From Travel Guides to a Poetic Travel Memoir I write travel guides about the Bodrum Peninsula, and built a popular…

After a barren winter with barely a sighting of another human life form in the neighbourhood for months, it has been exciting to see the influx of visitors arriving into their summer homes on our complex. They’re new arrivals for the season, in search of a respite from the heat of Turkish cities like Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.

Bite-size florets coated with spices (Pul-biber) & served with a yogurt dip I love cauliflower, and there was a Mediterranean restaurant…

Author Ann Marie Aershon Guest Blog Today we’re welcoming Guest Blogger Ann Marie Mershon, author of “You must only to love…

Brilliant to be featured in Leyla Ergil’s roundup of Travel Guides about Turkey written by Expats in the Daily Sabah, an English language newspaper in Turkey.

Although we’re registered on with a couple of house sitting sites, we still manage to pick up local assignments through word of mouth. Here’s our pet sit news for Tilki and Sari in Gumusluk.

Here’s a recent poem “A quiet place to write in Gumusluk” about the special spot I escape to gaze at the view and get creative with words.

Read about Lisa Morrow’s new book “Waiting for the Tulips to Bloom: Adrift in Istanbul” and find out how your purchase can help Syrian refugees.

Find out what happened when we invited Laurel and Hardy to fit our bathroom door jam and door. Nothing’s ever simple in Turkey!

Little did we anticipate that the rain on our windscreen signalled the arrival of the armageddon-like weather that descended upon the Bodrum Peninsula as we slept soundly in our beds.

We were Going to go Cold Turkey on Starbucks, but then discovered a Starbuck at Yalikavak Marina, Bodrum. Americano anyone?

We picked the black olives from our Bodrum olive tree and then followed a “oil cured” olive recipe that called for lots of salt. And not oil.

A deserted International Terminal at Bodrum greeted us, and our cases had one last road-trip before making it up the last leg of our garden path.

Leaving LAX with excess baggage, and arriving in the lap of luxury at the Elite World Business Hotel in Istanbul for our first night of our new life in Turkey.

Read about the Community Event held in Long Beach to celebrate the Sister City Alliance between Long Beach & Izmir in Turkey. Eclectic mix of people & a macaw as well as delicious food & good music.

Santa Monica Sister Cities Association has reached out to Bodrum to request a Sister City alignment. Find out more about this partnership, and how I have been blazing the trail of Citizenship Diplomacy for years.

Excerpt from my Author Interview at Blog Expat: I survived the Moonies, and vowed to myself I’d return to the States one day. Back home, I met and fell in love with London, and enjoyed a long, fruitful and gloriously eventful relationship with that fabulous city.

How many times have you been with friends, and somebody new has joined the group? Favourite stories are recounted; one’s you’d forgotten about rise to the surface like the cream of the crop; and out of the blue, fresh tales are uncovered.

That’s what it felt like when I was devouring Jack Scott’s latest book “Turkey the Raw Guide”.

Istanbul Sights The vivid yellow hue of the zucchini blossoms in my last article, inspired me to create this photo…

The Galata Bridge has magical magnetic powers. After spending 5 days in Istanbul, I lost count of the number of times we ended up being drawn towards it.

Exploring the northern coastline of the Bodrum Peninsula to explore our new neighbourhood between Yalikavak and Gumusluk. Blue Skies and Blue Seas.

The theme for Round #38 of Photo Roulette is SUNSHINE. Nomadbiba is hosting this week’s Travel Photo Roulette!  The Travel Photo…

Whereas Jack’s Pansy blog is a frantic knee-trembler with Tabitha the Tart, Jack’s book is a post-coital embrace that lingers ’til dawn.

Of all the memories of my recent Istanbul trip, The Bosphorus and Golden Horn will linger the most. These waterways personify the energy of the city.