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A Long Way from Home
Tucked away on the slopes up behind the port of Harem on the Asian side of Istanbul, almost hidden by heavy containers and giant cranes, is the little visited Haydarpaşa Cemetery. Dating back to 1855...
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Freestyle or overarm: swimming in Istanbul
Being Australian and living in Istanbul, one of the hardest things to cope with at first was the difficulty of finding a pool to go swimming in regularly. Prior to 1980 life in Istanbul was much like...
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The Other Karaköy
Karaköy, once home to itinerant sailors, has been attracting a lot of attention in recent years. The section east of Galata Bridge already boasts an eclectic collection of cafes, bars and galleries....
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Sünnet: The First Cut is the Deepest
Whether you support it or not, the touchy subject of circumcision, or sünnet as it’s called in Turkish, is one that can’t be avoided in Turkey. On my first trip here in 1990 I listened with baited...
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My Turkish Ramazan
The following is an excerpt from an essay in my second collection Exploring Turkish Landscapes: Crossing Inner Boundaries. “… I was living in Kayseri in central Turkey for my next Ramazan. It was 2002,...
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Culture Smart: Turkey – Review
This pocket size guide to the essential customs and culture of Turkey is a must read whether you’re coming to Turkey for the first time or plan to live here for a while. Unlike the usual guide book or...
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Village of the Dyers: Boyacıköy on the Bosphorus
Tucked away on the shores of the Bosphorus, next to the far more fashionable and better known suburb of Emirgan, is Boyacıköy, which means ‘Village of the Dyers’. The suburb is so named because in the...
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Sundays in Fenerbahçe Park: Swimming in Istanbul
This excerpt comes from my collection of essays “Exploring Turkish Landscapes: Crossing Inner Boundaries”. Available in paperback and as an ebook. … To reach the water we have to walk past tables...
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Turkey Street: Jack and Liam move to Bodrum – Review
After meeting the crazy inhabitants of Bodrum town and reading through to the last poignant moments in Turkey Street, it was really hard to come to the end of this tale and return to normal life....
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Turkish Tombs: Dervish traditions I
One the quirky features I love about Istanbul are tombs dedicated to dede or senior dervishes that turn up in the most unusual places. A dervish is a member of a Muslim religious order who has taken...
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How to help Syrian refugees in Turkey
The recent photo of three year old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on the beach in Bodrum has provoked a storm of emotion and galvanised people around the world into wanting to help the refugees. For those of...
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An Hour of Your Time: Death Rituals in Turkey
A Turkish friend recently invited me to attend a mevlüt to be held for her mother. Her mum had been failing for months, going from being a chirpy chatty woman to a small silent figure swaddled in a...
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Salt in the Milk: Ten Years in Istanbul – Review
Salt in the Milk is not for the faint-hearted or for those averse to offensive language. In addition, it’s really only for diehard Sean Bw Parker fans as this collection of unconnected pieces has no...
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Kara Mizah – Turkish Black Comedy
Turkey has a long tradition of using black comedy or satire, known as kara mizah, to express opinions not readily sanctioned by those in power. Generally it is concerned with serious topics such as...
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Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – from soldier to champion of the Turkish Republic
Unlike the pictures of Queen Elizabeth hanging on the walls of the halls and schools where I grew up in suburban Australia, showing a poised, distant figure, portraits of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk show an...
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Kadıköy’s Hidden Gem: Yeldeğirmen
Author portrait On my way back from taking photos for my post on Turkish tombs I rediscovered the wonderful neighbourhood of Yeldeğirmen in Kadıköy. In the year since I last came here, the area has...
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A few of my favourite (edible) things: Turkish food
Looking back over my posts I’ve noticed that apart from one or two specific pieces, I have written very little about Turkish food. This certainly isn’t because I don’t like it! On the contrary I love...
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Christmas in Turkey : Deck the Halls & Eat Apple Jam
Living in a foreign country it’s usual to feel homesick sometimes, especially now when the end of the year is just around the corner. For many of us this is a time of celebration, to observe our...
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Help Syrian refugees in Turkey – Small Projects Istanbul
A Time for Giving: Practical help for Syrians living in Istanbul Now that the festive season is over, the tree and the tinsel taken down and the debris of wrapping paper cleared away, we can get back...
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Arnavutkoy – a village on the Bosphorus
Named after the Albanian (Arnavut) builders brought to Istanbul by Sultan Abdülmescid in the 19th century to lay sidewalks in the city, Arnavutköy is home to beautiful wooden houses, many of them...
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