(This guest post is from Katie Little, who was my backpacking buddy for three weeks, and, as such, appears frequently on the blog. When she’s not busy being written about on An Opportune Moment, she’s working at an animal hospital, practicing her sign language, or trying to convince herself that teaching English in South Korea for a year isn’t a big, scary commitment.) I was a bit apprehensive when Emma said she wanted to go to a hamam as we were throwing around ideas for what we wanted to accomplish in Istanbul. (My list consisted of markets, tea, and lokum, all of which we experienced in abundance.) I had never…
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Turkish Tea: Dark, Rich, and Economically Sustainable
Maybe you’ve heard of Turkish coffee, known for being thick, dark, and rich in flavor. Well, Turkish tea is actually quite similar. Traditionally made in two kettles, which are stacked on top of one another, the larger bottom kettle is the one that is filled with water. Once boiled, the water is poured into the smaller top kettle, which contains several spoonfuls of tea leaves. This makes for a strong cuppa, so some of the boiled water is saved in the larger kettle, to be used by each individual tea drinker to dilute the beverage to their preferred tea strength. At the end of the process, it is acceptable to…
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Istanbul: First Impressions and a note about the demonstrations
I visited Istanbul last November. In light of recent political events, I’m apprehensive of writing about my time in this city. I don’t want to trivialize what’s happening by writing casually about my experiences as a tourist, but I also don’t want to skip over this part of my trip or act as if traveling to Turkey is a terrifying feat. It’s not. Even now. Unsurprisingly, according to Turkish Travel Blog, tourism to the country has been largely unaffected by the demonstrations. Please see their post for more information, and take note of the headline: do not cancel your holiday in Turkey. If you’re looking for information about the demonstrations,…
