New Blog

With mixed emotions I have to announce that I have a new location for M.J. Butterworth and that is www.mjbutterworth.wordpress.com

Please put that in your readers!

View from the Top

That little building next to the Camii is my apartment.

Artisan Roast

Whenever you hear about coffee in the UK you always hear about Square Mile and Hasbean, and sometimes Climpson & Sons and Union (and for good reason, I've had coffee from the former 3 and they're great!) . But since my roommate Seth was checking out Scotland I thought it would be worthwhile to look into what reputable roaster are in the Highlands.

Anyway Seth brought back some delicious Santa Clara Antigua Guatemala and Red Bourbon Rwanda roasted by Artisan Roast, which has cafes/roasteries in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. I've been enjoying both coffees so much I thought I would share this video i found on their Facebook.

Scottish Barista championships 2011 from Benjamin Cowie on Vimeo.

P.S. Seth was lucky enough to get a cappuccino from the barista featured in the video.

A Historic Moment in the Arab World

HT: Paul Butterworth

Sapphire Grand Opening

After a year of living next to it, I finally got to go inside/to the top of it.

The mall is fairly ubiquitous slightly bigger/nicer than Astoria though certainly no real competition for such super-malls as Forum and Isteniye Park. However the greatest appeal, besides the only Moe's in Istanbul, is the observation deck on the 54th Floor. It's pretty over whelming to have the complete panorama- the Black Sea, the Marmara, the financial district, both bridges, and on a clear day like today, even the Prince's Islands. I expect it will soon make Çeliktepe must-see stop on the tourist check list - not sure how much I like that, but it's fun to live in the middle of the action.

View from the Sapphire's Observation Deck from Michael Butterworth on Vimeo.

(pictures coming soon)

Umbrella Graveyard

I was warned before I moved to Istanbul that the winters can be harsh. In reality the temperature is much more forgiving than the humid Ohio Valley winters I spent the last 5 years in, or the massive snowfalls Arizona's White Mountains can get when there's not a drought (which admittedly isn't often). However, since 3 major weather systems meet at Istanbul, the city can get some pretty gnarly winds. That coupled with incessant rain can make for a fairly miserable winter- even if the thermometer hasn't dropped below 0 C. Case in point, the short walk to my metro stopped was littered with discarded broken umbrellas whose poor construction could not withstand the elements.

Definitely looking forward to Spring.