Turquoise Diaries

A lunch at Palamutbuk

2012-01-24T04:37:00.000-08:00

Nevermind that today its raining and the sky is gray and nobody wanted to go out, as well as the day before yesterday.Here are some photos from yesterday. We went to have a late lunch at Palamutbuk one of the bays of our small peninsula...

Bugün olduğu gibi, dünden evvel ki günkü gri ve yağmurlu havayı boşverin. İşte size dün Palamutbük'te çekilmiş bazı fotoğraflar. Güneşi görünce yarımadamızın bu en güzel büklerinden birine geç bir öğle yemeği yemeğe gittik.

It was a perfect spring day, and we were the only ones at the restaurant. A simple salad, couple grilled fish and a bottle of cold wine were all we needed to celebrate the much expected sun.

Mükemmel bir ilkbahar günüydü, lokantada da bizden başka kimseler yoktu. Ortaya karışık bir salata, balık ve buz gibi bir şişe şarap, ihtiyacımız olan tek şeydi..

In the nearby village, almonds are blooming, lambs are playing and every living being were enjoying the winter sun..

Yakındaki köyde ise bademler çiçek açıyor, kuzular oynuyor, kısacası tüm canlilar kış güneşinin tadını çıkartıyordu.

Salep

2012-01-20T05:41:00.000-08:00

When weathers are cold, salep is a favorite drink for almost everybody in Turkey. It is made with mixing hot milk with the flour, made from grinding the dried tubers of a special type of wild orchid. This sweet drink survived centuries and today it is one of the great flavours of Turkish cuisine as well as Ottoman's..

Havalar soğuduğunda, salep Türkiye'nin genelinde çok sevilerek içilen bir sıcak içecektir.Bir tür yabani orkidenin toprak altında kalan yumrularının kurutularak elde edilen tozunun sıcak süt ile karışımından yapılır. Osmanlı mutfağının olduğu kadar, Türk mutfağının da çok sevilen bu içeceğinin yüzyıllardır süren yolculuğu devam ediyor..

We love to drink ours by adding lots of cinnamon.

Biz bol tarçınlı içmeyi seviyoruz...

First photo of saleps are from the website of my favorite Turkish chef Refika Birgül. She tries them with banana pure.

İlk fotoğraf en sevdiğim şef Refika Birgül'ün sitesinden..Refika saleplerine muz karıştırmayı denemiş..

Cat Lottery

2012-01-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

How can a cat win a lottary? That's how:

Bir kedi piyangoda büyük ikramiyeyi nasıl kazanır? İşte böyle:

Yesterday I was cooking at the kitchen and Hera's step sister was watching me at her usual spot. At the kitchen door. I dont know how it happened but a small bird hit the glass door and fell just in to the lap of Hera's step sister ( I know we should have to find her a name, its so long to write it everytime.) Before I could do anything, she dissapered with the bird. I bet she couldnt believe her luck.

Dün mutfakta yemek yapıyordum ve Hera'nın üvey kardeşi de her zamanki yeri olan mutfak kapısının yanında beni izliyordu. Nasıl oldu anlamadım ama birden küçük bir kuş cam kapıya olanca hızıyla çarptı ve tam olarak Hera'nın üvey kardeşinin ( evet biliyorum artık ona bir isim koymalıyız, her seferinde böyle yazmak çok uzun oluyor) kucağına düştü. Benim bir şey yapmama fırsat kalmadan, ikiside saniyeler içinde ortadan kaybolmuştu. Eminim ki şansına inanamamıştır..

Couple hours later, she came back and had a deep and long sleep in my new sitting place at the verandah.. I was pretty sure about what she was dreaming as she just placed herself right next to the vintage needlework pillow, with the colorful bird...

Bizimkisi bir kaç saat sonra geri geldi ve veranda da yeni yaptırdığım sedirin üzerinde derin ve uzun bir uykuya daldı. Üzerinde rengarenk bir kuş olan yastığın yanına yattığına bakılırsa, rüyasında neler gördüğünü tahmin etmek hiç zor değildi..

I recently found some gorgeous vintage needleworks from the local bazaar. I will show you more as soon as I use them somewhere...

Datça'daki meşhur Cumartesi pazarımızdan bir kaç tane harika eski etamin işlenmiş parça aldım. Şimdilik bir tanesi yastık oldu. Diğerleri de bir işe yarar yaramaz hemen size gösterilecek, söz..

Love Carrots...

2012-01-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

I never thought that I am going to say this, but we are freezing here. Well, its Mediterranean, at worst it should be sunny but chilly not gray and freezing..Even all the flowers in the garden are dead after the recent storm. So for the time being I have to settle with carrots instead of flowers..

Datça'dan bunu hiç söyleyeceğimi zannetmezdim ama, burada donuyoruz..Ne derseniz deyin sonuçta burası Akdeniz, en kötü güneşli ama serin olmalıydı, gri ve soğuk değil. Zaten son fırtınadan sonra bahçedeki tüm çiçeklerde öldü, bende bu havuçlarla idare etmek durumundayım...

Purchasing Liquid Gold

2012-01-13T04:18:00.000-08:00

Homer gave it a very appropriate name: Liquid Gold

Homer çok yerinde bir kararla Sıvı Altın diye adlandırmış onu

I treat some of mine with rosemary and lemon leaves.

Ben bir kısmını biberiye ve limon yaprakları ile tatlandırmayı seviyorum..

Every year we are purchasing more than 50 liters of olive oil for our own consumption as well as to fulfill the orders of friends and family.We recently bought the first batch of this year from the local mill.

Her yıl hem kendi kullanımımız hemde aile ve arkadaşların siparişlerini karşılamak üzere 50 litreden fazla zeytinyağ alırız. Bu yılın ilk alışverişini de bir kaç gün önce yakınlardaki fabrikadan yaptık..

This small factory located in the nearby Kızlan village,and mainly serves the local farmers. Many farmers prefer to pay the factory fee, by olive oil.. Containers below are ready to go to producers..

Hemen yakınımızdaki Kızlan köyünde bulunan bu ufak fabrika büyük çoğunlukla yörenin zeytin yetiştiricilerine hizmet veriyor. Çiftçiler de çoğunlukla fabrikadaki sıkım ücretini yağ ile ödüyorlar. Aşağıdaki bidonlar üreticilere gönderilmek üzere hazırlanmış, bekliyor.

We bought some from the share of the mill.

Biz fabrikanın payına düşen yağlardan biraz aldık

Internet gives us many opportunities to share our experiences, but I wish there is a way now for you to smell the freshly squeezed olive oil. So rich and divine..

Internet deneyimlerimizi paylaşmak için bize pek çok olanak sağlıyor ama keşke şimdi bir yolu olsaydı da bu taze sıkılmış zeytinyağının zengin ve harika kokusunu alabilseydiniz..

Mushrooms

2012-01-11T03:24:00.000-08:00

This year we are experiencing a rather cold winter in Datca. Rainy, windy and gray days following one another. Although its not so much fun to have my daily walks in this kind of weather, I am still forcing myself just to see the different kind of mushrooms I am started to see around. Some are very cute, some are very evil looking. I should have to learn who is who very soon, in order to welcome them to my kitchen..Do you know any good book or site??

Bu yıl Datça'da kış eski yıllara göre oldukça soğuk geçiyor.Gri,rüzgarlı,yağmurlu günler birbirini kovalayıp duruyor. Bu havalarda günlük yürüyüşlerimi yapmak çok keyifli olmasa da, son günlerde ortalıkta bolca görülmeye başlayan mantarları gözlemek adına kendimi dışarıya çıkmaya zorluyorum. Aralarında çok güzel görünenleri de var, şeytan gibi görünenleri de.. Onları mutfağıma davet etmeden önce kim kimdir doğru bir şekilde öğrenmeyi gerçekten istiyorum. Bu konuda bildiğiniz iyi bir kitap ya da intarnet sitesi var mı??

Update on Hera's step sister..

2012-01-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

Hera's step sister is becoming a one fat, happy cat..Unfortunately she is still living outside..We tried to keep her inside but she immediately became the boss and started to attack Hera whenever the two are together. She started to eat Hera's food and sleep on her bed. While we were trying to adjust her to a family of different species, we realized that she is pregnant. I wasnt aware that cats could get pregnant so early in their life. And as we couldnt guarantee the safety of an easy going and peaceful dog, with a bossy cat with babies, we decided to keep her outside. We will see how things develop after she raised her babies...

Hera'nın üvey kız kardeşi, mutlu ve şişman bir kedi oldu, ancak ne yazıkki hala dışarıda yaşamaya devam ediyor..Bir kaç hafta önce onu eve almayı denedik fakat hemen evin patronu haline gelip, ne zaman bir araya gelseler Hera'ya pati atmaya başladı.Hera'nın mamasını yemek ve onun yatağında yatmak da anında olağan olaylar arasına giriverdi. Küçük kızı, farklı cinslerin yaşadığı bir eve adapte etmeye çalışırken, bir de baktık ki hamile...Kedilerin bu kadar ufakken hamile kalabileceklerinden açıkcası haberimiz yoktu. Sonuçta son derece iyi huylu ve uysal bir köpeğin, patronluk taslayan yeni bebekleri olmuş anne bir kedi ile aynı evde güvenliğini garantiye alamayacağımız için, kediyi dışarıda tutmaya devam etmeye karar verdik. Bebeklerini doğurup büyüttükten sonra bakalım olaylar nasıl gelişecek..

Resting Almond style..

2012-01-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

Today we finally have the honour to meet face to face with one of the most popular figures of our shores Almond the seal. I wrote about Almond on the blog before. He is a Mediterranean monk seal who was rescued as an orphaned pup and underwent rehabilitation for sometime and then released. However he never returned to wildlife 100%. Today we found him at Hayıtbük- a small bay in our peninsula.

