Arzu Gurdamar isn’t just any Istanbul woman. In a traditional and increasingly conservative society she is part of what seems a modern minority: a woman going her own way. And not just any way. After 12 years securing tenders for a shipping company and traveling the world, she left it all and opened her own [...]
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Any breakfast that involves cheese, olives and rose jam is worth discussing for a moment, especially if it’s in the middle of a fishing market selling rope by the kilo and wire by weight. In a tiny eatery – the Mutfak Dili ev Yemekleri – deep in the market’s centuries-old streets, an Armenian couple prepares [...]
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In many ways the history of women’s lingerie parallels the status of women. In Roman times our curves were hidden under lengths of drapery and our modesty during the Middle Ages shielded us even more. The birth of 20th century freedoms finally liberated our bodies, gradually eliminating most things that tightened, bound or otherwise oppressed [...]
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I grew up in Madrid in the 1960s and 70s and then, as now, life often revolved around food. This visit would last just a few hours on a Sunday between flights so I’d have to be quick but I visit Madrid whenever I can. It is a stunning city, but it also represents more [...]
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It takes a lot to kill tradition in rural France. Despite the four-lane highways, nuclear power plants and increasingly popular fast foods, it clings to its way of doing things with admirable tenacity. Here in the Drôme Provençale it’s not rare to meet people who have followed in their great-grandparents’ footsteps. Of four small businesses I [...]
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The recent decision by Samoa Air to begin charging passengers according to their weight has me thinking. From the airline’s point of view I can see the pure commercial argument behind the decision. Fuel is linked to aircraft weight and fuel costs are skyrocketing. Paying for what you consume is free market capitalism at its [...]
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Portugal’s recent economic turmoil may obscure the fact that it was once a majestic trading empire with global reach but a visit to Porto’s Palacio da Bolsa, the former stock exchange, will plunge you right back into a world of wealth and abundance. If only for an hour you’ll revisit the grandeur of the early 19th [...]
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As machines take over crafts once fashioned by people, a backlash is causing revived interest in hand-made crafts that require skill, patience and centuries of savoir-faire. Not to mention that I’m partial to affordable jewelry made by hand. The enamels of Bresse, or émaux bressans, first appeared in the 14th century but in their present form have [...]
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Assisi has always been in fashion but as a place of pilgrimage you might expect it to be, well, sober in appearance. Instead I found the colors of Assisi vibrant, almost exploding as the rain fell and continued to cling. I remember my first visit to Assisi, that extraordinary hill town in the middle of [...]
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When Jean Strazzeri finished his glovemaking apprenticeship in Grenoble in 1967, he was presented with a huge pair of shears. More than four decades later, as head of the Ganterie Lesdiguières-Barnier he still uses them to cut his kid gloves. He’s the last of his class to do so because these days, making gloves is a dying art. [...]
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Stereotypes can be misleading, but they often contain a grain or two of truth. Take Switzerland: staid, predictable. Like that most quintessential of Swiss villages, Gruyères: cheese, chocolate, cobblestones and a castle. Plenty of Swissness crammed into one tiny street. Lift the veil and the staid, predictable aura weakens, revealing a quirky, surreal side of [...]
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Called the ‘Black Diamond’ in some circles and the ‘Diamond of the Kitchen’ in others, the French black truffle is exclusive, a luxury item like fine wine, but often more expensive. It’s hard to believe the plain plastic tray in front of me is filled with mushrooms worth nearly US$ 6000. As I stare hungrily [...]
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