Travels in Turkey

Turkey is our choice for this year's spring adventure. In past trips we covered what we think are the most interesting parts of the country - Istanbul, of course, Cappadocia and the Mediterranean coastal towns. This time, after a couple of nights in Istanbul at our favorite budget hotel, the Side Hotel in Sultanahmet, we'll spend time exploring the mainly Kurdish towns in Southeastern Turkey along the Syrian border, then end the trip in Izmir and Selcuk on the Aegean coast to see the Greek and Roman ruins at Ephesus.

I don't know anyone who has been to Turkey and doesn't want to go back. I was looking through and old guidebook, and out fell a clipping of a story I did on our first trip to Istanbul 10 years ago. The city was so fascinating, and so cheap, I wondered why it wasn't on the radar of more American travelers. That's changed of course. Americans have discovered Turkey. Rooms at the Side, which I wrote about 10 years ago, were $35 a night then. They're $100 now, but still good value, considering the location across from the Four Seasons and a few steps from the Blue Mosque. 

The Turkish culture, food and people are drawing us back. In looking for new areas to explore beyond the beaches and usual tourist areas, we had in mind somewhere with a little edge, a place just hard enough to get to (Not really, trains, buses and planes go everywhere) to make the journey interesting. We settled on the towns in upper Mesoptamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where Western civilization got its start.  Click here for a link to my Travels in Turkey blog.

Rediscovering Downtown Los Angeles

                                               Angels Flight Funicular

It's 5 p.m., and already there's a crowd gathered around the alley entrance to the Edison, a 1920s-styled speakeasy on the edge of what was once Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.

An elegant, reservations-are-a-must lounge by night, the Edison nods to budget-conscious Angelenos on Thursday afternoons with a 35-cent happy-hour drink special in the refurbished, century-old power plant.

A hostess points the way to a flight of stairs leading to a basement boiler room furnished with sofas and antique tables scattered among hulking generators.

Silent movies flicker on two large screens as waiters dart about taking orders in the dim light. Tonight's special (one per customer) is the "Diablo," a tequila, lime juice and ginger-beer concoction that pairs well with the $5 Kobe beef slider and sweet-potato fries.

A few blocks away, gourmet food trucks, selling mac-and-cheese sandwiches and miniature whoopie pies, fill parking lots along Main Street for the monthly Art Walk.

Inside the newly expanded Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, a Hollywood winery pours chardonnay as people gather around a pile of chocolate-chip cookies stacked in the corner, wondering whether they're art or edible.

If you haven't been to downtown L.A. in a while, it's time for a visit. Read about it here in The Seattle Times travel section 

                                                       Walt Disney Concert Hall 

By the way, I've become a big fan of Airbnb.com, the Internet site that links locals with rooms in their condos or apartments with travelers looking for inexpensive lodging. Here's a picture of my Airbnb host and his guest room (private bath included) where I stayed in downtown L.A.