Tomorrow marks our 3rd anniversary of moving to Cuenca to start our retired life. In researching what to say in tomorrow’s post, we came across two articles about Evelyn that never made it into our blog. Both were articles that came out in March 2016, just as we were preparing to leave for Turkey for […]
Is It Safe in Ecuador?
We have never before reposted someone else’s blog article here, and I don’t expect to make a habit of it. However, I read a blog today that is on a topic I have harped on repeatedly, and is written better than I believe I have been able to do. This article was written by Jim […]
Manabi Earthquake Relief
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Ecuador on April 16, 2016. We were in Istanbul, Turkey at the time. The couple that was staying in our Cuenca, Ecuador apartment said they could feel it, though we were 180 miles from the epicenter. More than 650 people were killed in the quake. 200 schools and thousands of […]
Cooking With Fire
We have heard about La Yunta since shortly before we went on our Turkey adventure last March. This is a restaurant / tienda / deli that is about a 15 minute drive out of Cuenca, enroute to Loja. Being so far out in the sticks, they have to be creative to get people to come. […]
Amsterdam Redux
The flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Guayaquil, Ecuador is a lot longer than we prefer to stay on an airplane. We therefore decided to break up the long flight home with a night in Amsterdam on the way back. We weren’t expecting very much, other than a chance to stretch our legs and grab some […]
Turkey 24 – Life in Istanbul
Now that our latest vacation is complete, this is a summary of what it feels like to live in Istanbul, even if only for a couple of months. First, mosques are everywhere and a part of daily life, even for those who are not practicing Muslims. There are 2,995 active mosques here, and every one […]
Turkey 23 – Safety and Security
[NOTE: This post was written before the bombing at the Istanbul airport. The contents here still applies though. Such mass attacks have occurred in Belgium, Paris, London, and… Orlando. The world seems to be rapidly going crazy. Anytime you choose to leave your home, you at risk of an attack… or simply being hit by […]
Turkey 22 – Market – Tarihi Sali Pazari
We read about a large market on the Asian side (where we are staying), and decided to go there. We got the address and directions from a web site on local Istanbul markets, and off we went. First we walk to the metro, take that to the end of the line, then find bus 8A, […]
Turkey 21 – Ortaköy
The “Blue Hour” at Ortaköy Camii We traveled by ferry to Beşiktas, today, then took a long walk to Ortaköy Mosque, which is located right at the foot of the Bosphorous Bridge, specifically to photograph the “camii” (in Turkish) as the sun set. When we arrived at Beşiktaş, we tried to find the bus to take […]
Turkey 20 – Dolmabahçe Palace and Eyüp
Yesterday, we started at a crafts market in Üsküdar, then took the ferry across the Bosphorous to tour the Dolmabahçe Palace, which was built in 1853. It is easy to look at all these palaces, and wonder why “each new sultan had to build his own“. In this case, though, it was replacing Topkapi Palace, […]