Back in Istanbul, this time staying in the Sultanahmet area, we explored Istanbul’s Ottoman history starting with the Blue Mosque. Sultan Ahmed ordered his mosque built (1609) with six minarets — the same number that Mecca had at the time. You can’t go inside a mosque during Friday prayer time — we were there just before. We toured the mosque and as we came out, men were washing their hands and Read More…
Onward to Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, and formally known as Smyrna. It is said that Old Smyrna is the birth place of Homer (author of The Iliad and The Odyssey) and playground of Alexander the Great. We rented a car at the airport in Izmir and drove on to Sirince — a charming village known for its fruit-flavored wine. Sirince was settled by Greek immigrants who built white houses with red tile roofs which Read More…
The journey continues…we flew to central Turkey to explore Cappadocia, a region created by three volcanoes that haven’t erupted for thousands of years but have left behind soft rock formations that give the area an other-worldly look – a cross between a science fiction set (I’m told the last Star Wars movie, chronologically the first, was filmed here), and Monument Valley. Wind and rain have eroded the soft rocks and shaped the area into a Read More…
NOTE — Over the next two weeks Qmuze will be coming to you from Turkey and Israel. I will be tweaking the Qmuze model of politics, culture, and entertainment by commenting on what I saw, what I thought, and what I wore. Grab your passport and stay tuned! (I apologize in advance for any spelling or other errors — this will be fast and furious.) Day 1 –ISTANBUL I have such fascination with Turkey: physically, Read More…

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