Asia

Let it go
It was sunny, and so I took the ferry from Kabatas to Üsküdar on the Asian side of Istanbul, following the last mail from my sister with stuff we didn’t do. The ferry system is great to cross over, you can use your Istanbulkart that works on Metro’s, Trams and buses, to hop on pretty much […] Read More

Quake

Let it go
It was around half past 11 in the morning and I was just about ready to get out, sitting on my bed in the back of my apartment, when I felt it. That slight rolling and rocking, what you first mistake for a heavy truck passing outside… Just that there is no street outside and […] Read More

Rock the Vote

Let it go
Go and vote in the European Elections! It’s not something to take lightly. It’s been fought for for centuries. Or, the other way round… What would MADONNA do…? Rock The Vote / Madonna TV Commercial from Glenn O’Brien on Vimeo. Read More

Freedom of speech

Let it go
As usual, I wanted to get a mobile phone chip pretty fast after I arrived in Turkey. It’s really invaluable if you don’t have to hunt for a wifi and can quickly check something when roaming around all these streets. It was a pretty funny experience to get those chips in South America, and especially […] Read More

Istanbul Arts

Let it go
My neighborhood in Beyoglu has a great number of little galleries and two major museums, that I have visited in the past days First, Istanbul Modern. It sits at the foot of the hill, a bit hidden between a beautifully renovated mosque, the cruise ship quay and an empty parking lot, that soon will be […] Read More

Halbzeit

Let it go
Half time. It’s about seven months and two weeks. I was planning, saving and calculating for 15 months. So this is it. What is about to come will be shorter than what’s behind me. Weird thought. I have a very contradictory feeling about the past months… On one level, so much has happened that it […] Read More

Bar night

Let it go
After Sabine left, I spent the morning cleaning my files, writing some mails, continuing some planning for the trip in a café, and then met up in the early evening with Cihan, a reader of my blog! He wanted to show me a couple of his favorite bars, and as I haven’t gone out in […] Read More

Small world (again)

Let it go
Addemdum from Tokyo! I just received this pic of me and my former neighbors Tiziana and Andrea in a Starbuck’s in Tokyo. The world is so small. Andrea mailed me about my old apartment, and we figured out that we’d all be in Tokyo at the same time, so he arranged for me to ‘run’ […] Read More

On my own again

Let it go
Last day for Sabine today. We slept and had a nice breakfast at a close-by hotel, then we headed for the airport, skipping the taxi this time but using the tram and metro. She’s heading back to Paris and on to Spain tomorrow, for the second half of her holidays, with her husband and her […] Read More

Up

Let it go
Every guide book we had told us not to do the trip to Princes Islands on a weekend. But we had our own mind an planning, and thought it can’t be that bad, as we’re still off season. Well. Ok, the boat was full, but not as crowded as the other ferry next to us. […] Read More

Bazaar

Let it go
Finally, the last thing on our list of big tourist stops: the Great Istanbul Bazaar. It’s a nice stroll through an old complex of buildings and corridors, halls and domes, all interconnected and basically turning a whole neighborhood into a market, an ancient shopping mall, so to speak. You can buy most anything a visitor […] Read More

Bonjour Montréal

Let it go
And another booking completed, with airbnb and with the help of my friend Francois, whom I met back in Buenos Aires. Bonjour Montréal! I’ll be staying in Josées charming apartment in Plateau Mont-royal. It seems to be a great area and I can’t wait to discover the city. I have been to Montreal for only two […] Read More