The fifth annual Tango Festival, Tango-to Istanbul, was held here in the first week of March with many tango lovers from all around the world. When a friend from the US  came over for the tango festival, within less than a week, I was introduced...
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Ottoman sultans
 Sheikh Zafir Mausoleum is definitely one of the things we take for granted in Istanbul. Even locals pass by this tiny yet beautiful mausoleum on one of the main arteries of the city without noticing it. Standing next to Ertuğrul Tekke...
 The vintage sign of the Haci Bekir confectionary store famous for its Turkish delight has always been inviting. So is the store with its old-fashioned charm. It is one of these traditional Istanbul shops you cannot miss if you stick around Eminönü...
 I  have a weak spot for anything art-nouveau. Could it be because a neighborhood with art nouveau houses was a default setting for me since I was born? We do not have V. Horta or A. Mucha here, but we do have Raimondo D'aronco of Italian...
ZILDJIANS, A FAMILY OF CYMBAL MAKERSThe second annual Samatya Jazz Festival was held in tribute to the Armenian Zildjian family, which produced high quality cymbals in the 17th century to be used by the Janissaries, the military marching army of the Ottomans....
KANDIL SIMIDI NOT SIMIT...This is not to be mistaken for bagel-like Turkish simit sold in the streets. This is called kandil simidi baked and sold only on the holy evenings on the Islamic calendar. When the mosques were lit by the candles for the first...
If you happen to pay a visit to the charming  Emirgan neighborhood in the middle part of the Bosphorus, you will see a fountain surrounded by a hundred-year old colossal maple trees. Commissioned by the Sultan Abdulhamid I and dedicated to one of his wives,...