Advice & Info

“Where can I get my bike repaired and grab a cup of coffee?” The idyllic, almost-sleepy neighborhood of Yeniköy is not a place many people...

An evening on the oat sodas on Kadıköy’s infamous bar street brought an idea into my friend’s head: we should head to Bulgaria. Whilst...

When you hear of Patara Plajı, the 20 km stretch of sand just west of Kalkan, your first thoughts may be of swimming, suntanning,...

Unpredictable Spring showers can put a real dampener (pun intended) on one's social calendar. But even if you have exhausted the city’s museums and...

One of the many seemingly incessant complaints I hear from other yabancılar is a disdain for Turkish wines. Navigating the wine scene in Turkey...

Many believe that the choice of a child's name has an impact on the child's personality and perceptions of attitudes towards them in the...

Memory is a funny thing. As much as it keeps record of reality, it also creates a reality of its own. As expats, we...

Personality is a phenomenon which describes the way people behave in everyday life. It’s an essential concept in order to understand and predict our...

Taksim Square is a place that is planned into almost every trip to Istanbul, one way or another. The name “Taksim” means “division”, from...

When it comes to travel, the questions, ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ are often far more meaningful than, ‘where?’ Two people may go on the same...

A feeling that was about to disappear in the chaos of life suddenly hit me so hard that I had to sit down and...

There are more than 3000 active mosques in Istanbul and, in terms of architectural style, they can generally be categorized as either Byzantine (ancient...

On warm nights in Istanbul everyone is out. Restaurants open their doors onto the sidewalks of back streets, creating a maze of tables and...

How does one explain Barış Manço?  He is kind of like the Turkish John Denver, but with the notoriety of John Lennon and a...

Learning Turkish while living in Istanbul can be an experience both painstaking and profoundly exciting. There is an undefinable moment in this adventure -...

“Zeytinyağı gibi üste çıkma!” or “Don’t stick out like olive oil!” This time last year, my husband and I were sipping olive oil at a...

Being English, one of the foods I miss most from home is a good scone. A good scone, baked to perfection, served with butter, jam...

“Where can I find the best köfte in Kadıköy?” Ekspres İnegöl Köftecisi should be your first and only stop. Centrally located in Kadıköy it’s...

Beer in Istanbul is a touchy subject for a lot of expats, who generally fall into a few camps when it comes to preference....

Like many places in Turkey, there's a story behind Lake Sapanca's name. In fact, it derives from a myth that many locals apparently still...

As you reach into your pocket this week to see if you can afford to hit that pricey New Year’s party, you may have...

Feeling as if in a dream, I watched the thick fog swirl around on the forest floor as we raced through a breathtaking canopy...

Aristotle, roasted almond mezes, and a tortured history… Of all Turkey’s hidden treasures, Assos (Behramkale in Turkish) is an insiders’ favorite, conveniently located between...

Well, hello there. Chances are you are leaving Turkey with your pet, and you’ve stumbled upon this page looking for advice. Don’t worry, we're...