A trip on the Babadağ Teleferik/Cable Car and chair lift..
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
2y ago
When I heard about the new cable car being built on Babadağ mountain I was about nervous about the idea – I wasn’t sure how much it would disrupt the area and whether it would look a bit out of place, but when it opened earlier this year and I started to see my friend’s photos popping up on Facebook I knew i had to add it to my list of things to do – so at the end of September that’s what we did! As we drove down to Ölüdeniz from Hisarönü we saw signs for the mountain car park (they charge per hour), we parked up and walked towards the terminal entrance, though we later realised the ..read more
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A Village Wedding…
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
2y ago
Turkey has some weird, wonderful and wacky traditions when it comes to weddings. We had our own ‘big fat village wedding’ in 2016, and a couple of years later in 2018 Berkay’s brother got married so I got to attend another one. His was definitely more full on than mine, and on telling other people about some of the things I saw, it became clear that some villages just have their own traditions that nobody else has ever heard of! Usually weddings go on for a few days, and its not unusual for the legal, civil service to happen days, weeks or even months beforehand, but some don’t consider thems ..read more
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Something familiar when the world was a bit weird.
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
2y ago
The last time I wrote on here was December 2020, we’d just been put in ‘Tier 4’ (gosh, remember those days?) and Christmas was cancelled. Four days after Christmas, with his pub closed for the foreseeable future, Berkay went to Turkey and stayed for 7 weeks, then he came back, carried on with furlough for months, things started opening up again, lockdown ended and we were thinking about a summer holiday… Then Turkey got put on the red travel list, and stayed there for what felt like a lifetime. Fast forward to a month ago, 2 days before we were booked to go to Turkey – frustrated about not be ..read more
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Christmas in Istanbul..
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
3y ago
It may only be two more sleeps until Christmas, but it’s certainly going to be a strange one. The tree is up and the Turkey is defrosting in the fridge, but thanks to 2020 and London being in Tier 4, it’s going to be a ‘merry little Christmas’ to quote Boris. With no family allowed in each other’s houses, all the plans went out of the window last Saturday so it’s just the two of us this year- me and Berkay, the real life Grinchy Scrooge! I, however, love Christmas, so back in January when the world was normal, I was so excited to see Christmas decorations still up around Istanbul when we visi ..read more
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Travelling to Turkey in these strange times..
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
3y ago
Six months ago, we had just had our April holiday to Turkey cancelled – three months later, things still looked bleak, although Berkay had managed to get a flight to Turkey and visit family for a couple of weeks, albeit with a two week quarantine on return to the UK. We had had our September holiday booked for a whole year, but even just 6 weeks ago I still wasn’t really sure if it was going to go ahead – I was checking the Covid19 totals in Turkey daily, and obsessing over the cases per 100,000, afraid to buy holiday clothes, stock up on sun cream or get fully excited! Then, my countdown bec ..read more
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Sunrise over breakfast in Istanbul
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
3y ago
Visiting Istanbul in winter had a lot of advantages – one being the late sunrises. The sun came up at around 8am in January and this coincided perfectly with the hours breakfast was served at our hotel. We stayed in Spectra hotel which was basic and cheap – I think we paid around £55 for 3 nights, but the location was absolutely perfect. Just a stones throw away from the Blue Mosque. It had a roof terrace room where the breakfast buffet was served each day. One morning we were 15 minutes early and sat in the terrace waiting for breakfast and admired the stunning view. The sun was just startin ..read more
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Mısır Çarşısı – Spice Market
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
3y ago
We stepped off the tram in Eminönü one afternoon when Berkay’s eyes lit up at the sight of Mısır Çarşısı.  This historical and famous spice market is right next to Galata Bridge and the impressive ‘Yeni Cami’ / New Mosque (which is actually over 350 years old). It is the second largest undercover market in Istanbul, with the Grand Bazaar obviously being number one.  Built in 1664, this market is a real joy for the senses! Piles of colourful spices stacked high, beautiful chunks of lokum / Turkish delight in every flavour, chocolates, dried fruits, nuts, herbs, teas… the list is endl ..read more
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What a strange few months!
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
4y ago
It’s been a long time since I posted on here – just as I was getting into the swing of blogging again and writing all about our trip to Istanbul at the beginning of the year, corona virus arrived, changed all our moods and took over our lives! It just didn’t feel right, writing on here about all the things we did in Istanbul and sharing my photos of the busy city streets from January because they made me sad, it felt like a million years ago, not two months! Like everyone else in the country, we spent nearly 3 months in complete lockdown – instead of doing the commute for 2 hours a day, I bega ..read more
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Yerebatan Sarnıcı / Basilica Cistern
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
4y ago
There are hundreds of underground reservoirs that lie beneath Istanbul, and the largest one of all is The Basilica Cistern. The cistern is in the old city, Sultanahmet, near Hagia Sophia and was built in the year 532, by a Byzantine Emperor. From the outside, you’d never know this place existed – apart from the long queue of people lining up to visit in summer ,apparently! However, when you buy your ticket (we paid 10tl each as Berkay showed his ID card, but I think for foreign tourists its around 30tl) enter and go down the steps, you see the hidden beauty that lies beneath. A forest of ..read more
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Istiklal Caddesi
Living The Turkish Dream
by livingtheturkishdream
4y ago
Istiklal Caddesi in Istanbul is one of the most popular, well known and busiest streets in Turkey. Around 3 million people a day walk along the pedestrianised street – in comparison, Oxford Street in London has less than a million visitors a day! Renamed ‘Istiklal’ (independence) avenue after victory in the war of Independence in October 1923, the road is 1.4km long and stretches from Galata to Taksim Square. It’s bustling with people and is lined with hundreds of buildings, shops and even entire multi storey shopping centres. There are clothes shops, sports shops, book stores, cinemas, galle ..read more
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