Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick
For my vacation this year, I signed up for the Rick Steves Best of Turkey tour. My group didn’t know I’d be on their tour, and I just showed up on the third day. After the initial surprise, within hours I was just one of the tour members, ready to experience a great country with a great group and a great guide. In this clip, we’ve just gotten off of the night train to Ankara, and make our way (some of us more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than others) to our awaiting tour bus.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
After spending two busy days in Istanbul, our tour group catches the overnight train to Ankara. Settling into our compartments, we let the rhythm of the rails be our Anatolian lullaby.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
As the call to prayer echoes through the streets of Istanbul, Lale and I visit the courtyard of the magnificent Blue Mosque…and meet a young boy about to embark on a Muslim rite of passage.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
I’m well into my 2011 travels. After an exciting month in Italy, next up is another of my favorite countries: Turkey.
I’m actually taking one of those Rick Steves Turkey tours I’ve heard so much about. (I signed up with a pseudonym ‘ the group was really surprised when I showed up at dinner in Istanbul.)
Turkey ‘ one of our most popular destinations ‘ is fast-changing. During this tour, I’ll be scouting for new TV shows as well as fine-tuning Turkey for our tour program. I also have a little hedonistic R&R planned after a wonderfully productive (but brutal) May in Italy.
Starting with today’s entry, I’ll post a month of daily video clips ‘ “Your Daily Turkish Minute…or Two” ‘ sharing a candid peek into my Turkey fun. These rough yet spiffy little impromptu moments will be intended to capture and share the magic of Turkey.
This daily string of Turkish delights will be followed by a summer of travel in France, the Alps, Germany, and England.
Let your traveling friends know about our month of Turkey here on Blog Gone Europe. And thanks for traveling with me.
On this first Turkey clip, I meet my friend and fellow tour guide, Lale Surmen Aran. We go guide-on-guide in Istanbul’s Hippodrome.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
Our Rick Steves Audio Europe app, which we released for iPhone in April, is now also available as a free app for Android smartphones.
I was just in Florence and Rome, and a sizable share of the travelers I met ‘ from the Uffizi to the Colosseum ‘ have me in their ears, enjoying our free audio tours of Europe’s greatest sights and walks. People kept asking me, “Hi Rick. How’s Lisa?” At first, I didn’t know who they meant ‘ but then I got it: Lyssa is the audio tour narrator, who says things like, “Now cross the street and let Rick tell you about this or that.”
When we first released our app, a loud chorus demanded, “Where’s the Android version?” The answer: It’s right here… and it’s free. Just click to download and enjoy our audio tours ‘ from London to Athens ‘ and the best of our public radio show, all organized in practical, information-rich, and geographic-specific playlists. (And if you haven’t tried the free iPhone version of Rick Steves Audio Europe yet, 40,000 travelers have and all we’ve heard is rave reviews.)