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Syrian Forces Advance on Restive Town Near Turkey:

All I can say is that if violence in Syria spills over into Turkish border towns, Assad can bend over and kiss his ass goodbye.

One of the things I love about this city is that anywhere you look, there are minarets in the skyline. Makes it so much more interesting.

Must stay hotels: The House Hotel Galatasaray

I found these photos in a thrift store in Istiklal, Istanbul. 

#turkey #bursa Sa?anak ya?mur dolu ortal??? sel götürdü (Taken with Instagram at Alt?parmak)

The Blue Mosque


Blue Mosque


Presidential Palace


Independence Avenue




Inside Grand Bazaar




Street Market (one of many)

Istanbul, Turkey

Before returning to Amsterdam from Cairo, I stopped in Turkey to explore Istanbul. Spent most of the time wandering around the city, walking along the coast on the Asian side, and eating more than a lifetime’s worth of donor kebabs. And there was also the time spent in a government funded hospital for a day on an IV due to food poisoning acquired during my last day in Cairo. 

My Dad and I in Kapadokya.

I know. We should be better than this. The photo couldn’t be helped.

Mrs. Tragos and I are back from a week. My Dad and Uncle came to visit us in Turkey. We took them up and down the Bosporus in Istanbul, back to our place in Ankara, and then off to Kapadokya, land of hot air balloons, fairy chimney rock formations, and, apparently Turkish viagra.

We had just pseudo-spelunked through a network of caves and tunnels that form an ancient (as in Hittite and Roman) underground city where people used to hide from invaders for months at a time. The engineering feats—rock-disk wheels that open only from the inside; fake wells that serve as air ducts; cook fires and kitchens whose fumes dissipate before being seen above ground; sewage systems; water supply systems—made modern hubris a sillier and self-indulgent thing.

More reports to follow when I have slept a bit.