December 2012
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Lahmacun
While I prefer the puffy, chewy dough of pide, Turkey’s other pizzalike foodstuff, I’m also quite fond of lahmacun. Popular in Istanbul, as it is in much of the Middle East, it’s a thin, thin crust topped with minced meat, ground peppers, and herbs, and often spritzed with lemon juice.[[MORE]]
At Halil Lahmacun in Kadıköy (one stop on an awesome tour by Istanbul Eats), the food...
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Zerger
Bling bling. Walking through Tahsin Bey Han in Sultanahmet, a shimmer caught our eye. Like a beacon calling us, we followed it up the stairs to the third floor, and to the source of this captivating glimmer.[[MORE]]
We were at Zerger, a tiny jewelry atelier full of shiny and unique pieces. The owner and designer, Nesrin, confided in us that she chooses to isolate herself from the outside world...
November 2012
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Air Canada coming to Istanbul
Air Canada is introducing direct service next summer to Istanbul, Turkey and will use two new Boeing 777 aircraft to expand its reach into the lucrative Asia-Pacific market.[[MORE]]
Year-round service to Istanbul three times a week from Toronto will begin June 4 and serve as a gateway to Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa with alliance partner Turkish Airlines.
“Istanbul and Turkey...
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Heritage under Attack
TURKEY’S first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, came to power in 1996 vowing to put a mosque in Istanbul’s main square. In the heart of the old European quarter, Taksim Square, with its monument of Ataturk and his revolutionaries, remains a symbol of the secular republic. Mr Erbakan was ousted a year later.[[MORE]]
Now a successor, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is making his former mentor’s...
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Fashion Shopping in Istanbul
Atelier 55 in Istanbul, an unmissable spot on shop-dotted Serdar-i Ekrem street
Atelier 55
With its navy blue awning, Atelier 55 is an unmissable spot on shop-dotted Serdar-i Ekrem street.[[MORE]]
This concept store offers everything from clothing and jewellery to furniture and art pieces. The great mix of local and international brands is hand-picked by fashion-savvy partners Gizem Bingöl...
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Artlimits Gallery
Butterflies had taken over the city. Like excited children on a summer’s day, we followed them on their journey through Akaretler where they disappeared through the doors of the Artlimits Gallery.[[MORE]]
Walking into the gallery was like stepping on to the set of a David Lynch movie. Decorating its walls were mesmerizing photographs of nude models with large multi-colored butterfly...
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Comprehensive Restoration for Hagia Sophia
Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum will undergo the most comprehensive and most expensive restoration process in its history, according to officials. All the museum’s ornaments and marbles will be restored.
All elements of the Hagia Sophia Museum from ornaments to the marble inside will be cleaned and renovated during the restoration process, which is the most comprehensive one ever seen.[[MORE]]
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The Sultan of Fish
Sitting impressively between the Black Sea and the Marmara, the metropolis of Istanbul has a long history of fishing and fish restaurants, with the famous fish sandwiches cooked on boats along the shores of the Bosphorus one of the most popular snacks for the more than 12 million inhabitants.[[MORE]]
However, one of the city’s most loved fish the lüfer, also known as bluefish, is facing a risky...
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Ara Güler
December 4, 2012 – February 3, 2013[[MORE]]
Galeri G-art
Harbiye Mah.
Kadırgalar cad. No:3.
G-Mall
Maçka
İstanbul
Turkey’s best known photographer, Ara Güler is virtually synonymous with nostalgic monochrome shots of Istanbul as it used to be. But Güler is no one trick pony, and he has an incredibly diverse back-catalogue of images to his name. Here, for the first time, his abstract art...
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The Birthplace of Civilisation and Barbarism
‘Black Sea: The Birthplace of Civilisation and Barbarism’ by Neal Ascherson Vintage, 1995, 30TL, pp 306
(By William Armstrong - williamarmstrong@hdn.com.tr)
The casual browser would be forgiven for assuming that Neal Ascherson’s “Black Sea…” was a lighthearted travelogue across the modern-day Eurasia region, in the same entertaining middle-brow tradition as a Michael Palin or a Paul Theroux....
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Museum of Communicating Objects
By Rick Poynor
A while back, I wrote here about The Museum of Innocence created in Istanbul by the Turkish novelist and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk.[[MORE]]
This small, beautifully realized, vertical display, which occupies a burgundy-hued house in the city’s Çukurcuma neighborhood, is a parallel project planned for many years by Pamuk as a development of his 2008 novel, also titled The...
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Reporter exposes Tourist Scam
National Geographic reporter Conor Woodman has exposed a scam run by a group of Turkish men in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district on visiting tourists, daily Hürriyet has reported.[[MORE]]
Woodman, posing as a tourist for his show “Scam City,” was first charged heavily for a tour in a boat that was billed as being 30 meters long but was instead only five meters long and featured a large...
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Aqua at Four Seasons Hotel
Aqua Restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus, inspired by the beautiful Bosphorus, presents its new menu combining seasonal and local vegetables of Turkey with the most loved Italian recipes.[[MORE]]
With Istanbul’s winter on the horizon, Chef Luca De Astis takes guests on a gastronomic journey with a selection of dishes from different regions of Italy. Similar to Aqua’s...