Bugün bu kıyıların en önemli şahsiyetlerinden biri olan Badem ile tanışma fırsatımız oldu. Badem hakkında blogda daha önce de yazmıştım.Öksüz kalmış, rehabilitasyona alınmış ve tekrardan denize salınmış bir Akdeniz fokudur kendisi..Bugün kendisini Hayıtbük'te güneşlenirken bulduk..

Well, he barely opened his eyes to acknowledge us, but its still something in the mid of a deep sleep..

Bize bakmak için gözlerini sadece kısa bir süreliğine hafifçe aralasa da, tam dinlemesinin ortasında yine de hiç yoktan iyidir.

We entered the new year with tons of rain and hail. But as always it lasted very short and today here we are enjoying a beautiful day..

Yeni yıla, sıkı bir yağmur fırtınası ve dolu eşliğinde girdik ama her zaman olduğu gibi çok kısa sürdü. Bugün ise burada harika bir günün keyfini çıkartıyoruz..

LOVE

2011-12-31T03:24:00.000-08:00

Datça'dan sevgiler...

Dear friends, as we struggled with some health issues in 2011, I wish all of you a healthy 2012. If we have health, I believe we can create all the happiness and abundance we need..

Sevgili dostlar, 2011'de bir takım sağlık sorunları ile uğraştığımız için, 2012'de herkese çok sağlıklı bir yıl diliyorum. İnanıyorum ki,sağlığımız yerinde olursa, her türlü mutluluğu ve zenginliği yaratabiliriz.

Winter Colors of Old Datca

2011-12-29T02:59:00.000-08:00

Eski Datça'nın kış renkleri...

Super(man)

2011-12-26T03:32:00.000-08:00

''Sometimes it takes all my energy and time to save the world. No time to play...'' Super(man)

''Bazen dünyayı kurtarmak bütün enerjimi ve zamanımı alıyor. Oyun oynamaya zaman yok'' Super(man)

Yesterday we celebrated the arrival of the new year with various festivities at Old Datca..While we were walking around I took this cute picture..

Dün Eski Datça'da yeniyıl şenlikleri vardı. Etrafta dolanırken kamerama takılan en hoş görüntü buydu..

Poinsettias

2011-12-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Please give it to my ignorance but I have always thought that poinsettias are rather delicate houseplants until couple days ago. But a winter spent at the Mediterranean coast thought me otherwise..

Lütfen cahilliğime verin ama bir kaç gün öncesine kadar Atatürk çiçeklerinin sadece evlerde yetişen nazlı çiçekler olduğunu zannederdim. Ama Akdeniz kıyısında geçirilen bir kış bana tam tersini öğretti..

Treasure Hunt

2011-12-23T03:44:00.000-08:00

The best time for the treasure hunt at the beach are the early hours right after a big storm...
Sahilde hazine avı için en iyi zaman büyük bir fırtınadan sonraki ilk saatlerdir...

Here are some of our finds from today..
İşte bugün bulduklarımızdan bazıları..

Some seashells but this area is not good to find seashells, most of them reached the shore broke..
Bir kaç tane deniz kabuğu, ama bu bölge deniz kabukları açısından oldukça zayıf, genelde çoğu kırık olarak sahile vuruyor..

Old amphora pieces...Contrary to seashells, they are everywhere.. I think I can use this one as a candle holder..
Eski amfora parçaları.. Deniz kabuklarının aksine her yerdeler.. Sanırım bu bulduğumu mum koymak için kullanabilirim

Of course the beautiful sea glasses, my favorites..
Ve tabiki en sevdiklerim, deniz camları...

Sea grasses and a piece of coral..
Yosunlar ve bir parça mercan..

But if you have a little assistant like mine you have no chance to locate the edible sea organism before her. I am sure that she finds it quiet a foolish thing to photograph them instead of eating..
Ancak sizinde benim gibi küçük bir yardımcınız varsa, yenebilecek şeyleri ondan önce bulma şansınız hiç yok. Onları yemektense, fotoğraflarını çekmeyi çok aptalca bulduğuna eminim.

Tree of Life (Shaman / Christmas Tree)

2011-12-21T03:44:00.000-08:00

I love how certain beliefs affects one another throughout the history. You probably all heard about tree of life which is coming all the way from Sumerians..Then comes the Shamans of the Central Asia, and they started to believe that mother earth lives under this tree and the father sky above..They celebrated the winter solstice day as a rebirth festival as days started to beat the nights. During this festival they started to decorate a certain type of pine tree in order to honor their gods..Below is my little tree. I put some snow on my pic as I miss snowy days..

Tarih boyunca çeşitli inançların birbirini nasıl etkilediğini takip etmeyi çok ilginç buluyorum. Örneğin hepinizin duyduğu ve varlığı Sümerlere kadar uzanan hayat ağacı. Daha sonra Orta Asya'da Şamanlar bu ağacın altında yer ananın üstünde de gök babanın yaşadığına inanmaya başlamışlar. Gün'ün geceyi yenmeye başladığı kış gündönümü gününüde yeniden doğuş bayramı olarak kutlarlarmış.Bu bayram sırasında tanrıları onurlandırmak için akçam ağaçlarını süslemek ise adettenmiş. Aşağıda benim küçük ağacımı görüyorsunuz, karlı günleri çok özlediğim için rasme biraz kar yağdırdım..

During these festival they put small gifts under the trees as offerings to the gods and tie ribbons or pieces of fabrics to the branches of a pine tree to make wishes..Friends and family also got together for a special meal to celebrate where everybody put his best dresses on. During the time of the Christianity, its been known that Council of Nicaea banned these traditions as being pagan. However during the 16th century decorating a pine tree in honour of Christ again became a tradition again first in Germany and then spread to the rest of the Christian world.

Bu festival sırasında ağacların altına tanrılar için küçük hediyeler konur ve dallarına da adak dilemek için kurdeleler veya kumaş parçaları bağlanırmış. Ayrıca aileler ve arkadaşlar bir araya toplanır, en güzel giysilerini giyer, beraberce özel hazırlanmış yemekleri yerlermiş. Hristiyanlığın ilk zamanlarında, bu geleneklerin paganlara ait olduğu ileri sürülerek İznik Konsülü tarafından yasaklanmış. Ancak 16.yüzyılda İsa peygamberi onurlandırmak için ağaç süsleme geleneği ilk olarak Almanya'da yeniden ortaya çıkmış ve oradan da tüm hristiyan dünyasına yayılmış.

I took last two photos on my trip to Turkhmenistan. As you can see decorating tree branches is still a very common practice there as in most of the Central Asia. However, I have to admit that my Christian friends are doing a much better job in decorating a tree.

Son iki fotoğrafı Türkmenistan seyahatim sırasında çektim. Görebileceğiniz gibi ağaç dallarını dilek dilemek amacıyla bezemek, tüm Orta Asya'da olduğu gibi orada da halk arasında çok kabul gören bir gelenek. Ancak itiraf etmeliyim ki Hristiyan arkadaşlarım bu ağaç süsleme işinde kesinlikle çok daha başarılı..

I LOVE Salad

2011-12-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Salad. The good thing is that I am able to find so many ingredients from the garden. Just put lots of greens and add whatever you want and a simple seasoning with virgin olive oil, salt and lemon juice are more than enough for a delicious feast..

Salataya tek kelime ile bayılıyorum.Şansıma şu sıralar pek çok malzemeyi bahçeden de bulabiliyorum. Bol bol yeşillik üzerine ne seviyorsanız ekleyin, üzerinede biraz zeytinyağ, limon suyu ve tuz.. İşte size enfes bir ziyafet..

For our little ones

2011-12-17T04:27:00.000-08:00

I found the below piece from facebook. I believe it is by Wanda Jones and I am sure so many of you find so many things in common...

If I didnt have my dogs or cats,
I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety
My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated
All flat surfaces, clothing,furniture and cars would be free of hair
When the doorbell rings, it wouldnt sound like a kennel
When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without fading through fuzzy bodies who got there before me

I could sit on the couch and bed the way I wanted without taking into consideration how much space several fur bodies would need to get comfortable
I would have money and no guilt to go on a real vacation
I would not be on a first name basis with six veterinarians, as I put their yet unborn grandkids through collage
The most used words in my vocabulary would no be: out, sit down, come, no, stay and leave it ALONE
My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or barriers
I would not talk 'baby talk', '' Eat your din din'' ''Yummy yummy for the tummy''
My house would not look like a day care center, toys everywhere
My pockets would not contain things like poop bags, treats and extra leash
I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L, W-A-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, O-U-T, G-O, R-I-D-E, C-O-O-K-I-E

I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside
I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog/cat ties them down too much
I'd look forward to spring and rainy season instead of 'mud' season.
I would not have to answer the question 'Why do you have so many animals?' from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an ANGEL as they will ever get.
How EMPTY my life would be

Oranges and Turquoise

2011-12-11T23:18:00.000-08:00

There is not a better way to start the day with a glass of fresh orange juice.. AND there is not a better way to start a new week with a colorful picture. Have a great week..

Yeni bir güne başlamak içim taze sıkılmış portakal suyundan iyisi yok...VE yeni bir haftaya başlamak için de renkli bir fotoğraftan daha iyisi...Herkese iyi haftalar.

Breakfast

2011-12-10T03:22:00.000-08:00

Saturday mornings start with a breakfast at Melissa Cafe at the beach before going to farmers market for the weekly shopping. Menu is very simple : toast and tea, or you could bring your own food and order tea from the cafe.

But when you are eating your breakfast dont forget to pay your protection money to Çakır - one of the many stray animals surviving around the cafe. He only accepts food not cash.

But in return he could be a very good model for you..

