AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Ayla: Expect the unexpected AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Ayla: Expect the unexpected

The summer season in Bodrum, Türkiye’s hippest and most popular holiday destination, has finally kicked off with the Bayram holiday.

June 09 2025
A night in vineyard AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

A night in vineyard

Just half an hour from İzmir airport, so close to the city, I was in the middle of a 2,000,000 sq meter Lucien Arkas vineyard, feeling in the middle of nowhere, so close yet so remote from the frenzy of city life.

June 02 2025
Italian food: Popularity versus quality AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Italian food: Popularity versus quality

Today, Italian flavors can be found in almost every country. Across the globe, in five-star hotels, at least one restaurant always offers Italian cuisine.

May 26 2025
Unique treasure: Anatolian plant legacy AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Unique treasure: Anatolian plant legacy

The diversity of plants in Türkiye is unparalleled. The flora of the country consists of almost 10,000 species of plants; moreover, one-third of the plants growing in Türkiye are endemic, meaning that they are unique to the particular land that they grow on and cannot grow elsewhere. Imagining that such a vast number of plant species can be found in a single defined geographic location is just incredible.

May 19 2025
Candy shower celebrating spring AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Candy shower celebrating spring

Imagine a world where candies and sweets rain down. No, it's not Pinocchio's Fantasyland; it's Manisa, a city in Türkiye's Aegean Region, located just 40 km northeast of İzmir. On April 27, candy showered down from the sky during the traditional Mesir Macun Scattering Ceremony in Manisa. “Mesir Macunu” is a particular kind of spicy sugar paste that has a history of 485 years.

May 13 2025
Juiciest bite ever AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Juiciest bite ever

Greengages are now in their full season! This odd fruit is one of the peculiar addictions of Turkish people.

May 12 2025
Smell and taste of Easter AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Smell and taste of Easter

Easter bread, namely “Paskalya Çöreği” in Turkish, is the source of that alluring smell, with its unmistaken combination of yeasty dough flavored with secret ingredients that mark the taste of the Easter bread in Türkiye.

April 21 2025
White Lotus: Amazing Thailand AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

White Lotus: Amazing Thailand!

I was just about to put the caption of this article as; “Breaking News: No food at White Lotus!” After binge watching Season 3, it seemed to me that the popular TV series missed the opportunity to showcase the amazing richness of Thai cuisine.

April 14 2025
Landscapes of olive AYLİN ÖNEY TAN

Landscapes of olive

When it comes to olives, I tend to define a person as an olive or non-olive person. If you’re born in an olive tree region, it is in your veins. Olive is your destiny.

April 06 2025