Istanbul’s Beyoğlu area has the famous Istiklal Caddesi – a pedestrianised stretch of shops and eateries and swarms of people weaving their way to their intended destination with varying degrees of success. It’s a feature of the city, just as Alsancak’s Kıbrıs Şehitler Caddesi is for Izmir – except, we’re working on a much smaller …
As shopping centres go, the Egyptian Spice Bazaar in Istanbul is both
historic and aesthetically pleasing. We love walking through the Bazaar to
sense history and breath in the jumble of aromas…
Today is Cumhuriyet Bayramı (Republic Day) in Turkey, so this post seems quite apt for the occasion. Republic Day commemorates the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became the first leader. For today’s post we’re heading back to Izmir and to Alsancak train station. And how does this relate to …
When we were staying in our apartment in Alsancak in Izmir, you can imagine how pleased (excited) we were when we woke up on the Sunday morning, opened the patio doors and we could hear the clanking of delivery trucks and traders shouting their prices. Regular readers of this blog will know we have a …
“Don’t come back from Izmir without trying Çeşme Kumrusu!” This was just one of the many pieces of advice given to us by Turkish friends before we set off for our trip to Izmir in September. But it was also the piece of advice; the common thread that linked all the other suggestions offered. Woe …
We decided to walk to Asansör – well, we’d walked everywhere else in Izmir so we figured we might as well continue the trend. It looked easy enough. Hit the kordon (promenade) in Alsancak and keep going until we could see Asansör. We strolled along the seafront, passed Izmir Saat Kulesi and, an hour after …
In Izmir, there is one historic attraction that most people know about. Izmir Saat Kulesi (Izmir Clock Tower) is the symbol of the city and arguably its most famous sight. We almost felt duty-bound to go and see it to take photos of it. We felt we couldn’t ignore it, and so, we went off …
The Fethiye to Izmir bus is a less daunting journey for those who don’t fancy a night’s sleep on a bus seat! Regular readers will know that we have a bit of a fondness for the Turkish intercity buses; they’re our favourite mode of transport for getting away from Fethiye for a short while to …
As we explored the area, we were continuously coming across an unfamiliar word ‘söğüşçü‘. He who is a maker of söğüş. Exploration of a new city on foot is our preferred mode of transport – if the city lends itself to it, that is. Izmir is perfect for wandering around as most of the areas …
In our previous post, we were losing ourselves in the forest of traditional Turkish gülets that were crowded into the boatyard in İçmeler. Once the meeting was over between our friends and their potential future employer, it was onwards to the town of Turgutreis on the opposite side of the Bodrum Peninsula. And why was …