Hera's Step Sister

2011-12-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

Every summer, when crowds are here, so many people love to care and feed cats. Unfortunately when they are leaving at the end of summer, almost all the cats are left behind and most of them perish during the winter months.

We found this little one 2 weeks ago, struggling to find food among bigger cats. She was quite skinny at that time

So we decided to semi-adopt her. She is not allowed to come inside the house but always plenty of cat food available for her tummy. She is doing much better now.

Our Hera loves to chase cats if they run but if they dont, she just ignores them. As the little one learned not to run away from her, there is no problem except the feeding time. Hera hates that we are feeding somebody else other than her.So there is always a seperation between them. Look how unhappy she is..

Beach Walks..

2011-12-07T02:24:00.000-08:00

Probably the best part of our day is our daily walks at the beach as a family. Recently Hera's best and only friend started to join us. Its so much fun to watch their endless play. They are constant reminder that we also should play more...

Also beach combing is an integral part of our walks. Yesterday was a good day as can be seen from the bag hubby is carrying..

But, Where is Winter????

2011-12-05T02:45:00.000-08:00

We are living a gorgeous Mediterranean autumn in our small peninsula which includes lots of sunny days and occasional swim in the cool waters..

However recently I started to spot daisies which are the early signs of the spring. They are covering all the available places during the spring months..so I am wondering where is the winter this year??

In the meantime, our house is almost ready, I am just waiting couple pieces from the carpenter and my new pillows..Pics are coming soon..

Progress report..

2011-11-20T03:56:00.000-08:00

Fresh roses on my coffee table could give you a misleading idea. You might think that we all comfortably settled to our new life in Datca. Unfortunately things are not like that. Right now two seperate groups of workers are working on different parts of the house. One group is making me a new sitting place in the verandah and some extra space in the kitchen. The second group is making me a new balcony and new stairs..And the electrician guy who is fixing our telephone lines as well as installing some new cables comes and goes. He is so difficult to locate so my husband constantly bribing him with cold beer. Its so difficult to find good workers in small places..

It looks like we will live in this nut house for another week..Send me lots of patience...

In the meantime sun is shining and I am planning to make the last swim of 2011 next week..

Ready to Go..

2011-11-11T04:40:00.000-08:00

Last note from an empty house.. Everything is packed and picked up by the moving company, and tomorrow we will be on our way to Datca. See you again as soon as I have a proper internet connection..

Photo:Love it but not one of mine and couldnt remember where I found it...

LOVE Fish..

2011-11-05T04:07:00.000-07:00

I love my new life at the Mediterranean, but I certainly miss certain things about life in İstanbul. One of them is particularly the fishes of İstanbul, especially this season.
Of course we have plenty of fish at Datca but the taste of fish caught from Marmara Sea or Black Sea are far superior than the fish caught from Mediterranean. I think their eating habits as well as the temprature of the sea are some of the reasons for that.
So while in İstanbul I am stuffing my self with lots of fish. Nowadays, BBQed fish and some salad are the easiest and the healtiest fast food you can find in İstanbul..
Next week we are returning to Datca....Cant wait..

İstanbul

2011-10-31T05:14:00.000-07:00

We have been in İstanbul for about a week. Our days are filled with packing, packing and more packing. In two weeks time we are moving most of our stuff to Datca. Soon the house in İstanbul will become our secondary one. Among all the packing frenzy, we found some time this weekend to relax at the Black Sea coast of İstanbul. It was a gray, cold and windy day. Then my mom called from Datca, she said she just came out of the sea and it was divine. Well, that's the difference between Mediterranean and Black Sea..I am glad that soon we will be on the warm side of the country..

Life on folded chairs

2011-10-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Due to a previous arrangement, most of the furniture at the beach house was belong to my mother. Now that she is moving to her new house, life pretty much goes on folded chairs in our house, very minimalist but I have to admit that rather very relaxing...

In couple days, we are going to İstanbul to move most of our stuff to this house. This is a new period in our lives, we even transfered our primary residence to Datca..Wish us luck in our Mediterranean days..

Hera welcomes Autumn

2011-10-14T00:34:00.000-07:00

Well, she is actually stealing one of my dry leaves and trying to measure my reaction..Wish you a great day...

Mediterranean Autumn

2011-10-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

This year we have enjoyed an extended summer but finally autumn came to our small peninsula with lots of rain and wind...There wasnt even time to move the beach chairs and umbrellas..

Ancient city of TLOS

2011-10-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

During our short trip to Kalkan, we had the chance to visit the ancient city of Tlos, a very favorite but recently very much neglected hobby for hubby and me. We have covered most of the ancient cities on the Aegean coast of Turkey but the ones on the Mediterranean coast ( Lycian area in the past) are rather new to us.

Tlos has a historical past dating back to 2000 years BC. Once it was the home of Romans, Byzantians and as well as Ottomans. Rock tombs which are rather fine samples of the Lycian culture has a very dominating view over the city. And as always the tradition there is a very nice theatre.

As hubby is still recuperating from his illnes, I made all the climbing and he gave me the tactics from the base camp. It was a beautiful day..

Kalkan

2011-10-04T02:28:00.000-07:00

This past week we took a short trip to Kalkan to spent some time with the British side of the family (hubby's twin brother and his family), who are vacationing there.

Kalkan is a beautiful small and romantic town on the Mediterranean coast. Until 1920's mostly the Greek families were living here and the place named as Kalamaki during that time. After the population exchange between Turkey and Greece most old residence of this town moved to near Athens and established a new town there with the very same name.

As it is located on a hill side, it is possible to get great view from all over the place

while hubby was catching up with his brother, I had great time reading under the shades of the bougainvilleas, while my little one enjoy the sunshine and the pool side. ( not the pool, because she hates water..)

Curtains

2011-10-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

If you have a beach house in Turkey, you have to have curtains with hand made doilies....As my mom is getting ready to move to her new beach house, her friends and her daughter are quite busy with their hands. These will be our gifts to her..I still have to do another meter but I have to say its a very relaxing thing to do them....

Chasing Aivazovski...

2011-09-30T03:08:00.000-07:00

Here is another one of my never ending Crimea Posts..but promise this is the last one..

I LOVE art, and definitely dont mind making extra miles to see a great one. Same thing happened in Crimea. When I learned that a great portion of Armenian Russian painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky's paintings are at a museum at his home town Feodosia, it was a must for us to go and see them instead of a leisurly day at Yalta.

In order to reach Feodosia we have covered almost half of the coastline of Crimea, and on the way did not hesitate to stop at Sudak to see this grand castle built by Genoese at the 14th century.

Aivazovsky( 1817-1900) is famous with its seasecapes and considered as one of the best among the seascape painters of all time.It is also possible to see some of the great paintings of him in Turkey as he served as the court painter during the Ottoman time. Later he returned to his hometown and opened an art school here.

Museum is located in his own house as well as some adjacent buildings. It was really such a pleasurable experience to see a lot of his paintings, especially the wall size ones, and its also a nice surprise for us to see a large size painting of İstanbul in this corner of the world.

Best Scenic Road in Turkey...

2011-09-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

Last week one of the largest national newspapers of Turkey selected the top 10 scenic roads in Turkey. The 70 km.s long road from Datca to Marmaris hit the top of the list. It is the road going thru our small peninsula,which we are using to reach the outer world.

I think I am using this road close to 20 years and have to admit that never get bored from the amazing views offered by Mediterranean and Aegean.

One of the many small bays on the Mediterranean side..

Still Summer...

2011-09-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

We have returned to our summer place last week, and although it is September, summer is still here. After dreadful days at the hospital I am enjoying the calm Mediterranean, excellent weather and empty beaches. Best time of the year..

Summer Residence of the Last Tsar

2011-09-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

I keep showing you pictures from our beach house at Turquoise Diaries, but today how about the beach house of the last Tsar of the Russia, Nicholos II. and his family. Among them you probably know most about the beautiful Grand Duchess Anastasia, thanks to Hollywood...

If you are a bit interested with history, you can meet lots of ghosts in this palace. Here at this hall in the first floor, the world has been reshared, reshaped among the victors of the second world war.You could almost smell the big cigars of Winston Churchill. Yalta Conference held in this room in February 1945. Its been told that, Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill were seated at the round table at the end of the room.

Livadia Palace also served as the residence of Roosevelt and the American delegation during the Conference due to its convenience.

If you are tired of the 1945 politics, move along the corridors of the first floor, and while you are at the souvenier shop, you might hear the murmurs of the Tsarevich Alexei and his teachers, as this rather large room served as the study of the next Tsar.. It should be very difficult for him to learn the necessary lessons to rule a large empire while hearing the happy sounds and laughs of his four elder sisters Grand Duchesses Olga, Maria, Anastasia and Tatiana, from the upper floor.

While the first floor designed in a rather formal way to serve the daily needs of an emperor's summer residence, the second floor looks like a cozy family home.
The first family of Russia moved to this palace in 1911 after its completion but only spent four happy summers before the Russian Revolution which led to their murder.

Unfortunately almost all of the items used by the family lost after the Revolution, but thanks to photography hobby shared by all the members of the family, its possible to see the life in Livadia Palace.

Yalta

2011-09-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

Yalta is the fun and bright face of Crimea. In the 19th century, it was the favorite holiday resort of the Russian aristocracy. During the Soviet Union it kept its special place as the main vacation place of the Soviet citizens as foreign travel was forbidden to all but a handful.

The seaside of the city of Yalta, is the place where you can find all sort of attraction and as well as many highend shops. Always a joy to stroll in the early hours of the evening..

Yalta is also full of palaces. Here is one that we have visited: Vorontsov Palace, built by the Governor of Novorossiya Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov. Consruction completed between 1830 - 1848. During the famous Yalta conference of 1945, it served as the residence of Winston Churchil and British delegation.

