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Since the 16th century, the Iznik flower designs have been used in the tiles and pottery in Turkey. As the Istanbul Guide says: Floral motifs are ubiquitous the world over, but Turkey’s floral motifs are especially distinctive. One is greeted by Istanbul’s municipal emblem, a...

The Mevlana Museum. Truly a beautiful mausoleum of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Persian Sufi mystic also known as Mevlâna or Rumi. It was also the dervish lodge of the Mevlevi order, better known as the whirling dervishes, above. There are many sections to the Museum. You enter...

It was one of my Biblical trips – St Paul and the 7 Churches – that we had a Biblical lunch in Denizli province. By Biblical lunch, it was a meal prepared as they did back in the Biblical times and used the very ingredients they did. The menu – God’s Grace, it was called – was...

Iole was my neighbor back in Burnaby, BC, Canada when we lived there. Her and her family had become fast friends and have been ever since we left BC in 2010. Her fiesty Italian nature that I adore, made having espresso and chats with her something looked forward to. When her...

Pomegranates. They are EVERYWHERE in Turkey and so very in expensive that having a cup of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, or nar suyu, every day is actually affordable, not only great for you! And I have a glass as often as I can…one of the many things I love about...

Kadifekale (The Velvet Castle) is an castle on a hill which is carrying the same name in Izmir. Both the hill and the castle were named Pagos  in pre-Turkish times and by the local Greeks in modern times. The summit where the castle is found is located at a distance of about 2 km...

An iconic photo you may see when you google about Istanbul is fishermen fishing off the Galata Bridge. Every day there are men, and sometimes their young boys, fishing off the side of the bridge.  I love to stand and watch the fishermen – their techniques, smile a little,...

Çay, or tea, is a major part of Turkish life. I was told by my Turkish brother and FYH Turkey team partner Cem, that on average, Turks drink up to 7lbs of it a year! The regular black Turkish tea is what is most common. The make it by having a double tea pot or a caydanlik – the...

I’m not sure what I love more about the Kurnsulu Waterfalls – the actual gorgeous waterfalls themselves, the tranquil grounds surrounding them, or the local lady who makes the best gozleme and ayran that I get for lunch after the walk around the park & falls! Either way,...

When my best friend from Vancouver told me her and her man were going to join me on my first Travel Experience to Turkey, I was thrilled! We were on a biblical itinerary but it was filled with so much culture and history that it was just as enjoyable for someone who wasn’t in...