Cunda (Alibeyadasi): Beautiful Greek Village on the Aegean with a Past

My first visit to Cunda, a seaside village also known by some as Alibeyadasi, near the beautiful town of Ayvalik on Turkey's northern Aegean coast, was in the autumn of 2007, and I was smitten by this scenic little town at the very first sight.
 

This village, like its sister-village of Ayvalik, was also a former Greek Orthodox enclave settled by ethnic Greeks until 1923, when the entire Greek population was resettled in Greece under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. According to some estimates, during the latter stages of the Greco-Turkish War, when a Greek defeat was imminent, at one point more than half a million Greek refugees fled across the Aegean within one week to the island of Lesvos with the retreating Greek army.

Ottoman Cafes in Kadikoy: Where to Buy Real Turkish Coffee in Turkey

The small streets of the district of Moda in Kadikoy are the place to go if one is interested in trying out authentic Turkish cuisines and all the other gourment goodies Turkey's gastronomy sector has to offer. For a foodie like me, the al-fresco restaurants, bars and cafes serving real Turkish coffee count among the most important attractions of any visits to Istanbul. Nowadays, instead of staying over at the European side, I prefer to stay on the Asian side so that I could stay out late at one of the many coffee houses located in Moda and have a great time enjoying all the sights and sound Kadikoy has to offer.

Tashan, Erzurum: The Home of the Oltu Stone

In addition to natural mountain honey, another trademark product of the province of Erzurum is the Oltu Tasi (oltu stone), a kind of natural black jet found in the town of Oltu in the province of Erzurum. Also known as the black amber, Oltu stone is a semi-precious gemstone used frequently in the manufacturing of prayer beads and other jewellery.

The unique property of oltu stone is, it is soft when excavated and only begins to harden after coming into contact with the air, which makes it relatively easy to be molded or crafted into the shapes desired.

Colourful Cafes of Antep: Papirus, Bagdat and Beyoglu

Antep not only has a wealth of old monuments, castle and traditional bazaars to count among its numerous attractions; the city, being home to one of the largest universities in southeastern Anatolia, also has a large student population which gives this city a very youthful outlook.

The best way to witness this surge of romantic youthful spirit in Antep is to take a look at one of the many cafes located inside the narrow streets of Antep's Old Quarters, frequently patronised by young people and students of the city. Most of these cafes are housed in grand traditional mansions with an enclosed courtyard behind high walls, which shelters the interior of the garden from public gaze. On a sunny afternoon or in the evenings, the courtyards and the gardens of these cafes are filled with young people, couples and students. While Vienna has its cafes and German university towns have their beerhalls, Antep has its traditional courtyard cafes and it serves to enhance the city's growing reputation as the cultural hub of southeastern Anatolia.