As I left the apartment yesterday morning, Istanbul police had cordoned off Taksim Square and Taksim Mosque with metal barricades. This was because of a May Day “Global Workers” demonstration by Turkish civil society associations and trade unions. Protestors chanted the slogan, “Bread, Peace, Freedom”. _____________ “Global May Day demonstrations were reported in major cities […]
This first week back in Istanbul has been a blur… So far, I’ve explored Beyoğlu district and its endlessly-entertaining side streets! Since 2013, I’ve visited Istanbul several times. The last visit, June 2021, was during covid, so of course the atmosphere was entirely different. With a population of 16 million, the density can be overwhelming. […]
The uneventful trip from Thessaloniki to Istanbul was short but tiring, mostly due to airport taxi pickups on both ends. I found taxi pickups in Thessaloniki problematic, primarily because the drivers seemed short-tempered and spoke minus-zero English. Since my apartment was on a sidestreet not open to auto traffic, it was difficult communicating the exact […]
