One year in photographs

last photo

2010-12-31T00:30:00.001+02:00

and I think it's appropriate to be saying goodbye from a day where in the middle of the winter, we're sunbathing

baklava

2010-12-29T00:29:00.000+02:00

pure joy

2010-12-27T00:24:00.000+02:00

the real fireplace

2010-12-25T00:24:00.000+02:00

my fav dessert

2010-12-20T00:23:00.000+02:00

vitamins right from the garden

2010-12-19T00:23:00.000+02:00

metrik ve arkadasi

2010-12-18T00:22:00.000+02:00

last day in Brussels

2010-12-17T00:20:00.001+02:00

I wake up and my terrace is covered in snow. I think it's time to fly south.

my new fireplace

2010-12-15T00:15:00.000+02:00

detail india

2010-12-13T00:14:00.000+02:00

night from my new terrace

2010-12-12T00:13:00.000+02:00

feels like the nighthawks

2010-12-06T00:11:00.001+02:00

Always thirsty

2010-12-02T00:11:00.000+02:00

snow again

2010-12-01T00:10:00.000+02:00

snowed under

2010-11-30T00:09:00.000+02:00

on the way to Parma

2010-11-29T00:08:00.000+02:00

coffee and cake break in Antwerp

2010-11-27T00:08:00.000+02:00

sushi or what used to be sushi

2010-11-24T00:06:00.000+02:00

mezes to live for

2010-11-23T00:05:00.000+02:00

4 in the morning

2010-11-21T00:02:00.000+02:00

The world is different at this time. Sometimes I think it's better not to sleep at all.

sunny brussels, an oxymoron

2010-11-20T00:01:00.000+02:00

still a nomad even if an orderly one

2010-11-19T00:00:00.000+02:00

you don't want to be in his shoes

2010-11-16T23:59:00.000+02:00

monster pigeons of brussels

2010-11-12T23:58:00.000+02:00

levrek

2010-11-11T23:57:00.000+02:00

bonsai san

2010-11-10T23:57:00.000+02:00

tree

2010-11-08T23:56:00.000+02:00

japanese garden

2010-11-06T23:55:00.000+02:00

civil work

2010-11-05T23:54:00.000+02:00

same window

2010-11-03T23:53:00.000+02:00

olive tree inside the house

2010-11-02T23:52:00.000+02:00

hmmmm, cohibaaa

2010-11-01T23:51:00.000+02:00

trinidad

2010-10-30T23:50:00.000+02:00

la cueva de los peces

2010-10-28T23:37:00.001+02:00

One of my favorite stops in Cuba, in the south of the island at Playa Larga just before Playa Giron where the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion started. I was determined to continue my scuba diving adventure, making up for lost time, 12 years to be precise. After my ear forced me to cease diving except for snorkelling, I needed a place like Cuba to convince me to give it one more try. Nothing happened, so I kept going deeper. Like having coffee with a friend after years of not seeing each other, I felt at ease and enjoyed it more and more. It was as if I hadn't stopped at all. I dissappeared below the surface and the sound of the bubbles coming out of the regulator were so familiar.

My best dive happened in a cave. Where most people could feel claustrophobic, I felt euphoric. It was as if I was swimming in the Grand Canyon, only both walls were much closer, I was 30m underwater and the the formations were amazing.

la muralla

2010-10-27T23:32:00.000+02:00

The enormous rock painting titled prehistoria in the Vinales region.

maria la gorda

2010-10-26T23:23:00.000+02:00

After 12 years, I start scuba diving again at this spot. Luckily, my ear cooperated and I kept on diving for the rest of the trip.

las terrazes

2010-10-25T23:21:00.000+02:00

And the road trip begins.

casa particular

2010-10-24T23:12:00.000+02:00

One of the best things about visiting Cuba was staying at Casa Particulares wherever I went. I was able to practice my Spanish all the time, ate home made food, got good tips on where to visit, and took photos of the families I stayed with.

back to the main island

2010-10-22T01:24:00.000+02:00

the beach

2010-10-21T01:20:00.002+02:00

iguana

2010-10-20T01:18:00.000+02:00

pelicans

2010-10-19T01:17:00.000+02:00

ahhhh....

2010-10-18T01:14:00.000+02:00

plaza de la catedral

2010-10-17T00:55:00.001+02:00

bienvenido en cuba!

2010-10-16T00:52:00.000+02:00

madrid

2010-10-15T00:37:00.000+02:00

For some reason this reminds me of das schloss and der prozess by kafka...

cold nights

2010-10-14T00:36:00.000+02:00

yo man, back to brussels..

