art and everything after

steve locke's blog about art and other stuff

Posts filed under Turkey

Istanbul, mon amour….

Things I loved here…. The Grande Hotel de Londres – Amazing place, loaded with history and a great crowd in the lobby.  Wireless access, central location, strong tea, great decor and wonderful staff. (And they have great new carpeting in the lobby.)  Hemmingway stayed here, so should you. Beyoğlu – This is the neighborhood where… (read more)

My city of ruins….

Nothing prepares you for Epheseus.   It really is a place that seethes with life.  Not just the thousands of camera-toting, sunblock-applying, child-chasing, photo-opping, cell phone-chatting humans around you.  You are really catapulted into the past.  You walk the same marble sidewalks as people thousands of years ago.  You are under the same hard cerulean… (read more)

I thought Aphrodite was a goddess of love….

Well, things came to a head between the Indians and the Italians today. One of the things that happens on these tours is that you go to a site (in this case, today it was Pamukkale, Hieropolis and Aphrodisias) and then you get driven to a “special presentation” where you are offered high quality goods… (read more)

Balloon inflation, Cappadocia

http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DqAAAABjzXX0P2a8vxnDt-OvRPGBh5pgTQDTv3fnxFD3kKCUFih4P4ubXAKOph6iURPgusxXkB7BgMKGtu3j-bbX9SRgZ_p2Znf4qnNNfW213TAR_l1fNHilUWDMhw27Cw-ujGffaT41mVeiytOUwUG-R_91KhGTCi79tp7vyjbFjT83Jqg2uRUvJJkrO_VansamdXyNrE4j5X6XdiKS4bkO77FJ_vKaEW3vzv6-SC_mehTCB%26sigh%3Dd0ZzRG-CVA1uy01z9c97jV6QVuI%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26docid%3D0&nogvlm=1&thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Ddcb1549e130c2e62%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3DGW3ym6-QPC6-W1dNXZ4hkIoViSE&messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den Anatolian Balloons took a group of us on a tour of the valley via hot air balloon.  It was really an incredible experience to see the caves and mountains of Cappadocia from the air.  It was the most comfortable air trip I have ever experienced, including the landing.  Afterwards, we got flying certificates and… (read more)