Tag: europe
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Portugal:a beautiful return
Monday March 02, 2026 Dear readers, I must confess to something you probably have already surmised: I have been posting about my trip to Türkiye from the comfort of my apartment in Estoi, Portugal for about a week. Mahmood elected to stay in Istanbul rather than return to Tehran. As far as he knows, his…
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Istanbul: Time to say Goodbye
Tuesday February 17 & Wednesday February 18, 2026 The weather gods were not on my side. In stark contrast to Monday, we woke up on Tuesday morning to high winds, rain, and low temperatures. By Tuesday evening there was snow in the air. it all lasted well into Wednesday completely thwarting my plans for exploring…
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Istanbul: The Spice of Life
Monday February 16, 2026 There were two definite goals for my stay in Istanbul: the Blue Mosque and the Spice Market. The former was closed for maintenance and repair three years ago and I was intent on purchasing spices from the market including saffron. It was an auspicious day as we set out on a…
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Tempus fugit -Izmir
Saturday February 14, 2026 Happy Valentine’s Day! I know! I’m a week late in writing this post but better late than never! Saturday morning was vibrant with sunlight and a refreshing breeze s we set out to explore the city. Izmir is a growing modern metropolis with many historic features. One of those is its…
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Eye has not seen, nor ear heard
Wednesday February 11, 2026 We moved from Datça to Bodrum on Tuesday, a trip of several hours so there were not a lot of photo opportunities. On the other hand, Bodrum has a castle that houses a fine museum collection of artifacts. Some of them of them come from a local archeological site. With the…
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Knidos: Where Aegean meets Mediterranean
Saturday February 07, 2026 The ancient ruins of the city of Knidos is an easy drive from the Datça area. The original site of kinds is thought to have been Datça and it later moved to its current location. It is an enormous archeological treasure rival Ephesus in terms of size. Walking the paths through…
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Datça & Knidos
Friday February 06, 2026 We packed up and said goodbye to our little perch on the side of the mountain near Kalkan and headed north-west to the Datça Peninsula and the town of Datça. Before we began the three hour trip, I took some parting shots. It is a truly beautiful place. It was particularly…
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Patara: an ancient port & windy beach
Thursday February 05, 2026 Türkiye is a country overflowing in archeological sites. The area where we have been staying is home to the former Lycean capital city Patara and a modern day beach of the same name. It’s a popular destination in the hot months and not so much in the winter. It was a…
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St. Nicholas of Myra
Wednesday February 04, 2026 Yes, the commercialized secular Santa Claus originated in the ancient city of Myra, Türkiye in the person of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. Today, the original church of St.Nicholas is a well preserved museum/ruin. It dates from the 8th century CE onward although there has been a church on the site…
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Historic Kaş
Sunday February 01, 2026 Kaş is a seaside town on the Mediterranean coast in south western Türkiye. We are staying about 40 minutes north of the town and only need to take a right hand turn at the end of the driveway and follow a circuitous paved road down the mountain…lots of fun first thing…
Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground 