Any Excuse to Travel

Stories from travels in

Turkey

Patience – an undervalued virtue

I’m as guilty as anyone for undervaluing both my own work and that of others. I tend to overlook the time it takes to do

What makes an Irish pub Irish?

I’m fussy about my pubs. I’m even fussier about foreign pubs that claim to be Irish. They need to be Irish owned with at least

A history of unrest

Not that long ago, the hive of activity that is Taksim Square in the European part of Istanbul was in the news all over the

A fish out of water

I’ve never been more aware of the fact that I am partial to a glass of wine or two than when I was in Istanbul.

The coffee commitment

There’s a saying in Turkey that a cup of coffee commits you to 40 years of friendship. That’s some commitment. I grew up with instant

Talked into it

I detest shopping for myself. I hate it with a passion that is so unwomanly I occasionally wonder if I was a man in all

Ostrich eggs and spiders

I thought the Golden Horn was a piece of land, not a body of water. I never knew that Istanbul straddled two continents. And I’d

Shoeshine scam

Way back, many moons ago, in my first year at university, I came across two guys I knew from third-year Engineering debating which word best

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Eternal rest?

I’ve heard tell that Muslims are buried standing up. And the Muslim cemeteries I have been to would suggest the same. I did some digging

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Bare bums and books

I’ve a thing for markets. I can spend hours sifting through other people’s junk. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul was high on my list of