Famous Swallow's nest

I also loved the artists' street where you can find very talented as well as untalented artists selling their painting. Check what Dimitri drawed for us on the right side of the photo..

and last but not the least enjoyed the great wines of the region..

Sevastopol

2011-09-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Its been almost a week that we have left hospital. Hubby is resting at our home in İstanbul and taking his medication. He is doing much better. We are hoping to go back to our beach house next week after getting the approval of his doctor.

As we rushed to İstanbul with the first available plane, I dont have with me the necessary stuff for blogging, ie- a proper internet connection, a proper pc, camera...Thank God ( and my laziness) I have the ever reliable unpublished Crimea photos with me.. Here are some more from Sevastopol..

Sevastopol was the so called 'closed city' during the Soviet period as it was the host of mighty Black Sea Fleet of those days. Today it is still hosting them as well as the Ukranian navy. It was totally rebuilt after the 2.WW and today it is still a beautiful city..

Unfortunately we couldnt spend much time there as we found out very late that the translator and the driver who have been hired for us were also visiting the city for the very fist time. Lost so much time just trying to find our way in the city, but still we have managed to visit the famous Panorama museum and drank some cold wine while listening the sounds of the city..

Evpatoria

2011-08-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful place from Crimea with some beautiful Ottoman buildings..The most important one is the Khan Mosque built in 1552 by the famous Architect Sinan of The Ottoman Empire..We had the chance to witness the religious weddings of some Tatar couples there..

Another one is a dervish lodge and its mosque from the same period.

Evpatoria is an important harbour city in Crimea but it you are looking for sandy beaches you should go outside of the city..

It is full of beautiful old buildings from the imperial days of Russia, but the whole city is waiting a strong hand to renovate them..

Bakhchisaray - Crimea

2011-08-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

Our hospital days are continuing..We slowly started to have some results from all the tests that hubby gone thru. Thank God, its not the scary ''C'' word.. It looks like he has secondary reactivated tuberculosis on his lungs. A kind of mutated tuberculosis bacteria which found a place on his lungs when he was young and slept there all these time.

As our hospital days are following one after another, here are some photos from our Crimea trip from June, I neglected to post them for such a long time.

Bakhchisaray is one of the important tourist destinations in Crimea thanks to the palace of the Crimean Khans. Its one of the Muslim palaces located in Europe, along with its famous sisters in İstanbul and Elhamra in Spain. Its a beautiful palace with so much homey feeling. I just loved it.. They started to build it in the 16th century.

Bakhcisaray is a Turkish word (means palace garden) and the name escaped from the Russinization of the names of the places thanks to great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. He visited this palace when he was exiled in Crimea during1822 and wrote his famous and very long poem ''Fountain of Bakhchisaray'' after this visit. The fountain is still in the palace..

This beautiful town has also a special place in my heart. It' s where my paternal grandmother and grandfather spent their adolescence years before they start their big journey to Anatolia.

Time to Heal...

2011-08-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

Life is full of ups and downs. One day we are enjoying an excellent summer in Datca and the next day we are in hospital. Last week started with some problems in the hubby's lungs. As they could not put an accurate diagnosis there, we flew to İstanbul at weekend. Now we are in a larger and specialized hospital and still waiting for a diagnosis. Wish us a speedy diagnosis and recovery.....

Fig Season..

2011-08-09T01:51:00.000-07:00

Nowadays fierce barks from Hera in the mornings, signals me our sweet delivery. Its been couple years that freshly picked figs delivered to us by a local farmer and his beautiful transportation. I am so happy with my delicious figs and as for Hera, I am sure that she is wondering a lot why the big dog is not responding to her...

Colors of Aegean...

2011-07-21T04:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some more colorful photos from our recent Kos trip. Vibrant colors and all sort of blues under the sunshine are all about Aegean and Mediterranean..

Wish you a much cooler day than mine....

Back from KOS..

2011-07-19T04:04:00.000-07:00

Well, our short trip to Kos - Greece was actually a mid summer get away from one hot place to another. Although our original plan was to visit couple more Greek islands from Kos, we postponed this idea to cooler months, maybe end of September or October..

A short ferry trip from Bodrum to Kos is taking about 40 minutes and waiting right under the sun at the Greek customs office is taking another hour. Town of Kos is full of daily tourists coming from Turkey. Ferries are working all day long.

We chosed to stay at the town of Kefalos which is right at the other side of the island. When we left the town of Kos, we started to realize how hard the Greeks hit by the recent economic crises. All the lovely beaches were empty except couple British tourists...Kefalos was like a semi ghost town during the evening. Some of the tavernas did not even open for the season..It was rather sad..

However we enjoyed lots of good seafood and local wine. Prices were much cheaper compare to Turkey.

Tough Life !!!

2011-07-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can imagine life could be so tough on the sea....

but, thank God that there are plenty of cold drinks waiting when you reach the land...especially this mastic cocktail..

Although I keep posting about our Crimea visit, our tough(!) life at the beach has already started..Photos taken yesterday and tomorrow we are leaving for another short trip to couple Greek İslands.. I have so much to post but these lazy summer days are killing me...
Have a great week...

Crimean Tatars and my grandparents

2011-07-07T03:15:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I jokingly tend to blame all our good habits to our strong characters and all the bad ones to our genes or more precisely to a lousy great grand parent who had been forgotten long time ago..

However when it comes to certain issues, I think that, this great grand parent blaming theory of ours is quite true. In my case it is about forced emigration..

Up to this time I have lived a fairly comfortable and secure life and chose to live in houses and places where I really love. It was always my wish and later the decision to move from one place to another, but whenever I see people on TV or on the news who are forced to leave their homes, a deep melancony wraps me and I usually cant stop myself and shed couple tears. The same thing is also true with poems, songs, movies, that are telling about that beloved country that has never been forgotten and missed deeply everyday until the assigned days in this world are over.

Well, I believe that this emotional state of mine and all those sorrow coded to my genes long time ago.. Once upon a time both my maternal and paternal great grandparents were living in Crimea..The dates are not very clear but my maternal grandparents had to leave Crimea about 150 years ago when the land was occupied by Russians and emigrated to Romania which was Ottoman Empire at that time. Then in 1935 when my grand mother was a young woman with 4 children, they again had to emigrate to Turkey and this time escaped from communism. Among all my grandparents, I only knew my maternal grandmother who had lived close to 100..She was an extremly strong lady and built a totaly new life to her family. However it was a strange feeling for me to watch her in her last years while she was under the influence of dementia and lived in her mind as a young girl in the house she raised in Romania. It was so heart breaking to listen her daily routine and detailed and loving description of the house, its garden and the surrounding fields. She never had the chance to return to her beloved Romania..

The other side of my family my paternal grandparents forced to leave Crimea after the Crimean war as young teenagers.They left everything there and came to Turkey with very few possessions as they mainly had to walk..They came from the villages of Bakhchisaray, a wonderfully green and lush place, to the large and empty steppes of Anatolia. It should be a very traumatic experience..
As I wrote before their sorrows coded to my genes as well as their great survival skils. I am always proud of my adaptation skills as well as appreciating about the things and people in my life and my ability to find small ways to be happy under almost every condition.

look at the shapes of our eyes:))

During our Crimean visit we had the chance to attend circumcision and wedding ceremonies of Crimean Tatars.The photos in this posts are from those celebrations. The older generations lived the terror of Stalin and deported from Crimea to Uzbekistan on a single night -May 18,1944. Many died during the train journey where 100s were filled to a single wagon designed to carry the cattles. Unfortunately world knows much about the atrocities of Hitler but not Stalin. Today the survivors of that generation as well as their children are slowly finding their ways to home and starting all over again.

a different generations of Tatars- my mother on the right and my aunts

and finally a happily dancing hubby with the Tatar tunes...

Simferopol - Crimea

2011-06-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to admit that I have been cheating on my blog with my new Kindle a lot recently. I have so many books to read which were pretty hard to get before..But I am also willing to show you some of my photos from our recent Crimean trip. So I will start will Simferopol today..

Simferopol is the capital of Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine and you have to stop there as the only airport of the region is located in this city. As it is a rather small country we stayed in a hotel in Simferopol in the first 4 days of our stay and made the daily trips to the different part of the country from there..

I do not know much how it was during the communist period, but I had a strong feeling that not much has changed since then....buildings, cars, roads and even people. Most of the people working in the service sector are quite rude and acting as they are doing you a great favor when you ask something as simple as your room key.And beware of closing hours of the stores..As soon as the clock tics, they are not hesitating you to lock inside the store..It happened to me twice...

All the Tatar population in Crimea deported to Uzbekistan in a single night with the orders of Stalin on May 18, 1944 . After the collapse of the Soviet Union, they mainly returned to Simferopol area and trying to establish a new life at the outskirts of the city. They are struggling hard to establish a new life in their old lands without obtaining any of their previous rights. More on them later...

Champions are back !!!

2011-06-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are back from Crimea...Today its all about de-packing and re-packing. Tomorrow we are leaving for our beach house. Photos of our trip are coming soon..

Flying

2011-06-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

In a couple hours of time, we are flying to Crimea- the land of my ancestors. They never had the chance to see their beloved country again, that they had forced to emigrate, during their lifetime. I believe they all died with great homesickness...Now I will see that country with my own eyes. Promise to post if I find any internet connection..See you all soon...

photo: from a statue in Tashkent-Uzbekistan

Old and New İstanbul (2) - Historical tram in İstiklal Avenue

2011-06-06T04:43:00.000-07:00

İstiklal Avenue on the European side of İstanbul is probably one of the most well known pedestrian street in İstanbul. It is full of old Ottoman buildings and an old tram runs back and fort all day..Lovely place to spend a day. So here are two tram photos from the unpublished National Geographic archives,I mentioned on my last post.

