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Travel Stories: From The Boudoir To The Bosphorus
“Full”, she said sternly from behind her perspex screen. It was one simple word but its implications were huge and I struggled to take it in. “Full”, she repeated, just a little more sternly than the first time. “No, no”, I pleaded, “we must get to Istanbul tonight. We have to…”.. but the stern woman was just shaking her head and looking past me. We hadn’t considered for a single moment that there wouldn’t be room on the boat – after all, how can a large passenger boat crossing the Sea Of Marmara from Bandirma to Istanbul even get close to full capacity? How can there even be such a…
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Hamam’ing It Up
If you haven’t visited a hamam on a visit to Turkey then you have missed out on this centuries old tradition which the people of this colourful country still enjoy today. The truly traditional dome roofed hamams are fewer in number these days, simply because they date from times before most of the population had running water at home, but there is still a good deal of choice. Whether you go for a rustic hamam in a dingy building hidden down an alleyway where you are laid out on a marble floor, a more sumptuous spa where you have the luxury of a raised marble plinth, or any of the…
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Merchants, Mosques & Masks: 3 Days In Izmir
Mexico, Thailand and Turkey. Of all the countries we’ve visited so far, those are our top three on the international cuisine league table, and our first night in Izmir posts a huge reminder of why Turkey is up there. But first the day starts with a 2am alarm, a small hours taxi pick up and a red eye flight out of a very quiet Gatwick. Once in Izmir, it’s a train and a metro to Basmane station and a trudge with our backpacks to our next bed in the heart of the old town. We chose Hotel L’Agora for its unique location: a riad style building right in the middle…
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Next Stop Izmir
It’s been 26 days since we returned from Croatia, 14 of which were in quarantine and the other 12 catching up with friends and family, within the COVID rules set by the UK Government. Now it’s time for our next adventure. 2020 was meant to be the year we realised our dream of travelling the world pretty much full time, until the whole world changed, but we’re now trying to make the most of what limited travel opportunities are available and be as resourceful as possible. We may have lost our dream but the upside is that we’re finding ourselves in wonderful locations which weren’t even on this year’s agenda.…
