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Marmaris paradise : turquoise clean waters, palm trees

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:55:40 +0000

Everyone dreams about a nice long holiday near one of the sourthern seashore cities now in Istanbul in the hottest of these summer days. I will try to introduce you my favorite holiday resort in Turkey and in which hotel we stayed there. Marmaris, a mirror of paradise on Earth. The unique feature of Marmaris is that it has everything together like a gift from nature. A beautiful and very clean turquoise sea of Aegean mixing with the forests nearby.

We had chosen Laguna hotel in Icmeler district (15 minutes to Marmaris by minibuses), small affordable but very nice hotel. Here are some photos of this lovely hotel, from Icmeler and 2 more from Marmaris center at the end of the article. The room and beach has an amazing panoramic view. The beach is soft sand and laying under long palm trees are just great. The bar near the pool is unique as well and you sit under the water for a cool feeling. We especially liked the music provided here 3 nights a week including entertaining but not loud Mediterranean guitar music and a Turkish night which is full of traditional food and cultural activities like music and dances. I also suggest you to not always stay in the hotel and go to the bars&clubs street in Marmaris. This place is fun, lively and provides everything for the tourists who seek entertainment without borders as well. You can go crazy here. Don’t worry natives of this place also like it.

I will not talk about the facilities in the hotel because now almost all hotel in this district are all inclusive with every facility you can imagine including excellent food, restaurants, sporting, SPA activities etc. For us, the pleasure for the soul, eyes were the priority and we left our holiday with great feelings. If you want to choose this hotel first check booking.com because they compare over 30 of major hotel reservation websites at once. You just enter your destination and this service finds all the rates from these websites for an easy comparison. Check Laguna Hotel here: Marmaris Hotels And one more addition, don’t miss the offers for yacht tours and attraction offers for historical places (lots of Roman, Greek ruins around), Pamukkale and rafting as well.

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Turkish Rock Heavy Metal Music Youth

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:34:05 +0000

For an average Earth-citizen who ever heard a few words about Turkey; the first things they would imagine most probably would be fanatic Muslim women with black turbans strolling around in groups on the Ottoman style cities. It is the image which was usually drawn by the mainstream documentaries of the West. Unfortunately, to some degree such negative broadcasts (intentionally or not) still continues. I was shocked seeing a new trailer about Turkey in popular UK Travel Channel which totally ignored the modern side of Turkey and Turkish people. I am sure it is not broadcasting to Turkey because many modern people would be really annoyed. I have met this trailer in Russian Travel Channel. This is what I call stereotype and want to invite such producers think a bit freely.

My new Travel Channel documentary episode proposal is about Turkish Rock Metal music scene and about the youth who enjoy not only listening but also producing highly qualified music. Forget about Sultanahmet, Topkapi, Sish kebap, Turkish bath, Turkish food a bit and look carefully on the streets of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Eskisehir etc. You will also see educated university students who read a lot, know many wise things about life and express themselves with rock music. Actually, Istanbul is home to an army of loyal followers of old & new progressive rock scene including Pink Floyd, Yes, Camel, Dream Theater, Riverside etc.

Do not ignore them. They are like a social shield of Turkey protecting modernism the full-religion oriented Arab countries. Anyway, I will give you three perfect examples how we make top quality music as well.

Nekropsi: This group produced one of the most unique progressive rock albums of all times. Mi Kubbesi today was regarded by veteran prog rockers as a masterpiece.

Pentagram: One of the best Turkish heavy metal groups of Turkey. They have excellent albums with very unique sound which blends oriental riffs with classical metal.

Asia Minor: Another Turkish prog rock legend from 70s which managed to catch virtuosity of King Crimson and Camel only in two albums. Unfortunately, even in Turkey, I have met only a few people who ever heard about them. Obscure band in top excellency.

Have you heard about Brenna Mc Crimmon? A talented Canadian woman who devoted all her life about the music of eastern cultures and can talk & sing in Turkish perfectly. Look at the her video below with Baba Zula (a very interesting Turkish band which uses both western and eastern instruments in their music) and be inspired.

I can continue about this blog post for many pages but no time really I will close it by a few videos of Turkish Anatolian Rock masters. Open your eyes and do not be a victim of mainstream !

Baris Manco

Erkin Koray

Mogollar

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Turkish Rambo Serdar

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:44:17 +0000

If you didn’t see Turkishwood Ripoff Films, you can’t be shocked more than Turkish Rambo Serdar

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Google Fashion Store in Istanbul

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:13:33 +0000

Turkish textile industry is famous for manufacturing and importing fake replica products of well known fashion companies like Hermes, Gucci, D&G. Such textile products are extremely popular in large markets in Eastern European countries like Russia.

