Comments for Poptarticus

Comment on Launch Date by Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:28:35 +0000

“We had a good meal there and ate so much we were forced to drink some grappa after to feel better. ” hahaha! I remember that delicious green lasagna and steak dinner - and how you gave me the really smooth grappa afterward. Good Times.

Comment on Sun and Soave by Rachael Herron

Rachael Herron — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:05:03 +0000

and I just bought your Chow Venice book for my Kindle. I have favorites in the city, but I’m always looking for more. Thanks so much! Can’t wait to read it.

Comment on Sun and Soave by Rachael Herron

Rachael Herron — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:55:47 +0000

Your friend Colleen just linked you over on my site, and I have to say I LOVE THIS POST! The Accademia Pizzeria! Amen! In fact, even though I’m decidedly not religious, I have a photo of the madonna who came to visit my glass of wine there. http://www.yarnagogo.com/blog/2004/03/i_can_say_unequ.html Thanks for this! (I’m going back in March — it’s been five LONG years since my last trip.)

Comment on Sun and Soave by Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:53:38 +0000

I can’t believe I didn’t reply when you posted this! Thank you so much for documenting our wonderful 5 Star Lounge Tour. I am setting aside euros for a repeat outing! This time I want to go to the Danieli rooftop bar, and the Cipriani bar better be open! XO, Colleen

Comment on Ready to go Home. When can I come back? by Stella Duffy

Stella Duffy — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:35:31 +0000

if you’re still there (and er, ‘dumb’ books aside!), you can go to the ‘Little Hagia Sophia’ (Küçuk Ayasofya Camii) and see what was once the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, built by Theodora’s architect, and a prototype of the large (current) Hagia Sophia. She most certainly visited it, and it’s been beautifully restored, albeit as a mosque.
And in Hagia Sophia itself, you can stand on the green marble spot in the women’s gallery, marking the place where the Empress - Theodora originally - stood. You can also look up and see Theodora and Justinian’s initials engraved in the finials of the column in HS. There are certainly still a few touches of Theodora in Istanbul - you just have to search them out!

Comment on Ready to go Home. When can I come back? by Stephen Douglas

Stephen Douglas — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 02:10:15 +0000

Great write-up Shanon. Many many thanks. Why? I am 69 years old and I have been to Turkey in 2008 and 2010 not including my first exposure to Izmir in 1966 where as a young Navy lad I bought a brass Samovar with Russian tax stamps embossed in the brass after much haggling with an old shop keeper and I can never forget the smell of that old bazaar. Old world was speaking to me. I was captivated by a scene of old swarthy men sitting on low stools around a charcoal fire that was roasting a large vat of black shiny Turkish coffee beans during winter days. The kids had small transistor radios which was a big deal in those days. No matter where I went I saw the huge dividing boundary between youth and old people. Two very different worlds side by side. I saw Ephesus before cruise ship crowds became the norm.
Now at my age, my nose no longer works as well. Still, no regrets other than aging. In 2008 I did a Rick Steves tour and in 2010 I did two long tours back-to-back by Pacha Tours of Eastern Turkey and all of the midland areas. In all my life I have never seen so many ‘rock piles’ as I call the old Roman sites.
So it was that I read your Turkey blog to refresh my senses of bad coffee and so-so food, but meeting so many wonderful natives. I toured in early spring. I did eastern Turkey starting from Trabzon and on to Kars, Van, and many other places. Like you, I had a little netbook computer I used to send email stories to many friends who followed my tour of Turkey. I stayed several days after the tour in Istanbul just to relax and wonder around. Rode a lot of ferries…..always a wonderful thing to do as you did yourself. And visited many old haunts from my earlier visits. I love Istanbul. I want to live the rest of my days there. My wife does not share those sentiments. I have grandkids. No. It does not appear I will be so lucky. But I hope to return there soon. Also, I want to ride the Greek Island ferries as I did in 2008 in late October. It was wonderful to have it all to myself tourist wise. The Med beckons to me still. Very glad to read your blog. You seem to have a great appetite for travel ….and like you, I appreciate the wine and cheese after a long day on my feet in Turkey. But file this one item back in your mental filing system. The city of Sivas is dry!!!! I stayed one night at the Bayut Sivas Hotel downtown and the hotel has a beautiful bar lounge. Can you imagine my reaction when the barman told me there is no alcoholic beverages served here. I stopped breathing at that moment for some time….and finally took a deep breath. Why? Ever after I always kept two or three bottles of wine in my luggage while on the road. So, you see, even at 69 yrs of age I still have a child like wonder. Old age does not kill that inner child. But you must know that by now.
May you have many more travels before old age. Old age ain’t bad except you feel it deeply climbing many steps in the summer heat. Winter is not so bad after all. But finding good hot coffee in cold climbs…..maybe.
Good luck

Stephen R. Douglas

Comment on Ready to go Home. When can I come back? by Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:00:01 +0000

I love your writing. Such a unique voice. I will always be your groupie. Istanbul freaked me out. I kind of hated it. Because of the Islamic culture men dominated the psychic space and I found them to be bullies one minute and petulant babies the next. But reading your posts make me want to go back and give it another chance.

Comment on Ready to go Home. When can I come back? by Natalie Be

Natalie Be — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:32:40 +0000

Nice Shannon. Brought back memories of my trip in March. I also found the trippy nooks and crannies facscinating and even at night, I wanted to just keep meandering down the dark, dimly lit alleys. Kind of scary but enticing at the same time!!!

Comment on Ready to go Home. When can I come back? by Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:06:02 +0000

I’ve loved all your Turkey posts! Really made me want to go back to Istanbul… Was that ‘Theodora’ book the Stella Duffy one? If so, it’s not dumb at all - I’m reading it now, and loving it. Guardian review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/17/theodora-actress-empress-whore-duffy Are you in CA over the holidays? We’re eating our way through SF: staying in Lower Haight from 19 Dec - 4 Jan - would be great to meet up for a meal/drink if you were coming north.

Comment on Taksim Dream by Marta

Marta — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:36:58 +0000

So you made it my ‘hood. We walked up and down musical instrument street so many times. The other times we went through what we called Home Depot streets. Oh yeah… and electric light streets. I’ll have to check out Rouge next time. We were over there on the day it rained and didn’t get a chance to stop in. We kept going round and round those streets looking for a Pide place only to find out it was on the other side of Taksim. Yeah… the food around the Spice Bar is pretty cheap. We went to a Pide place which had a fountain of Ayran out front. It was wild. They had a ladder that they climbed above the oven to get supplies. Loved it.

We’ll have to compare notes someday.