
For years I’ve quietly harboured a simple, secret dream – to find a small, peaceful village somewhere in the milder, sunnier southern regions of Turkey where I might live a healthy, outdoors life, planting and growing green things in the earth. A simple life, surrounded by nature and the warmth and camaraderie of friendly, warm-hearted […]
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 […]
Culture
Turkish Tea – Friends for Life
To share tea and bright conversation with a Turkish friend is one of life’s great joys. The simple act of its preparation brings the sense of calm and familiarity upon which great friendships are built, stories shared, and occasions celebrated. All the elements of this familiar and reassuring ritual – the preparation, the aroma, the […]
Turkish Residency (Ikamet) – lessons learned
Many years as a professional project manager drilled into me the discipline of sharing with others your lessons learned at the end of any project. And this was SOME project! So here it is, the story of my path to Turkish residency. Hope it helps. Why am I here? That’s a long story. In a […]
Food & Drink
It’s winter, and that means…hamsi days!!!
Today I fulfilled another dream here in Turkey. Buying fresh hamsi, in season (winter), here at a local fish market (balik Pazar), and preparing a plate of this legendary pan-fried delight. The last (only) time I’ve cooked (assisted actually) hamsi was many years ago in North London – not the same. Has to be experienced […]
Turkish coffee: 40 years of friendship
My first impressions of the Turkish coffee drinking experience were not so great. Tiny cup, tinier handle, bitter coffee, thick sludge at the bottom. First adaptation was to ditch the sugar-free diet and go for the çok şeker (very sweet) version of my kahve to combat the bitterness. Second adaptation was to slow down, savour […]