This time, a small shop owner in Istanbul preferred to name his shop as Google Fashion using the exact copy of the famous logo. I don’t know Google will care him or not, it will inspire his other fellow store owners to do same for other giant search engine companies like Yahoo, Bing. Can I buy a Google trademarked t-shirt please?

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Ultimate Turkish Genuine Psychedelic Disco Experience

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:36:51 +0000

Warning! The following music video can make irreversible harm on your brain cells. Please read the virtual manual carefully beforehand.

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Buy Genuine Turkish Delight in US

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:02:16 +0000

That’s nice to see that Amazon sells products of two well known Turkish delight companies of Turkey. Hazer Baba and Galil. Hazer Baba Turkish Delight with Rose is an excellent choice to try traditional Turkish delight (also known as Lokum). 4 packs price is quite affordable at Amazon. Another choice is Galil Rose Mint Lemon mixture pack. Mint is also widely used in making delights in Turkey. These two lokum companies produce according to traditional receipts and do not use preservatives. All is natural. I especially suggest serving Turkish Delight with traditionally prepared Turkish coffee. I will write another article about how to prepare traditional Turkish coffee and where to buy the quality Turkish coffee later.

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Exploring Turkey Mediterranean Coast By Car Hire.

admin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:46:28 +0000

Turkey is a country of opposites and different colors. This is the result of being the center of many civilizations throughout the history. If you simply book an hotel in a popular destination like (let’s say in Marmaris) and stay there only; you will miss many great places to visit. Have you ever thought about exploring beautiful Turkey by car hire? If so, I can suggest a superb car route which will give you more than your expectations.

Let’s start from Istanbul, which is the cultural and historical highlight of Byzantine and Ottoman empires. The places you should certainly visit are Spice Bazaar (Plenty of mystical spices, Ottoman recipes), Topkapi Palace (The home of Sultans), Hagia Sophia (One of the largest cathedrals in the world which was built around 1500 years ago by Byzantines) , Miniaturk (A park where you can see around 100 miniature models which perfectly reflects the architectural and natural wonders of centuries that reside in Anatolia and Istanbul), Bosphorus Cruise (It is the best way to see what gems are near the shores of Europe and Asia including historical ancient Ottoman villas).

After spending one or two days at Istanbul you should continue to Canakkale which is known for its Troy history/findings and Gallipoli where bloodiest First World War battle between Allied forces (Mostly ANZACs) against Ottoman empire took place. You can see the trenches and battle areas. By the way, you can begin swimming because after this part of Turkey to the down, the Aegean sea is wonderful.

After Canakkale, you should continue with Kusadasi, Marmaris and Pamukkale. Some of the most famous attractions are Ephesus ( Ancient large preserved Roman city with lots of spectacular ruins and ancient theaters, burials, baths etc). Marmaris is your stop for entertainment and crazy night life (If you seek). This tourism center has excellent sea near the beautiful forests where you can use many camping sites as well.

Your next destination will be rafting at Dalaman river and Pamukkale which is a world heritage site. You will see a mountain of pure white like snow. Actually these are calcium stones piled by warm/hot waters through thousands of years. You can walk and even become stay under this mineral water as well.

These are the must-see destinations when you hire a car. And I can easily say that it is just the top of the iceberg which is waiting to be discovered by you. Turkey is a nice destination for a larger Europe travel plan as well. Be sure that it is in your path.

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First Turkish Astronouts in Space

admin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:51:36 +0000

Nowadays, this is the most popular topic everywhere in Turkey. Streets, cafes, schools, homes, mass media etc wherever you can imagine. People seem to be much enjoying years of careful planning of participating science universities, technology developments and huge investment at last has given the fruitful result. A week ago, two Turkish astronouts (astroturks in Turkish language) successfully were launched to complete the first Turkish space mission on International Space Station completely funded by some of richest Turkish businessmen who are not only interested in their “les sucettes d’argent pour la gorge” (A common French idiom used in Limoges) telecommunications and retail chain businesses but also science and space. The astroturks are planned to stay at the station almost 35 days more until the completion of the mission.

Backdropped by a colorful Earth, astroturk Erdenay Abi. (left) and Karakoy Space Agency (KSA) astroturk Dr. Serafettin Kotukedi, participate in the ISS1345 mission’s first of four planned sessions of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction resumes on the International Space Station named sPEACE.

The Earth really looks impressive in this photo and I am sure that the overall consciousness of new space exploration possibilities has increased confidence in the future of our nation as well.