Photos are dated 1928 and taken by Maynard Owen Williams

Trams started to operate in İstanbul at 1871 and the one on İstiklal Avenue became active at 1883. Until 1914 all the trams were pulled by horses. Later they were all electrified..

and today..

Old & New İstanbul (1) / Eminonu Galata Bridge

2011-06-02T03:55:00.000-07:00

Last month National Geographic magazine celebrated its 10th year in Turkey with a beautiful exhibition, with the photos taken in Turkey but have not been published before..They also gave a small album of these photos with the April issue. As I am always crazy about old photographs, it was such a big treat for me..

Now I will try to show you some places of İstanbul with the help of these photos..
Photo of Yeni Cami from the Galata bridge. Taken by Maynard Owen Williams in 1928

another one from 1925 by Branson de Cou /Ewing Galloway

and today...

Galata Bridge is the bridge that spans the Golden Horn and the very fist bridge constructed at this place in 1894. The one in NG photo was the 4th bridge built in 1912. The current and the 5th one opened in 1994.

The Ottoman imperial mosque behind is called the New Mosque, but it was finished in 1665!!!

Championship Night..

2011-05-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

We heard on the TV that the Fenerbahce football team has entered the Baghdat Street, so we ran to the street and we started to wait.....

our little one wearing the team's jersey was quiet patient and the team was coming with a bus and they only have to cover about 6 km to reach where we were waiting but nobody was on the horizon and we kept waiting...

Finally about 3 hours later they came and along with thousand fans we cheered and Hera barked..

There are 3 big football clubs in İstanbul and champion of this year Fenerbahce considered as the football club of Asian side of the city.

Baghdat is the main street in an upper-scale residential area of Asian side of İstanbul . The one-way avenue with old plane trees is full of shopping malls, department stores, fashion garment stores, restaurants of international and local cuisine, pubs and cafés etc. Its an excellent place for walk and window shopping..

Vacation Dreams..

2011-05-20T03:26:00.000-07:00

We came back to İstanbul about 10 days ago. Hubby has worked at the F1 race in İstanbul..Not much going on with me nowadays. I am reading and studying about our upcoming vacation in Crimea. Unfortunately I could not find much on the internet..Looks like nobody blogged about it..

Today is May 20th which is suppose to be one of the wonderful spring/summer day but İstanbul is kind of freezing. It looks like a mild winter day with rain...So there is not much to do but to dream about visiting this marvelous place in June..

Fashionable Ama from Ethiopia

2011-05-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

Ama is a lady from Ethiopia with beautiful earrings. She made them her self by using the luggage tags of Turkish Airlines. On a lucky day she went to the market and a Turkish tourist wandering there took a photo of her and then sent it to Turkish Airlines...

Then she became the new star of the company and played in the recent commercials. Considering that Kevin Costner, Manchester United Football team, Caroline Wozniacki and Kobe Bryant were the previous faces of the company, its a pretty big accomplishment for Ama, and I just love the commercial and the sweet story behind it.

You can watch it from here:
http://vimeo.com/22840876

and at the end, take notice how the whole family singing the jingle. Its very sweet...

For some one special..

2011-05-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you mum for being my mum. I love you..

Happy Mother's Day!!!

An English Farm

2011-05-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to spend some time on a lovely farm during our visit to England. It was beautiful, green, and very quiet just as I has imagined before..

Lush green fields. Horses on one side and 14.000 chickens on the other. I have been told that they are laying 12.000 eggs per day. I have to say that eggs were delicious..

I dont know about chickens but I think some of the horses really liked me or maybe they just wondered about the woman on the fields with the camera...

This beautiful farm belongs to the sister of my sister-in law and sure we had a very warm welcome...

Conwy - Wales

2011-05-04T03:15:00.000-07:00

During our trip to England, we managed to spent a day in the lovely Northern Wales town of Conwy.

Conwy is a beautiful seaside town with a magnificent castle which had been constructed by Henry 1. between 1283 and 1289. It was a very windy and cold day but we still succeeded to spend some time in the towers of this amazing building.. I just loved the castles in England..

We also thought that its best to try a classic British tradition here: Fish and chips and mushy peas.

Wedding

2011-04-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the things that I did NOT buy from England. Do you think that I made a mistake? Could they be the the antiques of the future???

Right now I am watching the wedding on TV. Its funny but Bloomberg is broadcasting it live in Turkey..

Rain ,Rain and more Rain

2011-04-27T02:40:00.000-07:00

It looks like spring is busy somewhere else this year. Normally we should be able to swim during this time of the year but rain, wind and cold continues..

So we kind of stuck in the house except some short walks outside.

Hera's raincoat is new, we brought it all the way from England and she tried it this morning but I have to admit that 5 minutes after taking this picture we found it in 2 pieces in the garden.

I read,write, play computer games, cook all sorts of things and drink lots of tea.. My favorite tea includes green tea, lots of fresh mint from the garden, a cinnomon stick, couple cardomom seeds and honey. Actually its my favorite winter tea but quite suitable for this weather..

Occasianal rainbows after the rain are definitely the only plus sides of these days..

More of Shropshire-England

2011-04-25T02:36:00.000-07:00

I realized that I have neglected our trip to England a lot. A new one is on the way and I only managed to make few posts about the old one. So time to work!!!

Well, my last visit to Englang was probably 20 years ago for a forex training some where close to London and afterwards I remember squezing couple days to my agenda to spent in London with my brother who was attending the university there. London was OK with all the goodies of a big city life, but England on my mind was always associated with lots of history, castles, abbeys and large green fields etc.....

Luckly this time I have found what I looked for. Here is Stokesay Castle dated from 1291. Amazing!!

As you can see it is actually a fortified medieval house near theWelsh border. Look carefully to the great hall and its wood work which was unaltered since it was built in 1291..Its so easy to dream the large and noisy dinner parties at this hall, centuries ago.

and look at this wonderful scenery from the upper levels of the castle,

Although it has so many other attractions, it looks like Shropshire is most proud of its Iron Bridge.. Built between 1775-1779, it is the world'd first cast iron bridge and considered as an enduring symbol of the Industrial revolution..

Another place I loved was the Lilleshall Abbey which was founded in the 1140s for a small community of Augustinian monks. The monastic life was maintained for almost 400 years, until the abbey was suppressed on the orders of Henry 8. in 1538. Surviving buildings are from 12th and early 13th century. It was such a quiet and serene place...

Back to our Heaven...

2011-04-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Finally we have a rather decent internet connection and I can say 'Hi' to all of you. Really miss all of my blogging friends..

We are at our beach house and I have to say that spring at Mediterranean is full of surprises. Rain and sunshine constantly playing hide and seek..Took these photos just half an hour ago..

We are mostly working at our two small gardens and I am trying to realize a dream. A garden full of lavenders... So far nothing worked for the last two years and this year I have a different strategy. I am collecting wild French Lavender seedlings from the nearby fields for my garden. I hope they like it here and give me lots of flowers..

So for this mission me and my little one are having our walks near the fields every day...

PS: Blogger ban still continues in Turkey and I am trying to post by using some side ways and here is a good joke. About 2 weeks ago the ban has been lifted by the court but the poor typist wrote blogspoRt instead of blogspot to the verdict and somehow nobody realized it. Now they have corrected it but it looks like the slowest of slow snails are carrying the court orders here, so service providers and as well as millions of bloggers are waiting the corrected verdict.....

Romance in Edinburgh..

2011-04-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back from the green,green and gray England to gray,gray and gray İstanbul. Awful weather here..
Currently we are unloading the suitcases, doing the laundry and then re packing again for our beach house..We are planning to leave at the end of this week..Things are rather mad in the house..
But I have to tell you a little romance of mine between my ironing sessions..

His name is William Deacon Brodies. I worked hard to persuade him to come to İstanbul with me but not a chance..

Edinburgh is full of ghost and body snatching stories. There are even special tours which you can listen these scary stories in the dark alleys and the undergrounds of the city. I have never seen a city which are marketing their ghosts so succesfully..

Well, my handsome is also part of the city's legends.
He was the cabinet maker and the Deacon of the guild of cabinet makers, also a town councillor. But soon he turned his professional expertise and society connections to more sinister use. By day, the craftsman and councillar and by night the gambler, drinker and thief..
In 1788, he hanged because of his crimes on the gallow that he had designed.
On 1876 Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a play called '' Deacon Brodie or the Double Life'' This was followed two years later by Jekyll and Hyde... Fantastic story and couple fantastic movies..

and here I am standing with the real guy..

More stories from England will soon be on Turquoise Diaries...

PS: Blogger ban here still continues in a strange way. I can post and see from Opera turbo but not any where else..Well, its better than nothing..

Edinburgh..

2011-04-02T03:53:00.000-07:00

Initially I had planned to post often from England but unfortunately the fast pace of our trip is not allowing me, but here are some photos from our quick trip to Edinburgh...

Edinburgh is a very beautiful and a lively city. As the locals also kept saying, the only negative part of our trip was the bad weather..It was cold, gray and rainy..Perfect for tourists..

As we were able to stay only 1 night in Edinburgh, we had quite a limited time and apart from a city tour we opted to visit the famous Edinburgh castle and took a tour in the underground city. The ghost stories were worth listening. Fun and scary...

Of course we found the time to taste famous Scottish whiskeys, and finished a small bottle of malt before the dinner.As you can easily guess we were quite merry that evening..

See you soon...

Green, Green Gray England

2011-03-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

Hello from green green but gray England. We are currently in Market Drayton in the Shropshire region where hubby's twin brother and his family lives. Its such a quiet and peaceful place. Taking lots of walks in the city admiring the old houses and out to the country side admiring the nature..
Its the season of the Daffodils...

