Turkey

Country Information:

The capital of Turkey is Ankara. There are approximately 81 million people living here. The official language of Turkey is Turkish, but Kurdish is also spoken. The majority of Turks are Muslim, mostly Sunni.

Jim’s Perspectives:

Have been to Turkey twice, once with my dad when visiting Kusadasi, a coastal town approximate with the Greek islands. The second time I visited, I spent several days in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city. Went to see the awe-inspiring architecture of the TopkapI Palace and the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. And of course, I spent 4+ hours in the world’s largest market, the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar covers approximately 61 streets and has over 4,000 shops!

One of the highlights was going to a Turkish soccer game, along with 50,000 of my Turkish friend who are also Besiktas fans! It was CRAZY!

Went to Turkey with my son in 2021 with my son and had such a memorable time:

Iran

A week prior to leaving for Iran (in '16) I still did not have my visa and I was getting a bit nervous. This is a country that has had US sanctions imposed on it since the 70s and gets few visa requests from Americans. I’m sure that my request was thoroughly vetted by...

Nicaragua

I traveled to Nicaragua in 1986, during the Contra War. This was another proxy war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. On one side of the conflict were Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, Soviet puppets or sympathizers. On the other were the rebels, known as...

United Kingdom

Jim & Kenan in Stonehenge Jim & Kenan on a city tour of London, 2014 Have been to the UK many, many times. First was in college, in 1986. The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Its official name is “The...