Miss Travelette

Thames River, Big Ben

A friend of mine and I will be in London for 3 days next week and I've prepared a very detailed program for both of us as 3 days are not enough for the places we want to see and we should dedicate ourselves to a plan somehow.

Me in the garden of Dolmabahçe Palace

This is an answer to the question "where to go in Istanbul..." 

I've lived in Istanbul more than 20 years; seen many places, been to many palaces, churches, mosques, parks, and many further, but the only favourite of mine has always been the Dolmabahçe Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı). - (If you want to get into the palace and see it, you will have to wait for probably an hour or more in the queue, but I assure you, it's worth it!)

Its unique architecture, and its location make it one of the best places in Istanbul and make it worth seeing for the tourists. I have been to the palace more than 4 or 5 times; accompanying my tourist friends most of the time, and I never get bored of it. - It's main importance comes from being our leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's home for his last years, although it had been used by a couple of other leaders the Ottoman Empire had.

In Sicily, I've been to three different cities - Catania, Palermo and Siracusa. These three cities have very different characteristics. Catania is a bit smaller compared to Palermo, and looks more traditional than Palermo does. Palermo is the biggest and busiest city of all and mostly the wealthy people live in it, while Catania could be explained as a place for the poor. You could spend a whole day in Palermo (but surely that would be enough to see every important thing in the city; palaces, theatres, squares and etc.) Catania had a street going down, which is the only famous one in the city, and there are loads loads loads of cute small shopping stores from where you can buy Italian-made products. (I would like to mention something I've learned when I was there: Catanians and Palermo citizens don't like each other at all; they're like two different football teams who hate each other - When I asked "why?", noone had an answer to that.)

Cattedrale di Palermo

And Siracusa is way too different from these two, because it's just some kind of holiday place where you can find very quiet beaches and Mediterranean restaurants where you can eat some Carbonara or Mediterranean salads.

To start with Palermo - one day would be well enough for the whole city, because there are not much to see. One cathedral, one palace (where you have to wait in a long queue), one theatre, one city centre, two popular boulevards and a huge seaport. That's all! I was lucky enough to meet an Australian while waiting in the queue for the palace, so we went around to see all these within only a few hours.

I love the historical places more than anything else, so I would never compare such place with a modern city for sure - and when the Mediterranean is included, too, it's like a heaven to me.
I went to Sicily last summer - a place way too hot throughout the summer, and never so cold in winters. The worst thing about my journey, it was so hot that I hated sun for the first time in my life! The best thing, I've seen a beach like Mondello - and an environment more than sincere we could call it.
People in Sicily are strange - even more than that.
As a Turkish, living in a very strange culture with strange people, who yell at each other all the time, who love speaking loud as most of the Italians, and with more low class people than the high class people living in the country, I wasn't expecting to see something different in Sicily anyway.
Well I sure did.

2 years ago - or more - I had completed a post grad degree in London, where I had the best year of my whole life. Considering all the freedom, away from the parents, and the availability of reaching any kinds of cultural stuff, like operas, exhibitions, galleries and etc. BESIDES the pubs, nightclubs, even only the streets at nights, it's been a great experience for me. (Almost same for all the foreign students!)

Apart from the opportunities you have, the city itself is beautiful - very beautiful. Well, not the way Paris is, or let's say Amsterdam (the beeeaaautiful channels looking like landscape posters...) But the old buildings, which look very traditional and old fashioned - I love the oldfashioned! - they are just a great way of describing the city's history visually.

Annefrakhuis, is a museum located in the area Prinsengracht, where a young Jewish girl used with her family and other a few acquaintances as a hiding place during the World War II. The house is famous with the bookcase located right in front of its entrance. The apartment was used as an office, and entrance to the hiding place was through a door hidden behind this bookcase.

As a result of the diary written by this little young girl, Anne Frank, the house has a worlwide fame, and whenever you go to the museum, you'll have to wait for a long queue no matter if it's winter or summer. We waited! For almost 1 hour, at outside, when it was cold, but yet it was nice to see this house by our own eyes.

The diary of this young girl is also sold in the museum, that's where I bought two books for myself; one for myself in English and the latter one is for my dad in German. The book is all covered with what Anne Frank had written, but there are some different editions of this book, once edited by her father and the next time edited by the publication company as I remember, but I'm sure you can find the complete one in this museum.

Me, in front of the famous "I amsterdam" around the Museumplein

As most of you has already heard, Amsterdam is just a great place to live, to hang out, to travel to, and to... well, it is just great for everything. I spent only four days in Amsterdam, and I would not recommend you more than that. It is such a small city, and you will find a couple of things to do at nights and days. But yet, it was great to get into that atmosphere where everyone is happy and smiling during the day!

Me, having a break by a cannal