The beautiful house in the photos is the Huntingsdale Hall in Market Drayton..

Tomorrow we are taking the train to Edinbourgh and will spent 2 days there...

More photos are coming soon...

Hello and Good bye...

2011-03-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hello again,
Blogger ban is still continuing in Turkey. About a week ago, I was able to post but couldnt see my blog as well as yours. Then it went all black..It was not even possible to enter the blogger.com.
And there are these rumours that the ban will be lifted soon so about 4.000.000 bloggers are waiting...

and today I could have the access to blogger but not to blogs. So I wanted to say a quick HELLO..

and then GOOD BYE. We are leaving for England tomorrow, I hope it will be a nice journey in rural England. I am taking my PC with me and try to post as often as possible..

It is sooo great to be able to post again and hope to SEE you soon..

Cold Days..

2011-03-09T00:49:00.000-08:00

Finally the much expected snow came to İstanbul, but unfortunately its not a totally white one. It is melting immediately and leaving us with muddy streets..Even Hera is not very happy with these weathers. She prefers her blankets to everything else..

However it looks like the spring is in the horizon..All the beautiful spring flowers started to appear at flower stalls..

PS: Blogger ban here continues so I still cant see you as well as me!!

Blogger ban in Turkey

2011-03-02T02:01:00.000-08:00

When you live in this part of the world,your so called very democratic politicians talk a lot about freedom of speech and independent media, but when it comes to reality they are all shallow words..

Yes, as of yesterday blogger/blogspot banned in Turkey for the second time in 2 years. So far I can post but cant see what I and others are posted from blogger.

It looks like some hackers transmitted the live football games of a pay TV station from blogger and our judges chosed the easy way to shut down all the blogs instead of catching the real culprits..

But I know that the best way is to keep doing what I love ,so starting from today and I dont know how long I will keep posting but cant have the access to my and all your blogs posting thru blogger..

Hope to SEE you soon friend...

Missing Colors..

2011-02-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Hello from rainy, gray and cold İstanbul.. Not much is going on here.. We are mostly staying at home and writing... Hubby is busy with his novel and I have been commissioned to write some travel stories to a magazine and a new internet site...I am writing about my travels in Central Asia and Tibet...

We are also planning our up coming travels. At the end of March we are flying to England to spent some time with hubby's twin and his family and then later in June we are going to Crimea..So much to plan and anticipate..

As the title of my post says, I miss warm colors and sun shine in these dark winter days.
Hubby bought the antique mirror and the bowl for our last anniversary... A photo from the last summer..

Two lovers..

2011-02-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

We have saved this special exhibition for Valentines Day, and yesterday we, two lovers went to visit another two lovers visiting İstanbul. Frida and Diego are in İstanbul with their amazing paintings..

Although theirs was a shaky relationship, I always admire the intense affaction and the artistic creativity of both. I think that I have never seen another female painter than Frida who described her love to a man so strongly, so emotionally and so painfully..

I admired the great murals of Diego Rivera during my visit to Mexico, but I do not remember seeing paintings from him. So couple Diego paintings from the exhibition were such a different treat.

Wishing you a year filled with love....

Soutwest Wind

2011-02-06T03:30:00.000-08:00

Southwest wind which is called lodos in Turkish is always a big deal in the life of İstanbul. Well, first of all it delays all the sea traffic, brings warm weathers but most importantly it has been blamed for insomnia and headache..So whenever you complain about a sleepless night or a slight headache during the windy days, everybody immediadely becomes a doctor and tell you that its because of the wind...

These amazing photograps are taken by a chilhood friend of mine, Şebnem Pilgir Aykol. She is a very talented architect and a photographer. She photographed the southwest wind in one of our favorite walking places near the Marmara Sea.
Şebnem dear, thank you very much for allowing me to post these photos on Turquoise Diaries and please visit the much neglected photo blog of Şebnem here..

Back to İstanbul

2011-02-02T02:24:00.000-08:00

Leaving sunshine, sea, open air and tranquility was very hard but finally we came back to İstanbul. Cold, traffic, snowy/rainy weather welcomed us. We are all a bit depressed including our little fury one. I will be back with more cheerful and colorful posts very very soon...

Village Markets

2011-01-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

It looks like , the travelling merchants and the local farmers are establishing a new market everyday of the week in a different village, in our little peninsula. They are always a great place to meet with locals and shop for your necessities. As there are no big stores in villages, it is possible to find almost anything. Here is a one, we stopped last week..

Waiting for customers is easier with a game of backgammon..

and who can resist to listen some gossip..

A sewing machine repairman displaying his goods..

Beach combing..

2011-01-23T05:29:00.000-08:00

This weekend, there is a rather big storm going on outside. Lots and lots of rain and wind. So we have snuggled inside the home with a roaring fireplace, lots of books, DVDs, music, teas for the day and wine for the night.

I keep watching the big waves at the sea and wondering what each one of them is bringing for me. As soon as the weather settles, I will be back to may active beach combing duty :)) I love collecting stuff from the beach. Here are some nice stuff that I am displaying at home but some day I should have to show you some of the weird things, I came across..

Have a great week friends...

Inevitable

2011-01-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

Well, we have finally decided on the inevitable. So far we kept delaying our return to İstanbul day after day. But on Saturday we decided to stay until the end of January. Life is full of surprises here.. Here are some photos from this past weekend.

On Saturday gluewine at the beach:

On Sunday fresh berries and sun as appetizers.

Wiah you a great week full of surprises....

Before the Storm

2011-01-11T02:41:00.000-08:00

Right now I am laying under the sun like a lazy and sleepy lizard and soaking all the heat..However couple days ago the weather wasnt like that..Here are couple photos I took at the beach right before the storm..

and hubby cleaning the woods we have picked from the beach..Old and weathered ones kept for some up coming projects, and rest went to the fireplace..

Winter Roses

2011-01-04T23:47:00.000-08:00

Picking up fresh roses from my garden on a cold ,rainy and windy January day after a long walk at the beach.....Priceless and ordinary on a Mediterranean winter day..

PS: As I have a VERY slow internet connection right now, I am not able to visit all my favorite blogs..I miss you all but soon I will be with you..

Mediterranean New Year...

2011-01-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year dear friends... Yes, we are at our beach house and welcomed the new year here. This year we have a rather winter proof beach house thanks to our new fire place...Cheers..

For the new years' dinner we were at our neighbours place and we had turkey.. I really dont know how it became a tradition but at new year's dinner table, there has to be a turkey in Turkey :))

Our days are filled with lots of reading and writing as well as long walks at the beach..Hera is enjoying her leash free days here and rarely stops at home for some food and sleep..

Its sunny but cold which I call a perfect winter day..

WISH YOU A GREAT YEAR....

Forgotten Christians...

2010-12-24T02:12:00.000-08:00

Well, first Merry Christmas to all my Christian friends..Hope you will have a great holiday season..So on Christmas day I want to take you to a lovely church that is located in the southeastern Turkey. It is one of the two active churches in the city of Diyarbakır..It is the Chaldean Catholic Church of Mar Petyun..

I always find God in the most simple places. I have visited many grand temples around the world, old and new, which said to be built in order to glorify the God. However, I never felt God in any one of them but the ego of the one who paid for it..

Couple years ago I have visited this small Chaldean Church. At that time there were only 10 families in the city that were attending this church. They were having the mass once a month because they did not have their own priest but a priest from the Syrian Orthodox Church was helping them to organize one. It was a wonderful, warm and cozy place just like a home. Its naive paintings and plastic flowers were telling me that this place was built and sustained with love not ego, and I felt God.

This Chaldean Church is serving its belivers since the 17th century.I just hope that it will stay open many more years....

Love of Rumi

2010-12-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

This past Friday, Dec17th was the anniversary of Rumi's death, or his wedding night as he likes to see his departure from this world as a reunion with his beloved...

Starting from my late 20s, I started to learn a great deal about my religion (Islam) as well as others. I was searching for something...and as Rumi said '' the seeker will eventually find what she has been looking for whether he goes fast or slow '' it was a long walk for me and at the end I became a rather spiritual person but not a religious one.

Among so many great teachers and prophets two of them really resonated with me. Rumi with his love and Buddha with his wisdom. They are the ones who lay the stones of my path..

The year 2007 was the 800th birthday of Rumi, and for the occasion there was a special train journey from İstanbul to Konya where his tomb is. I was one of the lucky passangers of this special train. We slept one night at the train and there were lots of discussions and poetry readings thruout the night. Very special..

Below are some photos from that journey..Starting with the tomb of Rumi..

Whirling dervhishes. It is a real treat to see a good show. They are meditating while dancing, you are meditating while watching..

Their hats symbolizes their tomb stones..

As it is not possible to take photos inside the tomb I took the photo from here. It is very elaborate and peaceful.

One of the highlights of the trip was a speech given by Mrs Esin Çelebi; his 23rd generation granddaughter..

In the meantime Rumi's spiritual mentor and friend Shams said to be buried in a nearby place which is also used as a mosque right now.. Very simple place compare to Rumi's. The 3,5 years Rumi and Shams spent together in Konya is the most crucial time in Rumi's life as Shams friendship and teachings created the Rumi that we have known today.. As Shams death is a great mystery, actually nobody really documented about his burial place. So this place is most probably not his real resting place..

Rainy Days

2010-12-17T01:55:00.000-08:00

Since rain and cold weather hit İstanbul, not much going on here.Weather is gray and life goes on mostly at home with lots of books and movies and couple quick trips to shopping malls for necessities..I was waiting these kind of days to start writing my novel, but it looks like my muses doesnt like rainy days either..In the meantime, hubby started to write a book out of nowhere and so far he is doing great..

