Beckie Loewenstein

When planning a beach holiday in Turkey consider that the local sun-loving Turks return to their summerhouses in coastal towns near the beaches every possible day off during the summer and Muslim holidays.  The high season for beach holidays goes from June to August, with the highest temperatures, the most exorbitant prices and the most buzzing crowds.  In 2016, Monday July 4 to Sunday July 10 will be official days off at the end of Ramadan with many families taking additional vacation days to extend their beach holidays.  Sunday September 11 to Thursday September 15, 2016, will be Kurban Bayram, or The Festival of the Sacrifice, and many will hit the beach to take advantage of the long weekend. Basically, from June to mid-September in 2016, it is highly recommended to book ahead for any beach holidays on the Aegean Sea around Izmir and Çeşme.  During the high season it is best to choose wise alternatives.  Near Çeşme, visit the Pırlanta (Diamond) Beach instea...

Top 10 Restrooms in Istanbul: Adahan Hotel: Take the stairs or elevator to the rooftop terrace. Feel calm in the wooden stalls. Wash your hands at the marble sinks. Find the best restroom in Istanbul here. Salt Galata: Walk through the entrance and take a right. Wash your hands at the metal sculpture fountain. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus: Walk through the main entrance, take a right and walk down the hall. Enjoy the privacy of the tall bathroom stall doors in the luxury restroom. Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel: Walk through security, take a right and go down the hall. Enjoy the privacy of the tall bathroom stall doors. Relax on the cushions in front of the mirrors. Divan Istanbul Hotel: Walk through the entrance and go straight back for a luxury restroom. Pera Palas Hotel: Walk through the main entrance and go downstairs towards the Agatha Restaurant. Check out the antique cutlery collection on the way to the luxury restroom. Salt Beyoglu: Walk or take the elev...

As my student Onur prepares for the academic IELTS in Istanbul, we listen to Scientific American 60-Second Mind 'Bouncy Gait Improves Mood' for a speed listening and note-taking challenge.  First, listen to summarize the main idea.  Secondly, listen for the specific answers to these questions: Questions: What word most closely means a 'style of walking'? What mood does an upbeat walk show? What mood does a downcast walk show? After walking with swinging arms, does the person remember positive or negative words? After walking with slumped shoulders, does the person remember positive or negative words? How may your gait impact your mood? How do you describe your gait? Do you ever have a bouncy gait?  If so, when? Do you ever skip?  When was the last time that you skipped or bounced along? What comes first, the style of walking or the feeling? Possible Answers: gait happy mood anxious mood positive negative An upbeat gait recalls positive, happy w...

In her exhibit at the  Adahan Hotel for the 14th Istanbul Biennial Saltwater , the artist Meriç Algün Ringborg asks: Siz hiç incir ağacının çiçek açtığını gördünüz mü? Did you ever see a fig tree blossom? My student Selin and I enter and climb up the worn, polished grooves of the cool marble steps of the mansion-like Adahan hotel.  Fresh, fruity air greets us in the warm, joyful, calm space.  “You can smell a fig tree before you see it,” notes the artist.  Dried fig leaves cover the wooden floor and wardrobe of a simple yet majestic bedroom.  We discuss the symbolism of the fig (fertility), fig leaf (modesty), and bedroom (intimacy).  The installation includes a plaster cast of the fig leaf that covers Michelangelo’s David, a bedroom with dried fig leaves collected from local fig trees, a green couch, a mural of Masaccio’s Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, graphite drawings of the streets ...

Before the 14th Istanbul Bienali Tuzlu Su (Istanbul Biennial Salt Water) arrived, Dükkân (Store) No. 106 on the corner of Hacımimi Mahallesi and Boğazkesen Cadessi collected dust as storage for machinery.   Now bright light enters clean windows onto the walls and staircase painted black.   An Iznik bowl serves as inspiration for the exhibit, and small clay plates glazed turquoise are lined up on a desk in front of it.   A record player spins playing jazz music while Theaster Gates, a potter and TED Conference speaker , sculpts a mound of rough, local clay into a tall vase on a Turkish electric wheel.   He speaks modestly about the clay bowls and plates drying on the b uilt-in shelves.  He will heat them in the kiln downstairs, and then glaze the hardened pottery.   As with the store space, the potter transforms the clay from nothing into something. Unlike the store, the parking garage venues on Çukurcuma Cadessi and Boğazkesen Cadessi feel underwh...