Sunday 8 April 2024 Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Türkiye “What are the odds so long as the fire of soul is kindled at the taper of conviviality and the wing of friendship never moults a feather? What are the odds so long as the spirit is expanded by means of rosy wine and the present moment is… Continue reading Along the avenue
Tag: Istanbul
Dreams of Fielding
“A comic writer should of all others be the least excused for deviating from nature, since it may not be always so easy for a serious poet to meet with the great and the admirable. But life everywhere furnishes an accurate observer with the ridiculous.“ (Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews) Above: English writer Henry Fielding Eskişehir, Türkiye Monday 21 April 2024 Henry Fielding is one of… Continue reading Dreams of Fielding
Beyond Buddy Bears
Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Türkiye Sunday 7 April 2024 “With the deep unconscious sigh which not even the nearness of the telescreen could prevent him from uttering when his day’s work started, Winston pulled the speak-write towards him.” With the deep unconscious sigh which not even the closeness of my sleeping companion can prevent me from sighing… Continue reading Beyond Buddy Bears
Pendik possibilities
Above: Images of Pendil, Istanbul, Türkiye Beyoğlu, İstanbul, Türkiye Sunday 7 April 2024 “Yesterday I spoke to playwright and humourist Karlweis about keeping a diary. He said it was good to get into the habit of reckoning up with yourself, but that one never confronts oneself with the whole truth, there is always an element… Continue reading Pendik possibilities
Canada Slim and the Museum of Innocence
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 August 2018 It has been ages since I have written about Turkey, but those who know me are aware that there are both many things I adore about this bridge between Asia and Europe and many things I abhor. Of the little exploration I have done in this great republic (the Turquoise… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Museum of Innocence
The rise of Recep
Landschlacht, Switzerland, St. Patrick’s Day 2017 I am a Turkey watcher. I have twice visited this beautiful country and I have rarely met a Turk I haven`t liked. I began to talk about Turkey in this blog, because of the event that began 2017: the ISIS attack on a nightclub in Istanbul. Above: The Reina restaurant/nightclub,… Continue reading The rise of Recep
The sorrow of Batman
Istanbul, Turkey, 10 September 2016 In Istanbul, extraordinary experiences are found around every corner. Here, dervishes whirl, müezzins call from minarets and people move between continents multiple times a day. Istanbul is home to millenia-old monuments and cutting edge art galleries – sometimes on the same block. It is an utterly beguiling city full of… Continue reading The sorrow of Batman
Fireworks in the fog
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, 1 January 2017 Fireworks in the fog. As we stood on Schlossberg overlooking the city this morning many things sprang to mind. Another year survived. Considering the grimness of 2016, to be still standing at its end feels like an accomplishment in itself.… The best barometer of a person’s alcohol consumption… Continue reading Fireworks in the fog
Silence and gold
Landschlacht, Switzerland: 23 March 2016 It has been a time that has tested me both personally and professionally. It has been a time that has discouraged me, that has made me withdraw silently into myself. I have written little for over a month. I have wanted to write, not to say something, but because I… Continue reading Silence and gold