Also we are in the process of packing again to go to our beach house. We are planning to welcome the new year there..
Sorry for this rather uninteresting post but even the light is too bad that it does not inspire me to take photos. I promise to dig into my archives to bring you more sunny and bright photos and stories soon..

Safranbolu - Saffron City

2010-12-11T02:21:00.000-08:00

Finally the much expected winter hit İstanbul. We started to see snow flakes with lots of rain.. Our last week's short trip to Black Sea region and the wonderful weather are now looking like a distant memory..

So here are some photos from Safranbolu. A typical Ottoman city that has survived to the present day.. According to the information given there are more than 1000 registered historical artifacts in the city. Some of them dated from the early 14th century..

It is possible to rent a golf cart and a guide for an easy tour of the city. It is so much fun, even Hera liked it a lot..

From the 13th century on, it was an important caravan station on the main East - West trade route. It was also a trading place and a centre for growing the much priced saffron..Today saffron is still available in the city and you could buy and taste products such as: saffron tea, saffron cologna, Turkish delight with saffron...

It is definitely a great place to see the well preserved Ottoman era houses and architecture, but it is also a living city...Life goes on smoothly despite the heavy tourist attacks..

Once neglected houses are now a gold mine. If you cant afford a real one, why not buy a small one..

Local artisans and the shops are serving the needs of the locals as well as th tourists. A blacksmith who is producing the traditional locks..

After lots of walking why not stop at a local restaurant and taste some specialities..My choice was the traditional Turkish soup: tarhana.. It is actually a dough prepared in summer with lots of vegetables, and yogurt and then dried for use in winter soups..A big favorite of mine since childhood...

I wish you a great weekend and bowls of hot soup if you happen to be on this side of the world.. We are freezing....

Staying in an Ottoman House: Gulevi..

2010-12-08T04:35:00.000-08:00

Its been almost a week that we have returned from our little getaway and I realized that I still did not post about the good part of our trip..

We have spent a full day and night in Safranbolu (saffron city) It is located at the Black Sea region and definitely one of the most protected Ottoman towns of the country. Before taking you to a tour on the city first let me take you to our hotel: Gulevi ( Rose House) It will definitely give you an idea about the rest of the city..

It is a two house complex (soon three) restored and decorated by a lovely couple. They have left the big city life in İstanbul 10 years ago and settled here for a more fullfilling life. He is the architect, she is the decorator of this wonderful place..

We have stayed at the old Beten's House which used to belong to a judge during the Ottoman days..As it was rather off season we were the only guests and guess who enjoyed it most??? It was a big experience for her. Although she had stayed at doggy hotels before, it was the first time that she was at a human hotel. I have to say that she behaved extremly well..

All the small details were there to enjoy...

Our room was on the Harem part of the house..It was a very soothing experience to think and dream about all the people lived and spent their lives under the roof of this house before going to sleep.. Sorry for the messy room. I KNOW I should have to take the photo before..

For our luck the weather was excellent so we enjoyed the garden and the sunshine...

If you want to learn more about this wonderful place please visit : http://www.canbulat.com.tr/

Black Sea - Amasra

2010-12-04T02:10:00.000-08:00

I was quite aware that we were chasing an image but not ready for the huge dissappointment..Couple weeks ago I published a post named ''Dreaming'' and the small town of Amasra on the Black Sea coast was our first stop on our mini getaway..

When you look from outside, it has everything. A unique and dreamy location, wonderful beaches, rich history, a great big castle which was built during the Roman period.

But I was expecting more. I was expecting to see many old and protected buildings, not ugly apartments built in the last 20 years. They have even built them inside the castle..

The only good part was the fish and salat lunch we had at the small port.The weather was excellent and we enjoyed being in the open air, but later the high bill we have to pay for a simple lunch even tarnished that good memory..

Although we were planning to stay there for a night, we drove into the amazing nature of Black Sea and headed to the historical town of Safranbolu...Well, it was a big surprise,too but this time a good one. More photos soon..

Have a great weekend full of good surprises...

On a fine day..

2010-11-30T12:12:00.000-08:00

These fine days have been my ruin.
On this kind of day I resigned
My job in ``Pious Foundations.''
On this kind of day I started to smoke
On this kind of day I fell in love
On this kind of day I forgot
To bring home bread and salt
On this kind of day I had a relapse
In my versifying disease.
These fine days have been my ruin.

Well, these are the words of the famous Turkish poet Orhan Veli Kanik, translated by Bernard Lewis (1982) Oh, how well he is describing my mood on a fine day..

It looks like snow and cold weather are slowly coming towards us, but when the weather reports announced the last fine days before the winter for this week, we immediately made a small program. Right now we are travelling on the Black Sea region. Who cares that I have tons of stuff to do at home, weather is good, we are happy and that's all it matters.. More photos are coming soon..
Wish you a great week...

Beautiful Art of Renilde Wouters

2010-11-24T09:27:00.000-08:00

Lately its been such a rare treat to receive a real mail among all the invoices and the junk mail. Recently I was SOOO lucky to receive such a mail from Belgium..

Renilde is an extremly talented artist I am following with great interest for some time. Striking emotions and the colors on her paintings are capturing my imagination. They are wild, they are peaceful..AND I was so lucky to win the latest giveaway of Renilde. She has sent me 2 lovely post cards of her art work and a sweet surprise piece.. Thank you for your generosity dear Renilde..

and please check her wonderful art at her blog: Stroke of the Brush and her etsy shop....

and a personal request::::: please put more of your work to etsy dear Renilde....

Dreaming..

2010-11-22T10:01:00.000-08:00

Almost all my travels start with a single image. Mostly a photo and sometimes a scene quickly passing from the TV screen. Then that image stays with me until THE day. I dream about it, search about it, journal about it. I could only describe it as a kind of a hunger. Then the time comes and I will go and see it with my own eyes, experince it with all my senses and then the hunger satisfies....

This process sometimes takes couple months sometimes years. When I saw a pale photo of Tibetian monks at a magazine around my junior high years, I remember being vaguly aware of a country named Tibet,and that image found its special place in my mind and stayed with me for nearly 24 years. Needed lots of growing up and saving..

When I was looking the photograps of a long time friend, I found one of those images. It was a breath taking view of the town of Amasra, and luckily this time it is only around 400 km away from İstanbul at the Black Sea coast of Turkey..

For these beautiful images and the dreams I would like to thank Serdar Sualp who let me to post these photos on Turquoise Diaries. I am sure that Serdar's hobbies of flying and motorcycling will bring lots of photographs to dream..

Capital of an Empire - Edirne

2010-11-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

Its surprising but the weather is still exceptionally good for this time of the year. I have tons of stuff to do at home but when we see the sunny weather in the morning, we are rushing outside thinking that this might be the last hot day before the winter really starts. However this goes on like this for the last 2 weeks. Believe it or not but I am praying for some cold and gray weathers to finish my many projects at home. So thats why these Edirne photos are a bit late..

Edirne is the western most city of Turkey which has a border with Greece and Bulgaria. Its only 2 hours away from İstanbul so ideal for a daytrip from here as well as from Balkan countries. It served as the capital city of Ottoman Empire before the conquest of İstanbul, so lots of Ottoman buildings to see...

Before noon we visited the covered Bazaars of the city and did some shopping like the beautiful fruit shaped soaps, I put on my previous post, but I was mostly interested with the classic details of the Bazaars built by Ottomans. This one is dated from 1418..

Main street of the city is an excellent place to have a cup of coffee and to observe the people as well as the wonderful old houses..Even Hera enjoyed the history and the crowd..

For lunch there is only one choice in Edirne. Its famous fried liver served with fried dried hot pepper and a simple onion salad. It was delicious.

After lunch we put Hera to car so that she could have her precious afternoon sleep and we went to see the jewel of the city: The Selimiye Mosque which is considered the zenith of the Ottoman Architecture. Built in 1575, it had the largest dome in the world for several centuries..An amazing building and a piece of art..

After the magnificent Selimiye, I made a short stop at the oldest mosque of the city. Contrary to the colorful and precious ceramics of the Selimiye, walls of the old masque were decorated with striking caligraphy. It was dated from 1414..

While the night was getting closer, the waters of the Maritsa river was flowing smoothly and Greece is just on the other side of the river.. Unfortunately this beautiful photo is not taken by me, due to the dark. I took it from wikipedia travel..

Soaps of the Palace / Edirne

2010-11-15T01:50:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to Edirne in order to take advantage of the excellent weathers. Edirne is the westernmost city of Turkey which has borders with Bulgaria and Greece. It was the capital city of the Ottoman Empire before Istanbul.

We visited lots of monuments and did some shopping. Above are the soaps that I bought from Edirne. They are special to this city and produced for centuries. Starting from 1600 these fruit shaped soaps loved and used by the lovely ladies of the Ottoman Harem..In those days these soaps were only produced for the palace, but now decorating my bathroom.

Have a great week and more photos from Edirne trip soon....

Taste of History

2010-11-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

When the weather forecasts had promised excellent weather for the past week, we tried to organize couple activities outside and some short trips to enjoy the last bits of sunny autumn before winter.

One day we passed to the European side of the city and had a wonderful lunch right beside the Galata tower. Call it a taste of history...

This famous sign of İstanbul, first built in 507 by the Byzantium Emperor Anastasius as a lighthouse. Later Geneose rebuilt this wood structure by using stone.. Ottomans used it as a dungeon and fire tower and now Turks are using it as a cafe and a restaurant..Enduring ages in many shapes...

Hope you are having sunny weathers, too...

Life goes on...

2010-11-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

While a live bomb was trying to take the lives of many in Taksim Square yesterday morning, I was doing my daily shopping in the local food market. The news were a shock at first then a relief that no body was killed except the bomb himself.

