Why You Should Go to Turkey This Year
more photos on Forbes.com : https://www.forbes.com/pictures/emdl45md/the-parliament-building-of-the-lycian-league/
The Parliament Building of the Lycian League Laurie Werner
The Parliament Building of the Lycian League
This recently restored building, the inspiration for the layout of the U.S. Congress, was opened to the public in the ancient city of Patara in May.
via The Parliament Building of the Lycian League – Laurie Werner – Forbes.
9 Wheelchair Accessible Travel Tips For Your Disabled Trip to Istanbul By Sage Traveling
Istanbul has noticeably more accessibility challenges than many popular tourist destinations in Europe. From cobblestones to hills to steep ramps, wheelchair travelers to Istanbul are likely to encounter challenges on their trip. Sage Traveling provides list of 9 Istanbul Wheelchair Accessible Travel Tips that tell you how to do it. With these handicapped travel tips you’ll travel like a pro by avoiding problems, saving time and money, and doing more than you thought was possible!
Some examples of our disabled travel tips for below will help minimize the challenging experiences while in Istanbul Turkey..
1. Double and triple check accessibility at your hotel before you arrive
Every European city has some hotels that claim to be accessible but really are not. Istanbul has more of these than any other city. Many of the “accessible” hotels have no ramp at the hotel entrance or a ramp that is so steep no wheelchair user could get up it without assistance. In room accessibility also varies greatly. Double and triple check the accessibility at your hotel before you arrive or you risk having a serious complication on your trip.
2. Avoid trying to approach the New District by walking or rolling
The Taksim square in the New District is a 2.2 km (1.5 mile) uphill journey from the Galata Bridge that spans the Golden Horn. Wheelchair users should hail a taxi rather than wear themselves out pushing up the hill.
3. Accessible bathroom location
Many of the bathrooms in Istanbul are not wheelchair accessible. When looking for accessible toilets during the day, your best bets are to try modern hotels, restaurant chains, and museums.
4. The Basilica Cistern is accessible from the exit
Although not well advertised, Istanbul wheelchair travelers are actually able to visit the Basilica Cistern. The exit is locate 2 blocks downhill from the entrance and has a wheelchair lift.
5. Group the sights by proximity
The Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia are within 1 km of each other. It may be a stretch on your time to see them all in a day, but if you only have 1 day in Istanbul, make sure that you visit these three attractions.
6. Start each day at the high spots
The advice is both figurative and literal. Visit the can’t-miss items in the morning when your energy is high. If you get tired and need to end your sightseeing early, you can cut out some of the lesser sights. You should also literally start your day in the high spots and roll downhill during the rest of your day.
Get a list of 9 Wheelchair Accessible Travel Tips to Istanbul and related information, Please have a look at below..
Contact us at info@sagetraveling.com or 1-888-645-7920, and we can get started immediately planning your accessible vacation in Istanbul!
The Istanbul disabled travel agents at Sage Traveling use our expertise in Istanbul accessible travel to create custom accessible holidays for disabled and senior travelers. Disabled visitors to Istanbul will encounter challenges during their travels, but nearly all can be avoided or overcome if you obtain the proper information before your trip. Our Istanbul disabled travel agents provide you with accessible hotel accommodations, accessible transportation within and between cities, detailed accessibility information on tourist attractions, and custom accessible itineraries to move you efficiently between tourist sights. We make your dream accessible vacation in Istanbul a reality!
About Us:
Sage Traveling is committed to providing customized accessible holiday travel for our clients. We deal exclusively in disabled travel to Europe and make it our job to understand all the challenges that disabled travelers may encounter and how to overcome them. Sage Traveling offers comprehensive, detailed, and organized disabled travel information on accessible European tourist attractions, hotels, and transportation.
Let our passion for European travel and research take the stress out of planning your European travel and let us customize a hassle-free accessible holiday for you!
Contact Us:
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Address: Houston, Texas – USA
Ph. No. 888-645-7920
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11:40AM BST 26 Jul 2012
Istanbul has become a year-round destination. Midsummer is sultry, but this is a great time to enjoy an outdoor meal at a Bosphorus-front fish restaurant, or Turkish coffee at a pavement cafe.
July and August
Istanbul Modern (istanbulmodern.org) hosts Fifty Years of Urban Walls (continues until September 23), a retrospective of the works of Burhan Doğançay. At the same venue After Yesterday documents the development of photography in Turkey from the Ottoman-era to the present (until September 23).
Up the Bosphorus, the wonderful Sakıp Sabancı Museum (muze.sabanciuniv.edu) hosts Cobra – 1000 Days of Free Art (until September 16), an exhibition of the works of post WW2 avante gardists of Amsterdam, Brussels & Copenhagen.
The gardens at the Sakip Sabanci Museum (photo: Alamy)
Also here, the calligraphy collection has been re-vamped and re-launched as the Arts of the Book and Calligraphy Collection, plus While a Country is Changing – an expo of Turkish painting from the Ottoman reformation to the Republic.
Well-regarded Canadian singer-songwriter Feist takes stage at trendy Santralistanbul (santralistanbul.org) on August 25.
The shopping district in Beyoğlu (Alamy)
September
Funk-rock superstars Red Hot Chili Peppers hit Santralistanbul on the 8th. Six days later another American soul legend Stevie Wonder also plays former power-station cum arts centre Santralistanbul (14th).
French-Canadian Cirque du Soleil perform their acrobatic spectacular Alegria at Ülker Sports Arena on the 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th.
Classical music lovers will flock to the Haliç Congress Centre to see the Berliner Philharmoniker on the 27th, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
by Bonnie Boyce-Wilson – Jul. 27, 2012 12:43 PM
Special for The Republic
In June, my husband, David, and I took a three-week cultural tour of Turkey, highlighted by visits to Istanbul, Ephesus and Cappadocia.
