Sep 12th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
Archaeological excavations at the ancient city of Perge in southern Turkey have reached their 65th year, the Hürriyet Daily News reports. This makes them the longest-running excavations in a country with a wealth of ancient sites.
Perge (aka Perga) is in Turkey's Antalya province and was founded 3,500 years ago by the Hittites. It became a prosperous Greek colony like Ephesus and ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
turkey posts
Excavations at ancient city of Perge in Turkey celebrate 65 years
Sep 12th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
Archaeological excavations at the ancient city of Perge in southern Turkey have reached their 65th year, the Hürriyet Daily News reports. This makes them the longest-running excavations in a country with a wealth of ancient sites.
Perge (aka Perga) is in Turkey's Antalya province and was founded 3,500 years ago by the Hittites. It became a prosperous Greek colony like Ephesus and ...10 countries Americans need advance visas to visit
Aug 17th, 2011 at 12:00PM: We live in an increasingly borderless world and we have access to many countries that were closed (or non-existent) 20 years ago. As reported earlier this week, Americans are especially lucky with access to 169 countries visa free. Still, there are still many countries that Americans need advance visas to visit. Visa applications and processing services can cost several hundreds of dollars and ...Ramazan pide: a Turkish tradition
Aug 14th, 2011 at 12:00PM: We're halfway through the month of Ramadan (called Ramazan in Turkish), an important time for religious Muslims but also a time of many celebrations. Turkey is a largely secular country, thanks to founder Ataturk, who brought the country out of the Ottoman Empire into the modern world 90 years ago, and many Turks do not observe the fasting but do enjoy many of the traditions associated with ...The world's most disputed antiquities: a top 5 list
Aug 3rd, 2011 at 1:00PM:
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Tuesday that it would return 19 Egyptian antiquities that have lived at the museum for most of the last century. These artifacts, excavated from the 14th century B.C. tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (King Tut), include a sphinx bracelet, a small bronze dog, and a broad collar with beads, among other bits and pieces. Zahi Hawass, the former Secretary ...Knocked up abroad: the baby-friendly difference
Jul 29th, 2011 at 11:30AM:
Me in Istanbul on Mother's Day, 7 months pregnant, with Dalin baby product mascot
Just over two weeks ago, I made the leap from pregnant American in Istanbul to expat with child. My decision to have my first baby in a foreign country has been met with reactions from friends and strangers ranging from surprise and curiosity to outright disapproval. The transition to new parenthood is a ...Turkish tea truck offers Istanbul version of food truck trend
Jul 22nd, 2011 at 9:00AM: The food truck craze is nothing new to many Americans. Long a popular foodie option in New York, Los Angeles, and even Cleveland, it's a food trend that's constantly evolving to bring new ideas and tastes to the, er, table. The Turkish food blog Istanbul Eats, who launched a book version last year and now offer food tours of the city, spotted a very local version of the mobile eatery trend along ...Knocked up abroad: baby shopping in a foreign country
Jun 21st, 2011 at 1:00PM:
Knocked up abroad has been on a bit of a hiatus as my travel schedule has slowed and the due date has sped up. Feel free to catch up with posts on pregnancy travel, Turkish superstitions, medical care, and naming children.
I'm into the final month of my pregnancy in Istanbul and that means the countdown is on to get stocked up with wee tiny baby things, garishly colored toys and furniture, ...Gladiator died because of ref's error, says archaeologist
Jun 19th, 2011 at 12:00PM: A gladiator who fought 1,800 years ago may have died because of a bad call from a ref.
Archaeologists have long puzzled over a line in the epitaph of Diodorus the gladiator's gravestone. It reads, "After breaking my opponent Demetrius I did not kill him immediately. Fate and the cunning treachery of the summa rudis killed me."
The summa rudis was a referee who oversaw gladiator games. Unlike ...VIDEO: Istanbul in 1967
Jun 6th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
As an expat in Istanbul, I enjoy seeing anything Turkey-related, and this vintage video of the former Constantinople is especially fun to see. Narrated by a droll British commentator, you travel over and around Istanbul, checking out some of the big sights such as Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, as well as life on the Bosphorus before the bridges were constructed to provide alternate access ...
