The San Telmo neighborhood in tourist guides is best known for their Sunday market.  The old cobblestone streets are lined with blocks and blocks of tables with music, clothing, art, toys, and antiques.  You’ll also smell the aroma of grilled meet wafting through the streets which will entice you to stop your shopping for a [...]

Everyone talks about wanting to find local experiences when you travel – strangely one of my best local finds in Istanbul was a place where the locals tried to convince me to stay away from.  Were they trying to hide it’s greatness?!  I honestly don’t think so – instead they were simply trying to ensure [...]

  Last time I was in Istanbul, the Grand Bazaar was my favorite place I visited. In those days I was a shop-o-holic and I thought that this ancient, exotic shopping mall was my Retail Mecca. Even though I sold most of my stuff when I started traveling full time, I did keep a few [...]

“We’ll have to leave early in the morning and walk to the train station tomorrow because the bus can’t pick us up. “ instructed our Intrepid Travel guide Yenner. “The Saturday market is setting up in the morning and all of the roads are closed.” I looked at the main street in front of our [...]

One of the best times to really see a city is the wee morning hours as the sun wakes up the homes, hills, and waterways with it’s golden glow. Commuters in Istanbul slowly move through their familiar paces and make their way to offices, mosques, stores, and stalls. I woke up early and wandered aimlessly [...]

The Rialto Market is buzzing with activity; boats pull up to docks and burly men unload crates of blood red oranges and artichokes, locals laugh and socialize with the shop keepers, and the fish mongers scale and prepare the fresh catches of the day.  This is the main market for locals on the island of [...]

Locals bustle around the market picking out fresh vegetables and carry on in conversations in Italian with the shop stall owners; the ease in the conversations lets you know that they’ve known each other a lifetime. A breeze blows through the open air market leaving the scent of fresh flowers in the air of the [...]

I walked past the old stone steps and suddenly stopped. Nothing stopped me physically, but I was stopped mentally. I turned and looked at the steps and the big building they were attached to and wondered, “Is this it?” How could this be it? It was so quiet, unassuming, and humble. There was no sign, [...]