Exploring Istanbul ...

Goodmorning Istanbul

Byzantine monuments, Ottoman palaces, Spices, Bosporus…Clubs, Bars, Live Music

From Airport to city center the city view changes as we reach the Marmara Sea, Top Kapi, Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia… Old old monuments that most of the times still have a lot to say in our heart.

Not far from them is Capali Carci with hundreds of shops and merchants, with the unbelievable ability to know every language when they want to sell you something. 

Galata Bridge – Beyoglu – Taksim… Here the atmosphere smells Europe with a hot eastern spice. All roads lead to Istiklal, the old Pera Road and The Taksim square where the heart of the European side of Istanbul beats.
(photo from My Istanbul Guide)




Saturday afternoon in Taksim…

Heading down the Istiklal from Taksim to Galata, Top Kapi, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Capali Carci are all “far away” beyond the Bosforus bridge. Here in Taksim old buildings are not just a dead tourist attraction, there is life inside and outside… Bands are playing mixing Pink Floyd’s Big in Japan with Turkish Punk and old traditional songs…When you feel tired there is always a place to drink something and watch the thousands of people passing by. 

Just before Tunnel a demonstration, “Nuclear weapons are not books”. Demonstrators dance samba and have their own band that gives the rhythm. Groups are playing down the road their own music…

Istanbul is full of history but knows how to have a great time and how to make you have a great time while you are here. Mantillas and travesties, yapis and punks, big groups and individual travellers, students and old men, everybody coexists without complex. We are in Taksim – Beyoglu where the European identity of Istanbul starts. Fashion restaurants and old traditional food makers, trendy coffee shops and bars and old tea shops, underground clubs, art galleries and nevertheless if you walk 5 minutes more you are lost in the narrow, dark streets of Tarlabasi.

(photo by inuraistanbul2009)

Saturday night in Istiklal

03:00 and Istiklal is full of people as if there is a demonstration. You just can get enough of this city especially if you don’t like to walk alone… lol

I turn right… but I could easily turn left or where ever I feel to. Street is full of pubs, bars, clubs, shisha, heavy metal, rock, pop, oriental all mixed. Groups of people from all around the world are heading everywhere. You just wish you could follow everyone everywhere.

This is the beginning of a beautiful street clubbing in Taksim.

See you all in the morning!

(more photos in our Facebook page)