Poison alcohol kills Russian tourists: three things they should have known
Jun 3rd, 2011 at 10:00AM: Poisonous alcohol has been blamed for the deaths of three Russians on a cruise off the Turkish resort of Bodrum.
The Russians were part of a trip by travel agency managers exploring tourism possibilities in Turkey. In total, 20 Russians and one Turk were poisoned by the drinks. The $50 cruise included 10-12 mixed drinks. While some reported that the alcohol had a strange taste, it appears that ...Last Kodachrome photos to be shown in Istanbul
Jun 1st, 2011 at 10:30AM: Photography lovers might want to make a trip to Istanbul this summer to be the first in the world to see the last roll of Kodachrome photos on exhibit at the Istanbul Modern museum. As we reported in December, the film was discontinued in 2009 by Kodak due to the rise of digital photography, and the very last roll of film was processed in Kansas at the end of 2010. The last 36-exposure roll was ...How to be a good house guest when visiting a friend abroad
May 16th, 2011 at 12:00PM: If you ever have a friend living abroad or meet someone traveling who extends you an invitation to come to their city, take advantage of the opportunity and go visit. Seeing the city with the help and knowledge of a local or native is invaluable, especially if they know you and your point of view, plus it can save you money in travel expenses (see more reasons to visit a friend from Mike Barish, ...VIDEO: Chinese popcorn cannon
May 10th, 2011 at 1:30PM:
Don't have 5 minutes (cooking times may vary, wait until you hear 2-3 seconds between pops) to wait for microwave popcorn? Perhaps this Chinese popcorn cannon from the streets of Shanghai is fast enough for you - it just takes a few seconds, provided you have a serious pressure cooker. This ingenious contraption can also be used for puffed rice or other grains, though we wonder how clean the ...
Summer Travel: Turkey's Aegean coast
May 9th, 2011 at 12:00PM: There must be something in the human brain that draws our species to the coast, be it a primitive desire to hunt and fish, or a hedonistic drive to worship the sun and sea. Either way, life always seems better near the water.
One of our favorite coastlines may not be as fashionable as the French Riviera, nor as romantic as Italy's Cinque Terra. But what it lacks in glitz and glam, it more than ...Summer Travel: Exploring Cappadocia
May 6th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Disclaimer: Today's summer travel destination isn't exactly the most widely recognizable corner of the world. In fact, some of you seasoned travel vets out there might be scratching your heads and searching for the nearest world map. But we're guessing that after a few hundred words or so, we'll have you dreaming about a trip to Cappadocia.
We're not talking about the small town of the same ...Summer Travel: Spotlight on Istanbul
May 4th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Ask most travelers to list their favorite European cities, and they'll most likely feedback with the classics: Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Munich and many others. But one destination that doesn't always make the list is not only the largest metropolitan city proper in Europe, but also the former capital of both the Roman and Ottoman empires.
Need a hint?
We're ...Ode to the expat newspaper
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:00PM: One of my favorite things about traveling, in addition to foreign supermarkets, oddball museums, and miniature toiletries, is the local English-language expat newspaper. When I'm home in New York, I tend to get all my news online, either directly from news websites through specific searches or curated from friends' links on social media (one of the best sources for news from US newspapers is ...Istanbul to get second Bosphorus with new canal project
Apr 28th, 2011 at 2:30PM: The US may be all abuzz about President Obama's birth certificate, but the big news in Turkey this week is the proposed Istanbul canal project to dig a second Bosphorus. Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's self-proclaimed "crazy" project would connect the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea, making Istanbul a city of "two peninsulas and an island." Details of the project are still unclear, but it is ...Knocked up abroad: second trimester travel
Apr 27th, 2011 at 11:30AM:
Not far along enough for second trimester travel? Read more about pregnancy in a foreign country, Turkish prenatal care, travel in the first trimester,Turkish superstitions, and foreign baby names on Knocked up abroad.
A few years ago, before the word staycation foisted itself into the travel lexicon, babymoons were all the rage. A babymoon typically referred to the last getaway for ...The world's ten creepiest abandoned cities
Apr 27th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
Some cities die. The people leave, the streets go quiet, and the isolation takes on the macabre shape of a forlorn ghost-town - crumbling with haunting neglect and urban decay. From Taiwan to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, these abandoned cities lurk in the shadows of civilization. Their histories are carried in hushed whispers and futures stillborn from the day of their ...
