Today's travel photo brings us to Istanbul, again courtesy of New York-based writer and photographer, Jennifer Pinkowski. It depicts fire dancing done in recognition of the Hidirellez Festival, an annual event beginning May 5. It’s a five-day, Roma-inspired street festival with music and food near Ahirkapi, a gypsy neighborhood not too far from the Topkapi Palace and the Hagia Sophia.
"It’s traditional to welcome Spring with a leap over a fire," says Jennifer. "We came across this fire in the street a few blocks away from the festival. I love this image because it's visually compelling but also because it reminds me of how as the only non-Turk in a crowd of Istanbulites I was welcomed into everything—even fire-jumping. It's a trope of traveling that cultures other than our own are known for their "hospitality," but I really felt at home in Istanbul—so much so that my week-long stay turned into a month, a year later I returned with my husband, and today I'm studying Turkish."
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