Finally - Istanbul!
I wanted to visit Istanbul for many years, probably because it seems like I've been everywhere else except there - because of my job I travelled from st.Petersburg to South Africa, from Alaska to Australia and back but Istanbul somehow escaped me. Funny enough, growing up in Ex-Yugoslavia (back than) I learned about all the wars we had as historical wall that protected Europe from Islam and had apprehension about Turkey until people finally started to tell me that they had wonderful experiences there, so it made me curious - I've been to Kusadasi which was fine but that was just a small tourist port,Istanbul is something else.
Before Istanbul I visited Izmir that looks and feels very much like some nice elegant vacation spot on Greece - beautiful coastline,blue sea and high mountains on the horizon.
Somehow I never managed to move away from shops/restaurant district - probably because I work so much that I am basically exhausted and need just to sit in the sun and have nice coffee & lunch, maybe another time I will walk to historical centre. As for Istanbul I actually took taxy to centre (Sultan Ahmet area) and walked around Blue Mosque and famous Aja Sofia - did not bother to go inside because too many people were crowded around - also shops and restaurants around were delightful,I could spend at least a week there and still see new things. In my enthusiasm I planned different places for each time I visit Istanbul (Topkapi palace,Grand Bazaar and so on) but of course reality is different and look at me now,I am in Istanbul and needed to sleep & rest, "Starbucks" in front of the port might be furthest I will go this time.Hopefuly I will have time & energy trough next two months to see some more of this exciting city (I surprised myself thinking "I could live here" because it's a huge city and I always feel good in big cities).
No comments:
Post a Comment