Author Archives: John and Michelle
The U.S. is doing breakfast all wrong
I know that’s a bold statement especially from someone with a near-perfect Sunday brunch attendance record and whose favorite childhood meal was waffles.
But you’d say that too if you’ve had the Turkish version, a huge assortment of cheeses, vegetables, spreads, and bread typically ordered for the entire table. So what makes Turkish breakfast so amazing?
Why watching the Super Bowl in Istanbul is way different (but still way fun)
I knew partaking in the European-ized version of this very American event was something we had to do. So we did, and it was awesome … but really different for four main reasons…
By the Beard of Mohammed! Inside Topkapı Palace
Topkapı is the site of many religious relics, of which maybe one or two are even plausible fakes. They have the staff of Moses, the sword of David, and my personal favorite, the saucepan of Abraham. (Four thousand years old! Have they ever seen artifacts that are four thousand years old? I have. They look like potsherds. Largely because they’re potsherds.)
Byzantine Istanbul Part II: The Great Palace Mosaics
The museum itself is small, including floor mosaics of about 250 square meters, or about 2700 square feet. But archaeologists estimate that only one-seventh to one-eighth of the floor remains. To put that into perspective, we are talking about nearly half an acre of mosaic flooring. That’s something like an area from the 50 yard line to the goal line on an American football field. Archaeologists have suggested that it may have taken 80 million tesserae, the small, square tiles of limestone, glass, and ceramic that make up the mosaics.
The Life of the Linguistically Deficient: Getting a Haircut in Turkey
This display finished, I looked at the kuaför in the mirror. He looked back at me with his eyes and his mustache as if to say, “don’t tell me my business, son.” After a brief nod, he began the process. As with most haircuts, the first order of business was lighting a cigarette.
Bazaaro World
On a rainy weekend day that might otherwise have been spent traversing city walls, Michelle and I decided to do something a little more indoors, so we sought out some bazaars, including the straw mat weavers’ bazaar, the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, and of course, the Grand Bazaar.
Byzantine Istanbul Part I: The Column of Constantine
In this series of posts, I will catalog and explain these sights. It is my goal to find the remnants of Byzantine Constantinople in Turkish Istanbul. There is much left to find, but not all of it is out in the open.
Today, I will write about one of the oldest Byzantine sites in the city, the Column of Constantine.
The ever-present call to prayer
One of the most striking things about Istanbul is hearing the Islamic call to prayer sung five times a day, every day. Called the adhan, it’s audible from just about every pocket of the city, thanks to loudspeakers atop each of Istanbul’s thousands of mosques.
How To Get Cell Phone Service In Turkey
It is slightly more complicated in Turkey. In Turkey, you have to register your cell phone with the government or else the networks will recognize that you are using an unregistered SIM and kick you off.
Good news! It’s very easy to get your cell phone registered and get cell phone service in Turkey, provided you follow these easy steps:
1. Don’t.
No Ticket Back 
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