<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t thought much about Turkey until I met a flight attendant named Kevin about three years ago. My curiosity regarding his many travels led me to this one ultimate question: Where\u2019s the coolest place you\u2019ve been?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s cut through all the b.s., right? So, I\u2019m expecting some off-the-radar tropical paradise; a far-flung, white-sanded dreamscape he\u2019d have to explain the location of (he struck me as a beach-goer, ok?). Instantly, and without any hesitation, he stated, \u201cTurkey . . . by far.\u201d This guy has been all over the world, several times at that, and Turkey is \u201cby far\u201d the coolest place he\u2019s been.<\/p>\n

I did not see that coming. That\u2019s the reason I took notice of Guardian\u2019s <\/em>recent article<\/a>, more a profession of love, which was just too much to pass up. I thought to myself what any other perfectly logical dude would think: prove it.<\/p>\n

Picture New York with a 3,000-year-old history and you have Istanbul. Then there are the never ending vistas of the Ka\u00e7kar and Taurus Mountains, the coastlines of the Mediterranean sea, pastel-painted underground churches used as christian shelters from ransacking Romans, sunsets on the graceful Grecian ruins where the Virgin Mary spent her last days, and the increasingly popular oil and wine country of Izmir.<\/p>\n

It’s Turkey’s culture and history that makes her so attractive today. The face she shows most of us is thoroughly modern \u2013 sort of like Italy, but with moustaches and headscarves\u2026 a step away from the tourist areas is a Turkey of such original beauty that you’d need a thousand lifetimes to spend here, and there’d still be more to discover.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I know for a fact Kevin didn\u2019t write this article, but the words are eerily familiar to our conversation. I can see the writer\u2019s eyes glaze over as the words flow out from his fingertips, a thousand-mile stare on his face (probably because that\u2019s how I look in the reflection of the computer screen).<\/p>\n

Quickly, one word replaces the dreamy images floating around my head: Proven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hadn\u2019t thought much about Turkey until I met a flight attendant named Kevin about three years ago. My curiosity regarding his many travels led me to this one ultimate question: Where\u2019s the coolest place you\u2019ve been? Let\u2019s cut through all the b.s., right? So, I\u2019m expecting some off-the-radar tropical paradise; a far-flung, white-sanded dreamscape […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,2562,2573],"tags":[600,104],"yoast_head":"\n