Mark & Jen's 'Around the World' Travel & Photography Blog

Amidst a cold drizzle of April rain, the Bosphorus River rocks the fishing boats back and forth against the concrete bank. The smell of dead fish (recently caught, I hope) waiting for the nearby restaurants wanders its way from the buckets to my nose. I crinkle at the smell.
We turn left into the Spice Bazaar [...]

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Rule #2 of traveling — always say yes to invitations when your first reaction is to say no. The more awkward you feel the situation might turn out, the more imperative it is that you say yes. (Rule #1, of course, is always, always carry extra toilet paper.)
For example, if a local invites you to [...]

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When you walk, you experience life at the pace of a Turkish tortoise. Without a bus, without a boat, without a car, or without a plane, the world slows down—and you cannot help but slow down with it.
When you walk, you see the fuzzy buds on the spring tree, the tiniest flower that grows out [...]

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There are so many ways to see a country — maybe wedged against a few locals on the not-so-express bus, maybe through the ruins of civilizations long since passed, maybe through the eyes of the cheery-eyed shopkeeper at the baklava shop (or the “Turkish Naturel Organic Viagra Market”), maybe through a barber that surprises you [...]

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Freedom. We rented a car for the last week, paid $7.50 a gallon in gas, and enjoyed a little bit of the ensuing freedom a car provides. I suppose I just cannot escape the American in me.
We meandered along in our egg-sized Fiat Punto through the banks of the Sea of Galilee and [...]

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