2010-10-13T00:34:00.001+02:00

sangria on the nile

2010-10-10T00:31:00.000+02:00

Farewell dinner on the Nile.

rice chimneys of egypt

2010-10-09T00:17:00.001+02:00

Here I am back to Cairo again and what hits me it's been one year is the smell of rice clouds. Here in this country the fellaheen (farmers) burn the rice shells to get rid of them. What a great way to add variety to the same old traffic smog.

Yes it's been exactly one year from the time I first came to this country and I can't help but feel nostalgic. I miss that feeling of coming to a new country, the weather is beautiful, the language is so foreign and familiar at the same time, and I'm excited. I'm sitting on the balcony of my newly rented apartment drinking tea and writing. The next day I'm supposed to go sandboarding in the desert and did I say the weather was beautiful?

It's that time of the year when the farmers are burning the shells of the rice harvest.

dreamy Cairo nights

2010-10-08T16:06:00.000+02:00

This was a fascinating night in Cairo. Something tells me I'll come back even though I didnt' drink any water from the Nile.

windsurfing in ras sudr

2010-10-07T16:04:00.000+02:00

What a nice day! You tend to enjoy these days more when you know they're numbered and you'll soon move back to miserable North European weather..

sisha in sequioa

2010-10-06T10:09:00.001+02:00

an interesting night in Brussels

2010-10-04T16:00:00.000+02:00

where I helped a guy park his car by the king's residence. He was informed that he couldn't leave his car there because this is where the king lived.

motorcycle

2010-10-03T21:29:00.001+02:00

This frame captures both my car and my motorcycle :)

another barbecue day

2010-10-02T20:51:00.002+02:00

Brussels welcomes me with mixed feelings. I like change, but this city has too many memories for me. As I'm driving to friends' house, even the music is too familiar.

Pardon, bakar mısınız ?
Tanış mıydık ?

I'm having the third barbecue in a week and it's good to be in the company of friends. But somehow, the song keeps playing in my head.

Gözünüz öyle uzak bakmasa
Sizi tanıdıgıma yemin ederim

We continue into the night at a restaurant. After the barbecue, there's no way I can eat anything else here, but the conversation is great and lion's milk is abundunt. I finish the night with the now very familiar Moroccan mint tea. I remember the box of tea which is a present from friends I made in Fes and I even have the whole tea set somewhere in a box. As I'm going to sleep, the song finally starts to quiet down.

Peki bu şarkıyı hatırlar mısınız ?

And I realize that I'm beginning to forget this song. I've found my new apartment in a new neighborhood, already started meeting new people in the few days I've spent here and I can't find any reason to look back or play old songs anymore...

letters

2010-10-01T15:17:00.000+02:00

I wasn't able to finish looking at all the letters that were waiting for me at my 'official' residence. Half way through, I dozed off...

angara galesi

2010-09-28T15:15:00.001+03:00

Today was a special day. We had a walk around the old Ankara castle and went for a long lunch at Golbasi where the weather was beautiful. But what happened even before in the early hours of the morning opened a new page in my life. As I'm getting ready to move back to Brussels, I'm going to need more of these barbecues. Good weather is rare in Brussels, but I'm going to rent a apartment with a terrace at least to make barbecues a weekly event...

ankara

2010-09-27T15:15:00.000+03:00

fire

2010-09-26T15:14:00.002+03:00

Today, we had a close call with a forest fire. An airplane and 2 choppers were constantly bringing water from the sea, our neighbors had left their homes and we were about to as well when suddenly, the wind quited down and the fire was taken in control. It's a scary feeling when you're thinking about what you definitely want to save from being burned in your house and what can stay...

kordon

2010-09-24T14:40:00.000+03:00

beyoglu at night

2010-09-23T20:16:00.002+03:00

Interesting night in Istanbul. I had only a few hours when I postponed my flight to Izmir to the next day. This way I was able to see my brother and a friend who was also in Istanbul only for 2 days from the US. The night started with hamburgers at Kizilkaya, continued at Nevizade, and ended with hamburgers at Kizilkaya :) The friend caught a taxi to go the airport and I got a few hours of sleep before continuing on my trip myself. The city that never sleeps was able to provide impromptu entertainment.

downtown again

2010-09-22T14:39:00.000+03:00

a gift from Morocco

2010-09-21T14:36:00.001+03:00

Here's a pair of Moroccan slippers I received as gift on my last week here. They're the ubiquitous flash yellow type and I'm entertaining the idea of taking them everywhere I go and have a photo taken wearing them all around the world...

essaouira

2010-09-19T14:30:00.002+03:00

What a great place to spend a weekend! Old town, beautiful castle, long and wide beach, wind/kite surfing during the day and live music at night. Already made some friends here and hoping to fly over from rainy Brussels on long weekends...

my hammock

2010-09-18T14:30:00.001+03:00

taking a moment to rest by the water

2010-09-17T14:27:00.000+03:00

principles

2010-09-16T14:26:00.000+03:00

It's important to have principles and one that I've acquired over the years is not to travel without my box of kadayif...

