If you receive the Haunt Jaunts weekly summary of posts, you may be wondering why you haven’t seen it in your email much the last few months. (If you don’t get it but would like to receive a list of all the posts made each week, see the “Subscribe2” sectionContinue Reading

Last December, during our trip to Turkey, one of the sites we saw was the House of the Virgin Mary. I’m not a Christian. Partly because I have a hard time believing in the Immaculate Conception. I was pretty ambivalent about whether we saw the Virgin Mary’s house or not.Continue Reading

I was going through my photos the other night and realized something very bad. I have not written about a lot of my jaunts over the past couple of years. I may mention them on the Facebook page or share an occasional pic here or there, but wow have IContinue Reading

One of the stops on our day trip Bosphorus Cruise was to a tiny fishing village where the Maramara Sea and Black Sea meet: Poyrazköy. I have been wanting to share these photos for a while. I finally decided “Why not for the Travel Photo Thursday that Budget Travelers SandboxContinue Reading

It was late on Saturday night December 3, 2011. We’d only been in Istanbul a few days. We were still acclimating to the time change. We’d woken up late. Again. Like I said, the jet lag was taking its toll. When we finally did get going, we spent the dayContinue Reading

An interesting thing happened to me when we stayed at the Millennium Suites in Istanbul. We stayed in room 401 on the fourth floor. On our second and third nights (especially the third one), I heard noises coming from above us. Specifically, footsteps. Loud ones. That made me paranoid aboutContinue Reading

Pera Palace Hotel exterior nameplate

One of the things I liked doing best while we were in Istanbul was visiting the Pera Palace Hotel. Or, as it’s known in Turkish, Pera Palas Otel. We didn’t stay there (out of our price range), but I made a point of finding it. In a manner of speaking,Continue Reading

I always find weird things wherever I go. Istanbul was no exception. For this week’s Wordless Wednesday installment, I figured I’d share a few things that struck me as most weird. UGLY FISH I’m not sure how it tastes, but this super ugly fish was for sale at a restaurant.Continue Reading

What a year it’s been! As 2011 draws to a close, the travel tally stands at: Four countries: Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Turkey Two continents: Europe and Asia (Three if you count flying over Greenland, which I’m inclined to do because (a) the pilot flew low enough for us toContinue Reading

One of Istanbul’s architectural crown jewels is the Ayasofya, or Hagia Sophia as it’s also known. Upon its dedication in 360, it was used as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople until 1453. For a short time, from 1402-1461, it served as a Roman Catholic cathedral. From 1453 until 1931Continue Reading

Before we left for Turkey, I knew carpets and Turkish Delight would be popular commodities we’d find in Istanbul. We definitely saw lokum shops everywhere, and by the end of our trip we were expert at dodging the carpet salesmen. But we also found dark blue glass circles with lighterContinue Reading

Taner, one of the front desk staff at our hotel, was loaded with great tips. The one I liked best was when he suggested we check out the Basilica Cistern and look for Medusa. I’m a huge Greek and Roman mythology fan. Medusa immediately piqued my interest. We got directionsContinue Reading