WILL SHE BE ABOARD? SHE HAS TO BE. On every voyage, no matter how small, you need a traveling companion to keep you warm. I fell in love with mine on my first vapur crossing in Istanbul. Her name is Camellia, Camellia Sinensis. You may also know her as tea. Don’t get me wrong, a piping hot cup of coffee is a beautiful experience, but when I board a vapur, she pales by comparison. I’ll drop my cup of coffee in a second. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD … WILL SHE BE THE SAME? I read recently that tea only became the drink of choice in the twilight hours of the Ottoman Empire, and that, not surprisingly, Turkish Coffee was favored until the Yemeni province of the Empire got uppity, or simply out of reach because of World War I … but don’t quote me on this because I can’t recall the…
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THAT MAGAZINE: worth looking and looking for?
OCTOBER 2011 — My burning red eye lights upon a small blurb in Monocle Magazine telling me about the existence of an English language publication out of Istanbul, aimed at helping the local community of English speakers to “CONNECT, CREATE, EXPLORE and LIVE GOOD.” What! I nearly shout, leaping from my seat, nearly toppling the table.
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Dhoku: rugs, reborn.
One of Turkey’s most creative enterprises resurrects classic designs for a new century by taking rundown rugs, hard-done-by halis, and death row kilims and rehabilitating them for a chance to be trodden on all over again by the well-heeled. Five years ago it wasn’t always easy to find something genuinely Turkish and interesting for the home which was also genuinely different. Moreover, finding something to give to a Turk, who grew up surrounded by what a foreigner might consider new and exotic was even more of a challenge. Then an actress friend and neighbor introduced me to Mehmet Gureli and his original Ethnicon line of patchwork kilims.