When you live in this part of the world, you are somehow getting used to the horrific events like that. Maybe its a curse that we should have to live on, but whatever happens life goes on which I strongly feel is the antidote of this curse.

Fish season started in İstanbul. Although we spent a huge part of the year at the Mediterranean coast, I always miss the winter season in İstanbul . The fish caught from the Marmara Sea are always taste much much better than the ones from the Mediterranean. So I bought some Sarıkanat, a medium sized bluefish from my fisherman for dinner.

Then I stopped at the next stall to pick up some greens for a big salad along side the grilled fish. They have to be fresh and thats where I find them..

Then I bought 4 pieces of yufka which is a very thin sheet of dough to make pastry, filled with spinach and cheese for breakfast. These yufkas are really a big life saver at the kitchen and dearly missed by my Turkish friends who live abroad because of their practicality.

Then I stopped at the next store to buy some cheese and sausage. Its always good to taste before you buy...

Then at night when we were having dinner we were grateful that life was going on despite all the setbacks...and this was a small tour in the shops and stalls of my neighbourhood..

Boats of İstanbul

2010-10-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

For this season I choose a photo of a Bhosporus boat as the header of my blog...Why??? Because I love them and I also think that they are one of the greatest symbols of İstanbul.

If you are lucky and could grap a seat by the window or outside if the weather is good, it's the best place to dream and relax while the silhouettes of a beautiful city flows in front of you. Every day they carry millions of people from port to port as well as from Asia to Europe or vice versa. Its definitely the most convenient way from one continent to another.

When I was a young banker the early morning boat from Uskudar to Eminonu was my mode of transportation to work. A glass of hot tea and a bagel was my breakfast while the boat was slowly moving in the dark blue waters of Bhosporus.It was the most refreshing way to start a new day and it still is...Dont forget to jump one of them if you ever come to this part of the world.

Back to İstanbul

2010-10-21T03:22:00.000-07:00

Finally we are back to İstanbul after 4.5 months. After spending so much time at open space and at the beach, first days at home rather brought a mild depression to Hubby and me while Hera is having a major one..After a big re-packing session, we ran to supermarkets and the farmers market to make a reasonable food stock..and I started to fill the baskets and bowls at home with season's products...

and in the meantime our little Hera had an operation 2 days ago..She is sooo sweet with the big kone on her head but as you can guess she is quite unhappy...

So our life in İstanbul has started. So far I couldnt go out except food shopping but hopefully this weekend. I already miss so much of your posts but as I have a proper internet now, I will see you soon..

Good Bye Datca

2010-10-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful summer and autumn, but now its time to move...Time for winter and time for İstanbul..So Good Bye my dear Datca until next summer..We will miss you..

The Door

2010-10-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

Nowadays I am madly packing as we are soon moving to our winter home and life in İstanbul. There are tons of stuff to be arranged before both here and there..While we are still enjoying a beautiful Mediterranean autumn over here, winter scenes and even snow started to appear in and around İstanbul in the TV news. It looks like it will be a big climate change for us..

Soon I will change the header of my blog and make it something more appropriate with the life in İstanbul. I know many of you like my summer and Datca themed header. Before changing it here is a full photo of the door..

It is the entrance door of a lovely stone house in old Datca..

Wish you a great and colorful weekend....

Life in an Ottoman Mansion

2010-10-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last week Hubby's twin brother and his family came to Datca. During their stay, their choice of hotel was a 200 year old Ottoman Mansion. Their stay gave me the opportunity to take some photos of this beautiful place.

The mansion is one of the oldest examples of civil architecture still surviving in Anatolia. It is named after Mehmet Ali Aga who was the governor of Rhodes in 1890s...

As I was not able to take photo of the suites of the mansion here are some for you from the web site of the hotel..

and of course the integral part of an Ottoman House :The Hamam

For more info and photos please visit their web site : http://www.kocaev.com/ and if you ever decide to come don't forget to stop and say 'hi' to me..

Places from Cuba: Trinidad

2010-10-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

I wasnt sure what I was expecting to see when I decided to go to Cuba. All I know was I wanted to see Cuba ( with the dissatisfied hunger of a traveller) while Fidel was alive. I wanted to see the creation of his life time..

Well, at the end of my trip, the hunger has satisfied. I saw good things, I saw sad things. I listened frustrating life stories, I listened happy life stories. So actually not much different from the other places I have lived and visited.

Of course I couldnt see Fidel with my own eyes but had the opportunity to see the first lady of the time: Mrs Castro (Raul Castro's wife). She was entertaining her guests from South Korea at a restaurant where we were also lunching and when she learned that our small group came all the way from Turkey, she did not hesitate to stop and graciously welcomed us to her country.

Well, so many words but no photos so far. As for my 'Places from Cuba' post, I want to take you to the town of Trinidad. A wonderful, beautiful and a MUST see place.

Faces From Cuba -2

2010-10-08T04:48:00.000-07:00

Today here find some faces from Cuba from my camera, including a very happy tourist.

A painter couple from the Cojimar village. He was drawing, she was painting and today the painting he holds is hanging on my home

I always consider my time in Cuba as the beginning of my travel to find me....I remember I had so much problem at the office back home at the time. I was hating my job but I was making tons of money and I was spending tons of money. The usual dilemma...But in the 10 days I spent in Cuba, filled with music, dancing, and wonderful friends, my whole attitude towards life has started to change. It was the first time I really considered that I could actually quit my job and trade it's perks with a more happy, more simpler and more productive life. Of course it took me couple more years to do it but the little precious seed was already planted under the Cuban sun at that time.

I received a complaint from dear Mitr that I am neglecting her.. I know, I am not visiting your blogs as much as I wanted to nowadays and trying to figure out what you wrote by just looking at the titles but since we did not extend our high speed internet connection deal as we are soon moving back to İstanbul, I am struggling with a very slow connection. It is taking ages just to load a single blog. So please excuse me, I will be back with my visits soon...

Faces from Cuba

2010-10-03T03:37:00.000-07:00

Last night Hubby was out of town and it was my fish menu night. As he hates the smell of the cooking fish at home, I prefer to make it for myself when he is out.

It was a beautiful night. I had my fish, green salad and couple glasses of wine. Candles were lit at the veranda, Cesaria Evora was playing on the background, her beautiful voice was mixing with the sounds of the waves. A perfect scene for one of my habits.

After dinner I made myself a thick, black Turkish coffee and smoked a Cuban cigar. I have never smoked in my life, but in a Cuban trip I made 6 years ago, I somehow acquired the habit of smoking cigars. I found out that after a good dinner, in a pleasant night, there is nothing better than the rich and strong taste of a cigar to end the feast.

I am extremely selective for my cigar dates. It has to be a Cohiba and the setting should be perfect and I only smoke 8-10 per year. While I was enjoying my coffee and cigar, I realized that I have never posted about Cuba on my blog. I have to say that, so far I have travelled to many different countries but Cuba and couple other places will always have a very special place on my heart.

Last night it was also the wedding night of my dear friend Erdem. As of today he and his wife Sema are flying to Tibet for their honeymoon. I am wishing them a wonderful trip and a great life together from here.

I already posted some excellent photos of Erdem's trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar on Turquoise Diaries, and today for the first post of my Cuban series, let me start with some of his photos. So here are some faces from Cuba from the eyes of Erdem Kütükoğlu:

Next post : Places from Cuba

Olives

2010-09-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

Its the time of the year where olives are everywhere in our little peninsula.....

Its definitely the golden liquid where you could find it in every house. Probably for the last 10 years olive oil is the only oil, I let my body to consume. A typical snack or a breakfast in our house includes olive oil, home made bread and some herbs..

The good thing about living here is that we do not buy our oils from the market or from the shops. We directly buy from the farmers. If you travel thru the peninsula by car you could see hundreds of houses selling olive oils in water or coke bottles.

After tasting many, for the last couple years we have settled with the product of Mrs Nergis (Nergis means daffodil; isnt it a nice name?) I like strong olive taste and some aroma in my oil, and that's what exactly Mrs. Daffodil's oils are offering...Below you are seeing my Mom and Mrs Daffodil, at the beginning of summer, bargaining for our first purchase of the season: 50 litres...As whoever taste it, always orders some for us, probably we are purchasing close to 100 litres every year. A nice way to make friends and family happy..

Falling Leaves or Blooming Flowers

2010-09-24T04:42:00.000-07:00

As we all know that falling leaves with their beautiful colors are the perfect sign of autumn. However in this small Mediterranean town, its the blooming lilies that announce the arrival of autumn..

They tend to grow at the beach during this time of the year. While their latin name is pancratium maritum, they are known as sea daffodils or sand lily at the Mediterranean shores.. We used to collect them in big bunches to enjoy their beauty as well as their strong and exotic smell in the house. However for the last 10 years these delicate flowers are in the endangered species list in Turkey. So for the time being they are only to look for....

However if you are not very happy with this sign of the season, we also have some classical ones...

Wish you a wonderful weekend...

Men and Women of Allah

2010-09-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have got badly hit by another round of summer flu...While there is a beautiful day and a lake like Mediterranean waiting and calling me outside, I am trying to gain my health...So far my days are passing with taking lots of liquid, pills, sleeping and reading..

So while surfing on the net I came across with the latest collection of the young Turkish fashion designer Erkan Coruh.. With the rising of the İslamic forces in my country, the name of his collection 'The Men & Women Of Allah' was quite eye catching...

The concept of his collection is based on the idea of ''hybridization'' between classic and radical by creating diologue on differences.

With this collection he is questioning the role of women and men in the paradoxical reality of Islamic way of life in the modern world..

I kind of like what he is trying to do and definitely love some of the pieces but hope never forced to wear some other pieces. For the rest of his collection please check http://www.erkancoruh.com/