Photo Wednesday – Istanbul, snapshots from the sea
A couple of photos taken during a boat ride in Istanbul, taking us from the European side to the Asian part of the city.
3 Amazing Days in Istanbul – Part I
Istanbul, the city of two continents, the place where Europe and Asia are entwined. It’s grand, surprising, full of flavor and color.
It’s a must see destination for any serious traveler and it has anything and everything you’d want to see: old, new, art, trade masters, great food, amazing tea, jewelry that makes all women sigh and lights sparkles of desire in the corner of their eyes, parties, belly dancing, burial sites and holy places. Add two seas, great sunsets and quite a few towers to see the city from up top. It is mesmerizing and it crawls up your veins like a drug, turning into an addiction, making you always want to come back. Sure, the traffic is there to provide your everyday near-death experience, but that’s not a big thing, is it?
As it happens, we rarely have enough time to explore a city. Sometimes we’ve planned a tour and we need to see the best of everything. And as Istanbul is a really accessible destination for a wide number of countries, many travelers may choose to dedicate a long weekend to it! As I have been to Istanbul three times already and it’s always been for a maximum of four days, I thought I’d share the tricks I learned with you. That is why I created a three day guide suggesting you how to mix tourist landmarks with places to eat so that you can see as much of Istanbul as possible.
This guide is not meant to tell you why you should see these marvels, as the Internet is full of such info and the local guide books that you can get, well, everywhere, will tell you the stories behind them! My goal is to help you turn into a happy and effective little tourist and experience as much of Istanbul as you can.
The first day is dedicated to the old city, with ancient palaces, mosques and tombs. The first thing you need to do is wake up early and never, ever skip breakfast! Turkish hotels are pretty good at arranging buffet. Make sure you try everything! The bread, cheese, meat, cookies, coffee and helva! They have really good honey as well. Now drag yourself out of the chair and the hotel, get a tourist map, they are cheap and will help you through the city, and head out to see the Topkapi Palace!
Photo Wednesday – Beaches of Oludeniz, Turkey
Now that winter is here, I’d so wish I were back there, in mid September, enjoying the sea, the breeze and the warmth.
Lessons Learned when Planning Vacations
As some of you might know, I’ve been enjoying an amazing vacation in Oludeniz for the past three weeks. You might also remember my big list of things to do when going there. Well, I kind of did less than half, some that weren’t planned and did a lot of laying in the sun by the pool, reading a book. So here’s what I’ve learned and would like to share with you in no particular order:
Lesson 1 – Never underestimate the level of tiredness a stressful year has caused
Lesson 2 – Some of the things you waited and waited for: they will be a lot better than you’ve imagined.
Lesson 3 – Sea + Mountains = really amazing roads but extremely tiring diriving
Lesson 4 - What you think is enough time, never is. And time also has this bad habit of just flying by.
Lesson 5 – Relaxing and enjoying yourself is as rewarding as doing a lot of cool stuff
Lesson 6 – If you also want photos from the road there and back, make sure the family/couple/group shutterbug is not the only driver. I was 
Lesson 7 – The Efes beer is amazing!
Lesson 8 – Belly dancing is not that hard
Lesson 9 – Bring more books next time! Running out of books to read sucks a lot more than carrying too many and going back without reading them. I packed four and finished them in a week and a half and bought three more 
Lesson 10 – Pet food stores might also sell used books ??? Yup, I haven’t gotten over this…
Lesson 11 – If you go through the trouble of getting road maps ready, don’t forget them on the living room table!
That’s it for now! Next, I’ll share my cruise experience, my paraglading experience, a review of the amazing hotel I stayed at and some other cool stories I know you’ll love! Stay tuned!
My Dream Vacation – Oludeniz, Turkey
What is a Dream Vacation? It’s a masterpiece of Travel Wizards, the kind of vacation that you enjoy so much, you speak about it years and years after coming back. You enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day. You take lots of photos, dance like a dervish on the streets and charge yourself with enough energy to last you for a year or two.
How to come up with such a vacation? That’s a mix of knowledge, advanced hotel search skills, planning, great advice from friends passionate about traveling and a whole lot of luck. I’ve had such a vacation last year, when I spent 10 days in the Netherlands. So I did my best to organize an at least similar one for this year. I thought it would be nice to share my plans with you now and then report back every day and tell you what the real deal is like.
Location: Fethiye, Oludeniz, Turkey!
Oludeniz is said to be the best place for paragliding. It’s home to a paradise-like lagoon and beach on the Mediterranean and the nearby mountains are the perfect place for those looking for extreme sensations. Placed in between Kusadasi and Antalyia, it is less popular among travel agencies, 
but hard core tourists know is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The location of choice, Fethiye, is a few miles away from Oludeniz.
I started planning early. I made the reservations at the Blue Pearl hotel back in February. And I advise you to plan early as well if at least part of your trip is in peak season (July-August). I made reservations for an apartment from August 23rd to September 12th and there were only 2-3 apartments left at each hotel in the area. I also advise you to go there in early summer or late summer/early autumn to make sure you’re not affected by extreme heat.
As you can tell, I had quite a lot of time to find out what to do while staying in Oludeniz. You’d think 3 weeks are hard to fill with loads of fun activities, but in these parts of Turkey, it’s actually quite easy! Read more…