Go For Gözleme
The previous post about fish, bread, and never giving up on food dreams reminded me of something that happened two years ago, during a road trip from Izmir to Antalya in Türkiye. We left our Airbnb early in the morning, eager to start a long day of sightseeing, and skipped […]
Searching for Fish and Bread in Istanbul
Two years ago, when we did a road trip through southwest Türkiye, I kept looking for balık ekmek. If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry. Neither did I. But Victor kept mentioning how he and his parents enjoyed a delicious balık ekmek in a restaurant by the Bosphorus […]
Our Travel Wishlist: Yemen
This will be a different kind of post. Normally, we describe places we’ve been to, but today we want to tell you about a country we want to visit. Recently, the area where we live saw a boom of Yemeni coffeehouses popping up here and there. These spacious, lavishly decorated […]
Against All Advice: Finding The Perfect Beach Near Istanbul
Planning a trip for just the two of us is now easy, as we know what we like and what kinds of trips bring us joy. But earlier this year, planning a family reunion trip to Istanbul with Victor’s father, brother, sister-in-law, and niece was a whole different story. Victor’s […]
Is Istanbul Now More Expensive Than Dubai for Tourists?
In August, we spent a week in Istanbul meeting with my family, and the city once again left us speechless. But this time, it was not for the reason you might expect. I could write about incredible sites or delicious food (of which Istanbul has plenty), but, as a travel […]
The Norwegian Grocery List
As I mentioned in the previous post, restaurants in Norway are very expensive and Norwegians cook most meals at home. We followed suit. This meant a lot of grocery store trips to the point where we knew the standard Coop Prix and Bunnpris store layouts by heart. In smaller towns […]
Norway: Table for Two, Please!
Food has always been an essential part of travel for me. I’ve always been an adventurous eater, from grubs to scorpions, cow brains, and alpaca. Except for an occasional refusal to nibble on a fried guinea pig, I am usually game to try anything locals eat and always fully immerse […]
A Brown Slice of Heaven
Remember last year we went to Türkiye and came back to write the entire post about leblebi – a Turkish snack that impressed us so much. On our trip to Norway this summer, something similar happened. And we are here to tell you about the most iconic Norwegian food item […]
Norway: It’s a Bad Day for a Hike
Most of the hikes we did in Norway required almost zero planning. Look up some good hikes in the area, take enough water and snacks to last the round-trip, wear weather-appropriate layers, and off you go! The Besseggen hike in Jotunheimen was a notable exception to this rule. It’s a […]
Norway: It’s a Good Day for a Hike
This is going to be our 25th post about hiking on this blog, and I don’t think we ever actually acknowledged or explained just how much we enjoy hiking or how much that influences our travel itineraries. In fact, my own sister, to whom I talk multiple times a week, […]
Polar Plunge. Literally.
As we moved through fjords, in many beautiful spots we saw one common type of construction-slick, modern, wooden containers, often with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the water. Some were built on the bank of a fjord; others were floating on a jetty connected to the shore via a bridge. They looked […]