Posts Tagged ‘Sun’
The Reason Go To Turkey
Why Turkey? That’s often the initial response from someone when they hear that you are going to Turkey on Holiday. It’s a huge country littered with interesting artefacts and populated by some of the friendliest people on earth. Flowers seem to burst from every crevice, the sun shines endlessly, transport systems are efficient Scenery ranges from dull to mind-boggling, beaches are fair, prices are low and shopping is excellent, especially leatherware in Istanbul. Driving is suprisingly safe, apart from mad Istanbul taxi drivers and night driving.
Knocking at Europe’s door yet on the threshold of Asia, Turkey is truly a land of contrasts. Vibrant Istanbul, straddling the blue waters of the Bosphorus separating Europe from Asia, beckons with its skyline pierced by countless minarets, chaotic bazaars and a history redolent with harem intrigue and despotic Sultans. In Turkey, you can also cruise along more than 1000km (620 miles) of Mediterranean coastline, past secluded coves, rocky headlands and pretty fishing villages, or explore a hinterland rich in the wonderfully preserved remains of Graeco-Roman cities such as Ephesus.
Turkey Villas are abundent all along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts and many are luxurious, spacious and with pricate pools. The combination of a rental care and a beautiful Turkey Villas makes for a great Turkey Holiday.
The Virginia Even in the 21st Century
He is a figure known the world over, an endorsement for gift giving, the winter holiday season and cookie eating. At times he is called Saint Nicholas, Father christmas or Kris Kringle and is arguably the most famous heavyset celebrity – well at least to precede Elvis Presley. Yes, he is the loveable, enduring and jolly old chap we call Santa Claus. In 1897 one little girl from Manhattan, at the urging of her father, took it upon herself to ask the New York Sun Newspaper once and for all if the man in the red suit was the real deal.
Countless numbers of letters are written to newspapers all around the world each year, and few if any, will ever see a moment of fame beyond the readership of their respective dailies. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so”. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?” would go on to become one of the most enduring symbols of North America’s take on Christmas.
One day in September 1897 (historians speculate that the question arose not in December as one might expect, but in September, because this would have been shortly after the new school year had commenced and children would have already been turning their attention to Christmas) young Virginia O’Hanlon approached her father, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon (who worked for a coroner’s office), with the sort of innocence only the very young are able to possess. She likely asked in a small but inquisitive voice if the rumours of her school chums were correct, was Santa Claus fake?
Off Virginia went to write a letter at her father’s suggestion, which she mailed herself, to the New York Sun newspaper where its answer was assigned to an ex-civil war correspondent turned newspaper editorial writer by the name of Francis Pharcellus Church. Story has it that Mr Church was not exactly jumping for joy at the assignment, but he took the child’s letter back to his desk and proceeded to write one of the most stirring tributes to Christmas that has ever graced the pages of any newspaper.
Perhaps it was the atrocities of war he had witnessed firsthand, perhaps it was his own desire to believe in Father christmas, or perhaps it was exactly what he would have said had anyone asked him if Santa was real, but that day Francis Church wrote an earnest, dramatic and nearly poetic response to Miss O’Hanlon’s query. In no short terms he assured her that indeed Santa Claus, or at the very least the unshakable spirit and message of Saint Nicholas’s image were as real as anything else on earth.
Though at the time it ran in the New York Sun it was but the seventh editorial on its page, this candid, lively and touching response would go on to find its way into the hearts and Christmases of millions of people, spanning many generations since the 1890’s.
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