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Hyatt Regency Hotel 2014
Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that a Hyatt affiliate has signed an agreement for a Hyatt Regency hotel in Istanbul with Bosphorus Otelcilik ve Yatirim Ltd. The hotel, which will open in January 2014, will be the third Hyatt-branded hotel in Istanbul, joining Grand Hyatt Istanbul and Park Hyatt Istanbul Maçka Palas.[[MORE]]
Hyatt Regency Istanbul Ataköy will offer 310 guestrooms, including...
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Coffee Shops
The English word coffee first came to be used in the early- to mid-1600s, It comes from the Ottoman Turkish kahveh. It was even banned in Ottoman Turkey in the 17th century for political reasons, and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe.[[MORE]]
Istanbul has been the center of coffee trade between East and West for centuries. Today coffee shops in Istanbul are popular...
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Jennifer Lopez buys Apartment in Istanbul
U.S. singer-actress Jennifer Lopez says she has bought an apartment at the Metropol Istanbul in Turkey’s Atasehir Finance Centre.[[MORE]]
To be completed in 2015, Metropol Istanbul will be one of the biggest mixed projects in the world with its luxury residence, shopping center and recreation areas, its owners said.
The native New Yorker bought the property after performing a string of...
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WatchShaped by the Ottoman Empire, known for historical Byzantine structures and its famed Grand Bazaar, Istanbul has always been a melting pot of influences and culture. In recent years, due to thriving economies, emerging cities such as Istanbul have begun cultivating a design landscape. Rapid progress often compromises preservation of heritage and promotion of the arts. On the 5th of November 2012,...
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Fashion EYE
Had we stepped into a 70s movie? Walking through the heart of Karaköy, everything turned sepia-toned.[[MORE]]
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we stumbled across the shop of eyewear guru, Hakan San’s Fashion EYE. We fawned over his colorful collection of vintage eye apparel: from modern designs to authentic retro classics, there was enough eye candy to make us thoroughly giddy.
In...
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Istanbul: the intercontinental gateway →
Straddling two continents, Istanbul sits at the crossroads between East and West. For centuries, the city has been a key stage of one of the world’s most significant trading routes - the historic Silk Road.
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Zeyrek Mosque
Zeyrek Mosque : made of two former Eastern Orthodox churches and a chapel.[[MORE]]
It represents the most typical example of architecture of the Byzantine middle period in Constantinople and is, after Hagia Sophia, the second largest religious edifice built by the Byzantines remaining in Istanbul.
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Identities discovered
The exhibition aims to tackle issues of differing identities and roles that people deal with in daily life. Main concept of ‘identity’ and will reflect on cities, bodies, society and culture, and how these blend together.[[MORE]]
J “ID / Identities,” an international art festival of photography, video art, computer graphics, installations and performing art, will be hosted in Istanbul by...
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Book: StyleCity Istanbul
Bridging Asia and Europe, Istanbul exudes exoticism and modernity, romance and splendour, complexity and contradiction.[[MORE]]
StyleCity Istanbul revels in the city’s creative dynamism, from its glorious Turkish baths and coffee houses to its artisanal shops, from its trendy rooftop bars and traditional restaurants to its lesser-known cultural hotspots and mosques.
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Thanksgiving in Istanbul
There’s nowhere more fitting to celebrate a foreign Thanksgiving than a country named Turkey, and Istanbul’s vibrant expat American community keeps the holiday’s traditions alive with a number of celebrations.[[MORE]]
But the most popular feast in town is held each year at the Bosphorus Terrace Restaurant at the Hilton. Though the meal isn’t generally advertised as holiday fare, turkey (the...
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Balık Ekmek in Istanbul
by Carey Jones
One of my favorite things about eating in Istanbul is the preponderance of cheap, awesome seafood. (Apparently, mid-November is a great time for fish-eating. I am happy to time all of my vacations around fish-eating from now on.) And the easiest way to eat said fish is from a street stand—just about every one selling balık ekmek (translating literally to “fish bread”:...
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Armenian school in Istanbul
Acting Armenian Patriarch Aram Ateşyan is seen during the foundation laying ceremony.
The Armenian community in Turkey has received authorization to build its first school in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district, to be completed to house the historical Armenian Dadyan School within two years.[[MORE]]
The community will build the school with their own funding in addition to monetary aid from the...
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Wet Feet
Property experts believe that Waterfront property is the best property to invest in in the city of Istanbul and to expect good returns. Tourism of the city has been strong year after year and the trend is expected to continue, so now might be the best time to buy before prices shoot up.[[MORE]]
Waterfront property in Istanbul is proving itself to be the hot pick for investment in Turkish real...
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Emirates: A380s to Istanbul !
Emirates is pressing Turkish authorities to allow it to operate A380 services between Dubai and Istanbul.[[MORE]]
Currently the airline records high seat factors with its double-daily B777s, and is eager to add more capacity with the superjumbo.
Speaking at the International Aviation Management Conference in Dubai today, Thierry Antinori, EVP Passenger Sales Worldwide for Emirates, said:...
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Taksim Square renovation: Mixed reviews
Only a few weeks ago, Nejat Mutlu’s mobile phone shop was humming along nicely, benefiting from its prime location facing Taksim Square, the heart of Turkey’s metropolis Istanbul.[[MORE]]
But now, Mr Mutlu is staring at a wall of high wood panels that shield a giant construction site outside his shop and have cut off the flow of customers.
“Business is down to zero,” Mr...
