Reading recommendation

I usually don't comment on current affairs here in this blogg and I don't really intend to start. But I really can't keep this very interesting and relevant BBC-story on women and reform in Saudi Arabia from you. Happy reading!

The Turcoman hat!

Lo and behold! Aren't they handsome? The darlings, they love the hat... ;-)





This posting is for my husband by the way, lots of congratulations and all my love on your birthday!

And for all the other lovely birthday babes I know today!

Overlooking the Bosphorus

The view across the Bosphorus from my hotel window on Thursday this week.





Including a close-up of the Topkapi Saray.



At night.

Moonlight

Galata Mevlevihanesi

I've shown you this before. But witnessing the performance of the sema - the ceremony of the whirling dervisches - is always an awesome experience.

Shopping paradise

I really don't know which market I like best - Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Khan el-Khalili in Cairo and the souq in Aleppo. Each has it's own special charms... Anyway, this is Istanbul - the one I visit most regularly.

Caves in Kapadokya

These caves were formed during thousands of years of interplay between man and nature... Herodotos wrote of the caves of Kapadokya and they were inhabited until quite recently.

Bosphorus views

Blue blue blue!

Istanbul mosques

Here are some other examples of mosques in Istanbul - the first one is the Blue or the Sultanahmet Mosque, the second is from Ortaköy (which I've shown before) on the Bosphorus waterfront.

Mimar Sinan

I would like to show you some examples of architecture by the Ottoman master Sinan - the architectural jewel of several centuries of Ottoman history. These are the Suleimaniyye mosque (the best one in Istanbul, I believe), the Topkapi Palace kitchens and the master's own tomb (next to the mosque).

Don't feel sorry for me...

... even if I do work far too hard (and worse is right now to come). But rewards are to be found, not least in moments such as these. Eating strawberries in a café, looking out over the Bosphorus (you probably won't believe this, but we actually saw DOLPHINS swimming, in the middle of Istanbul!) or visiting Sinan's beautiful Suleimaniyye mosque.

Tulip explosions!

Last weekend, Istanbul was full of tulips, 3 million of them were planted by the municipality, according to the accompanying billboards. It was lovely! Tulip is lale in Turkish, and in Persian too I think.

Reality check

Back online again! And pictures to come...

Ankara today

The Anit kabir (the tomb of Atatürk) in sunlight this time. My first tourist visit there actually (have only been on official business before...).



Ankara moonlight!



And quite a decent picture of me, actually! Not too common, but all the more welcome.

Spring is in the air...

These I took already 2 weeks ago, in Efesos, near Izmir. My first taste of real spring this year - it was lovely! It has been a little slower in coming here in Ankara, but we're getting there...

Dramatic weather-conditions

But it wasn't all sunshine, of course. I think "April weather" is notoriously unstable everywhere. We were lucky though and only heard the thunder, we had almost no rain where we were.

Spring in Kapadokya!

The landscape is amazing and the trees were blooming. More to come!

Going home

Yes, sadly, this was the last of our 2week wedding trip to Egypt, in September-October last year. We spent an extra day in Cairo before returning, so the last pictures here are of the Khan el-Khalili again, with Ramadan decorations this time (the poor are given soup under the umbrellas things every day at dusk during the holy fasting month).

Miramar in the dusk

Luxury vacation resort

We finished the trip with a brief stay in El-Gouna, which was lovely, if a little artificial. This was the view from our room and the premises of the hotel!