Re-settled

I moved to my new place this morning, in the middle of Beyoğlu again. It’s only a short walk to the main shopping street, and all the side streets with bars and restaurants, but my street is totally quiet, no through traffic, and a police station at the end. Feels good. I unpacked again and my […] Read More

Harassed

So far, the trip has gone remarkably well, without any incidents or accidents. Well, until Istanbul. Walking home from the hamam and the restaurant on Tuesday, I passed into my neighborhood, an area of Beyoglu that is clearly poorer, more run-down than the blocks around Istiklal street. The houses are old, some abandoned, the streets […] Read More

Hamam

After the first quick visit to the supermarket around the corner for some basics, I met up with Sven for a stroll through the area, notably around İstiklâl Caddesi, the main shopping and pedestrian street in Istanbul. It is a really nice street, with an old tram line passing through, and has countless shops, bars, restaurants, […] Read More

Just a dream

One week ago I was strolling through Tokyo on my last day. Then I flew home and spent a couple of days there, seeing friends and family… and I had a feeling of familiarity, that kind of made the memory of the first trip vaguely bizarre… as if I had only dreamt it all up. Being […] Read More

On to Istanbul

And I’m off again, now to Istanbul. I’ll meet Sven and Kevin there for a few days, then my sister Sabine will join me for ten days. I’m curious to see if I can tweet from there now. Interesting times. Here are the details: Flight 20 to Istanbul Date: 04/05/2014 Code: THY1914 from ZRH to […] Read More

İstanbul’a hoşgeldiniz!

It took some time to figure it out, because I have no idea about Istanbul and because there were so many offers on Airbnb. Prices varied a lot, too. Some places looked fantastic and had corresponding prices, some looked great, and the price was ok… I think I found middle ground. I’ll be there from […] Read More