potluck

2010-09-15T15:50:00.001+03:00

getting ready for the feast, the giant pot is sighted on the conveyor belt...

the view after lunch

2010-09-14T14:26:00.000+03:00

aliens are attacking

2010-09-13T14:23:00.000+03:00

and they start with the landing troops...

keep me from the rain

2010-09-12T14:22:00.000+03:00

There's nothing more romantic then the hen and the favorite chicken in his harem, spending a private moment under the eav of a house, keeping dry from the rain...

let's have fish tonight

2010-09-11T14:15:00.001+03:00

The more I stay in Izmir, the more I love this city and I want to keep coming back. Stay in Urla, feel like eating fish and go down to the port, and finally call friends to go out at night in Cesme...

working hard again

2010-09-10T14:14:00.000+03:00

bulgurca under water

2010-09-08T14:14:00.000+02:00

This was the small town called Bulgurca. We used to take this way to our summer house years ago. That would usually be a Friday afternoon. We would stop by Bulgurca, buy bread and groceries. Now, the town is under dam waters and the only thing left is the minaret of the mosque. Well, at least part of it because it looks like they decided to recycle the top and the alem...

memories from a year

2010-09-07T14:12:00.000+02:00

memories from a city

2010-09-06T14:12:00.000+02:00

the tuareg from the desert

2010-09-05T14:03:00.001+02:00

I made great friends from Merzouga. They cooked for me and even shared the recipe which I'll try first thing when I move back to Brussels. But I need to find some 'real' safrane, not the fake safrane made of brick dust that's sold in some places...

a ring for a fish

2010-09-04T13:54:00.002+02:00

This fish didn't find its finger yet...

lace work

2010-09-02T13:54:00.000+02:00

recollections

2010-09-01T13:48:00.002+02:00

this is where I write when ... well, when it feels like it needs to be written.

falling dream

2010-08-31T13:47:00.001+02:00

you know that dream where you feel like you're falling for a second (if you're lucky) and longer if you're feeling especially adventurous. Tonight, I set up the camera and with motion sensors photographed myself when this was happening...

cacik & coban salad

2010-08-29T13:46:00.001+02:00

there's nothing like shepard (coban) salad and cacik for dinner when it's hot hot summer time baby, and if you've listened to Baris Manco, you know what I mean when I say that I'm feeling kind of like cacik today...

moroccan sweets

2010-08-26T13:40:00.001+02:00

pick your taxi

2010-08-25T13:39:00.000+02:00

chair by the window

2010-08-24T13:38:00.000+02:00

after work traffic

2010-08-23T13:35:00.001+02:00

Fes train station

2010-08-22T00:28:00.000+02:00

leather tannery in Fes

2010-08-21T00:23:00.000+02:00

volubilis

2010-08-20T00:22:00.000+02:00

and the arch of triumph

turkey on wheels

2010-08-19T15:55:00.001+02:00

The motorcycle with wings. The guy on the back was pissed off that I was photographing such an intimate moment..

casa streets

2010-08-18T15:58:00.000+02:00

trucks in an empty parking lot

2010-08-17T23:58:00.000+02:00

street lamps

2010-08-16T23:54:00.000+02:00

fruit basket

2010-08-15T23:52:00.000+02:00

Receiving fruit baskets in the hotel is a bad sign. It means I'm becoming a platinum member everywhere, but home.

empty roads

2010-08-14T23:49:00.000+02:00

monster

2010-08-13T23:40:00.000+02:00

no perseid meteor shower tonight

2010-08-12T11:28:00.001+02:00

Tonight was supposed to be the night of the Perseid meteor showers. So I got out and started driving in the opposite direction of where I would normally drive to at night. Not towards Cairo, but into the desert. Trying to get away from the light pollution and hoping to take some nice shots. After half an hour of driving, the road turning into a narrow path, I came onto a checkpoint. The microbus driver in front of me presented his ID to the policemen and drove through after some discussion. I had no idea what I was going to say. How was I supposed to explain in Arabic that I wanted to take photos of the Perseid meteor shower in the middle of the desert. Yeah, right where even driving to the most touristic resort draws many questions if you're a foreigner. So I resorted to the only strategy I knew could possibly work if I was lucky and if I looked confident enough. I drove by slowly, stopped, turned around to the policemen, greeted them with a serious selamin aleykum and drove on without stopping. No one shouted behind me. I had made it! Of course, this wasn't much compared to an Egyptian friend who ran away from the police on his motorcycle because he was too lazy to get a legal license for his vehicle, but still I felt lucky...

Dates for Ramadan

2010-08-11T11:27:00.002+02:00

butterfly

2010-08-10T12:27:00.000+03:00