Category Archives: Traveling

Greek Macedonia: Kavala and Thessaloniki

Another (short) visit to Greece — my 4th. It was the first time Ferda or I had visited the Macedonian part of Greece, the east-west strip stretching from Albania to Turkey, bordering (North) Macedonia and Bulgaria. Our first stop was … Continue reading

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European Turkey: Edirne and Uzunköprü

For years I’ve wanted to go to Edirne to see Mimar Sinan’s crowning achievement, the pinnacle of Ottoman architecture — Selimiye Camii. Ferda and I were already in İstanbul, and it looks so close on the map. However, with inconvenient … Continue reading

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İstanbul again: a new library, some old mosques, finally a Bosporus tour

My cousin and his wife scheduled a layover of a few days in İstanbul on their way to visit family in Tbilisi. Ferda and I planned an itinerary for the four of us — some classic tourist sites and also … Continue reading

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Selçuk (and Ottoman) monuments in Erzurum (again) and Sivas

I have written about Erzurum a number of times before on this blog so I’ll try to keep it short. Sivas, however, we visited for the first time! Over the years I’ve watched Erzurum lose its edgy soul in the … Continue reading

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Auto-touring Artvin: Şavşat and Ardanuç

Artvin is Turkey’s most beautiful province (il). For Ferda’s parents’ first time in eastern Turkey we decided to take them to some places we had been before, places we knew we liked and were excited to visit again. Previously we’d … Continue reading

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