Sven

Let it go
Sven arrived on Thursday afternoon. He’s staying in the Hilton, right on the beach, with all the boys, and of course on the top floor, with a great view over Tel Aviv. Leave it to him to find a deal, get upgrades and end up in the hot spots… He has been to Tel Aviv […] Read More

Jaffa

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Off to Jaffa this morning, for a quick stroll though the beautiful old town. It is from Jaffa that Tel Aviv was founded in the early 20th century, by a couple of Jewish families who moved out and planned their own settlement, which would become Tel Aviv. Jaffa is small, with a little old quarter […] Read More

Baffled in Jerusalem

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Today, we took the bus to Jerusalem. We only have this one day, as Susanne’s time is limited, but we wanted to maximize everything we could see. We’re both history geeks, Susanne being a real expert in British history (she can easily name the kings of England and Great Britain, explain the stories, feuds, heirs, traitors….) […] Read More

Bauhaus

Let it go
Of course we had to explore the Bauhaus architecture in Tel Aviv. After all, the city is famous for it. I had already done the audio tour prepared by the Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv two years ago, so this time we just bought a map and explored it a bit on our own. I love […] Read More

Summer heat

Let it go
Finally, I’m back in summer. After autumn in New Zealand, spring in Japan and some rain in Istanbul, it was about time. Istanbul had just started to become warmer (and humid) when I was about to leave. Stepping off the plane in Tel Aviv, even though in the evening, I felt I was back in […] Read More

Golden Gate

Let it go
It turns out, not only San Francisco has a Golden Gate. Istanbul does, too. I wanted to make a walk along and on top of the city walls, the part that has been reconstructed… so I headed to the train station and hopped on a train in this direction (more on that adventure later) and […] Read More

Çukurcuma

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I think I landed in one of the most beautiful, buzzing, yet calm and relaxed neighborhoods in Istanbul. Çukurcuma is a little neighborhood in the Beyoğlu district in Istanbul, formerly known under its greek name of Pera, and has everything you could wish for… The little street down from my apartment alone has a hotel, several […] 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

Golden Horn

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We slept in today getting up at 10, and leaving the house at 12. That’s more my rhythm. I’d rather start the day late and go out late… Sabine’s a bit earlier… We caught the ferry along the golden Horn today – a full half hour ride for 1.75 TL… a bargain! It is a […] Read More

As time goes by…

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Sabine and I strolled into a most interesting art exhibition today, more or less by accident, looking for another gallery. We saw Christian Marclay’s The Clock today. He made a 24-hour-movie, assembled by countless snippets of other movies, in which a scene indicates a certain time, shows a clock, wristwatch… The movie is shown around the clock […] Read More

Under ground

Let it go
Back into the old town for the third day in a row, we went to the Archeological Museum today, maxing out our Museum card, then had a stroll downhill to the little Hagia Sophia mosque, and through a small bazaar. However, the highlight of the day surely was underground: we visited the ancient Basilika cistern […] Read More