Photos: slideshow Travel People
We arrived in Istanbul, the only city in the world that sits on two continents; a place where East meets West in a fascinating blend of cultures.
For two days we toured Old Istanbul: the Grand Bazaar, with some 4,000 shops and stalls; the Spice Market, with exotic spices, nuts and fruits from around the world; a narrated cruise on the Bosphorus Strait, the waterway that separates Europe from Asia; the Golden Horn, the natural harbor of Istanbul; the Blue Mosque, flanked by six slender minarets and housing more than 20,000 blue Iznik tiles; the ancient Hippodrome, where Roman chariot races took place; the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum; Hagia Sophia, once the world’s grandest cathedral and now a museum; and the vast and splendid Topkapi Palace, the home of Ottoman sultans.
Ephesus is among the world’s best-preserved ancient cities. In Roman times, it was the provincial capital of Asia, with a population of 200,000 at the height of its glory. Ephesus houses the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. An important Christian community arose here, and Ephesus was visited by the Apostle Paul. The city has the largest ancient theater, where Paul preached. It seats more than 24,000 and is still in use today. As we walked down the Sacred Way toward the library, we marveled at the engineering feats of the Romans, and were in awe thinking we were walking in the footsteps of Paul.
In central Turkey lies the remarkable Cappadocia region, where strange and beautiful formations delighted us. Volcanic lava formed a high plateau that has eroded over the centuries, resulting in capped columns known as fairy chimneys, and where underground shelters evolved into underground cities. Christianity came early to Cappadocia, and we were fascinated by the churches, many of which still contain painted symbols and pictures.
Turkey is a beautiful country, moving from an agricultural-based economy to one of industry. We found the people there diverse, delightful and friendly. I had not expected to see such a modern and productive Turkey, whose economy is the 16th-largest in the world. I invite you to visit and make your own discoveries.
The writer lives in Sun City West.
via Your Travels: East meets West in diverse Turkey.
AA
Turkish airline company Atlasjet launched flights between TRNC and Beirut, Lebanon via southern province of Adana as of July 3.
LEFKOSA
Turkish airline company Atlasjet launched flights between Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Beirut, Lebanon via southern province of Adana as of July 3.
The flights are being held on Tuesdays and Fridays.
TRNC Tourism, Environment and Culture Minister Unal Ustel said that these flights would contribute to improvement of tourism and education sectors as well as commercial relations between TRNC and Lebanon.
The number of foreign tourists visiting TRNC in the first six months of 2012 rose by 20 percent, Ustel said.
The belief in the powers of the nazar boncuk, or “evil eye bead,” is found throughout the Mediterranean and Aegean, spreading from Turkey to as far east as the Turkic Republics.
An Istanbul guide is the first step in understanding how the cult of the blue beads spread even past Britain—to Ireland to be precise.
Irish farmers are known to hang a blue ball called a Droch-shuil above their barn doors to protect their animals from the envious glances of their neighbors.
The Turkish nazar boncuk is known by many names around the world: the Romans called it the malus, the Greeks Baskania, the Italians Mallochio, the Spanish Mal Ojo and it is Ayin Hara in Hebrew. In fact, it can be found as far away as Mexico, where it is called the “Ojo de Vanado”.
The Turkish word “nazar” actually derives from the Arabic for “eye” or “look”.
That seems innocuous enough, but this kind of “eye” or “look” is rather dangerous. Millions of people around the world believe that the evil eye can cast a kind of spell on the object of its gaze: a healthy person can fall ill or a much-admired crystal vase can fall and break into a thousand pieces or your brand new car break down at the first red light.
Well, in that case, you would only have yourself to blame—if you had hung a “mavi boncuk” (blue bead) from your exhaust pipe or rear view mirror, this would never have happened!
No one knows if such talismans really work, or how they work if they do. But people continue to believe. Scientists are fascinated by the psychological power of the nazar boncuk, and it has recently become a popular field of research.
But where and how are these mighty blue beads produced? Bear in mind that the premise for the belief is that evil intentions are somehow conveyed by the eyes. In that case, it seems only natural to believe that such looks can be repelled by the gaze of another eye.
This “other eye” is the nazar boncuk, often wrongly known in English as an “evil eye” since it is actually a “benevolent eye” warding off evil.
In the past, these talismans were originally made of clay globes painted with natural dyes. Later, they were made from ceramic. The production of glass nazar boncuks spread from Mesopotamia to Syria, before crossing the border into Anatolia.
The first Anatolian glass nazar boncuks were made around the cities of Bodrum and Izmir in the Mediterranean and Aegean, respectively. Sadly, interest in the art has waned and cheaper materials, like plastic, are usually used instead of glass. Today, only a few workshops in the village of Cumaovası, Görece near Izmir and a few in Bodrum still function in the traditional way.
These workshops fire the glass beads in very primitive surroundings, in underground kilns made of bricks and mud. The glassmakers remove the melted glass from the oven using an iron rod and then shape it on an anvil using other tools. Then, drops of molten glass in other colors (white and black over the blue) are placed on top of the main piece and stuck onto it. The whole piece is then rolled and then pressed flat with an iron. Finally, it is placed in a section of the kiln and allowed to cool.
Perhaps it is this very process that gives these glass talismans their powers: the incredible heat that melts the glass and the tremendous effort that goes into shaping them.
Or perhaps it lies deeper, in the mysteries of nature that mankind is still unable to solve after thousands of years.
via Ward Off The “Evil Eye” With A “Nazar Boncuk” In Istanbul – Business Insider.