Tip #1: Kaymak. Eat it. It’s wonderful and delicious and similar to clotted cream. I think the best kaymak we had was at Karakoy Ozsut, which is right near the Karakoy tram stop. The owner is super friendly and talked to us about the herd of buffalos that he keeps and good farming practices. Tip…
The cronut is the latest craze to hit New York. People are waiting hours in line starting in the wee hours of the morning to get them, and there’s even a black market of cronut delivery services that charge upwards of $40 per cronut. But seeing as how I was up at 5am anyway due…
Although very few locals seem to ever shop at the Spice Bazaar, I thought that going to the bazaar was one of the most fun things that we did in Istanbul, largely because the salespeople can be extraordinarily entertaining. To be clear, you’re almost assuredly not going to get a deal on buying anything at…
Going to a hamam (aka a Turkish bath) can incite a lot of apprehension in a lot of travelers: it’s not clear exactly what’s going to happen to you, there’s often a language barrier, you’re generally going to be naked, and the stories range from very positive to very negative about the experience. Or at…
In Toronto, I knew that I had access to the American Express Lounge (formerly known as the Plaza Premium Lounge?) in the international departures area of Terminal 1 (located upstairs near gate E77) through Priority Pass. Recently, though, this lounge can also be accessed if you’re an Amex Platinum cardholder, which is a better way…
Prior to visiting Turkey, I was nervous about the civil unrest that I had read about. Stories about police storming Taksim Square, several people dying, and tear gas in the streets stoked my fears. But having just spent 4 days in Istanbul, I don’t think there’s much for tourists to be afraid of, particularly if…
I am currently in Istanbul, having gotten here on Air Canada via Toronto in coach (I know, the horrors of coach). I’d never flown Air Canada before, and I was excited to try them out as they’re supposedly the highest-rated North American airline, at least according to the oh-so-reliable Skytrax. But at the very least,…
Last week, I wrote about the credit cards that I was considering applying for. It wasn’t a particularly ambitious cycle as I was only looking at 2 new cards, but I was a little worried that I might not be approved for a business card considering that my business (i.e. this blog) doesn’t make any money….
When I was looking for things to eat in Amsterdam, I kept seeing Gartine mentioned, which I didn’t really understand since it’s just a breakfast/brunch/lunch place. How good could a place that doesn’t even serve dinner be? I was blown away by Gartine. It’s amazing. The best brunch I’ve ever had. It’s not fancy, but…
I’ve waxed rhapsodic about TSA PreCheck in the past (although maybe I shouldn’t praise something that’s just a reversion to what used to be commonplace…), but in the past, I’ve wondered if I’d be eligible for PreCheck flying a certain airline out of a given airport. The TSA does publish this information on their website (which…