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Manisa Mesir Macunu (Famous Turkish Paste for Sexual Explosion)

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:39:11 +0000

Buy Mesir Paste at Amazon.com

There is a traditional festival which is held in Turkish city Manisa, where spicy minded people live. Imagine a paste made from 41 different spices and herbs. Mesir Paste also known as Sultan’s Paste is an Ottoman Empire invention which began in 1522 and they are thrown to the people for free because the mother of padisah Suleyman the Magnificent had recovered from an heavy disease with this receipt.

Small packets of this paste are thrown from a central mosque to the people (99.9% men) and they try to catch them even using their umbrellas upside down. Everyone will tell you these small packets of energy and hormone boosters are just for health. Are you kidding? Do not believe that! My people will not run for health as much as they run for their hidden night fantasies. And, just because it is free, they will do everything to grab. That’s the second reason. I have never eaten in my life but will try surely next time I go to Istanbul, it is quite imaginable what awaits the person who gets a big piece. Here is the list of herbs used in this traditional receipt with English, Turkish and Latin names. I say Oh My great Thor!

Allspice (Yeni bahar) (Pimenta dioica)
Alpina officinarum root (Havlican koku) (Alpina officinarium)
Anise (Anason) (Anisum vulgare)
Black cumin (Corek otu) (Nigella sativa)
Black myrobalan (Kara halile) (Terminalia nigra)
Black pepper (Karabiber) (Piper nigrum)
Buckthorn (Topalak or Akdiken) (Nerprun alaterne)
Cardamon (Kakule) (Elettaria cardamomum)
Cassia (Hiyarsenbe) (Cassia)
Chebulic myrobalan (Kara halile) (Terminalia chebula)
China root (Cop-i cini) (Smilax china)
Cinnamon (Tarcin) (Cinnamomum verum)
Cloves (Karanfil) (Syzygium aromaticum)
Coconut (Hindistan cevizi) (Cocos nucifera)
Coriander (Kisnis) (Coriandum sativum)
Cubeb (Kebabe) (Cubebae fructus)
Cumin (Kimyon) (Cuminum cyminum)
Dried orange blossom (Portakal cicegi)
Fennel (Rezene) (Foeniculum vulgare)
Galingale (Havlican) (Alpinia officinarum)
Ginger (Zencefil) (Zingibar officinalis)
Iksir sugar (Iksir sekeri)
India blossom (Hindistan cicegi)
Java pepper (Kuyruklu biber) (Piper cubeba)
Licorice extract (Meyan bali) (Glycyrrhiza uralensis fisch)
Licorice root (Meyan koku) (Glycyrrhiza glabra)
Mastic (Cam sakizi) (Mastichum)
Millet (Hintdarisi) (Pennisetum glaucum)
Myrrh (Murrusafi) (Commiphora Molmol)
Muskroot (Sumbul) (Adoxa moschatellina)
Mustard seed (Hardal tohumu) (Brassica nigra)
Orange peel (Portakal kabugu)
Rhubarb (Ravend) (Rheum Palmatum)
Saffron (Safran) (Crocus Orientalis)
Citric acid (Limon tuzu)
Senna (Sinameki) (Cassia senna)
Turmeric (Zerdecal) (Curcuma domestica)
Udulkahr (Udulkahir)
Vanilla (Vanilya) (Vanilla planifolia)
Woad (Civit) (Isatis)
Yellow myrobalan (Sari halile) (Fructus myrobalani)

And a possible dialog with a tourist about Mesir Macunu.

Hey dear resort-rose Elisabeth, this is Turkish Mesir Paste.
-What is that?
It’s just an aphrodisiac. (Inner Translation : I wanna sleep with you, this is just a foxy hint to achieve my summer goal)
-Uhhh, I see and? Are you using it a lot?
……………

I am amazed to see that Amazon sells them as well.

Merkez Mesir Macunu (Sultan’s Paste) Natural Herbal Energy Supplement 2 Pack

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Istanbul – The most populated city in Europe

admin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:06:34 +0000

According to European Union statistical foundation Eurostat, Istanbul became the most populated city in Europe. In this list, other Turkish cities Ankara takes the fourth, Izmir takes the ninth place.

Istanbul has a population of 9,898,000 and it is followed by London with 7,429,000, Paris 6,385,000, Ankara 3,402,000, Berlin 3,388,000, Madrid 3,100,000 , Athens 2,884,000, Rome 2,554,000 and Izmir 2,387,000.

It is also stated that 65,000,000 lives in the biggest 26 cities of Europe. Another interesting statistics about burglary and stealing cars. Brussels is the leader in this category and is followed by London and Amsterdam. The most active car stealer cities are from Italy. Turkish cities were not in the first 20.

A view from Istanbul business area – Levent.