Istanbul,,, not Constantinople!
Aga Sophia, the Blue Mosque,
Topkapi, The Orient Express, the
magic of the Bosphorus and of course
the Turkish Carpet salesmen!
Istanbul is an amazing, crowded and
without a doubt,the largest city we've
ever lived in. There are close to 18
million people living in an area about
the size of the Sydney Basin.
Straddling the Bosphorus and two
continents, Istanbul truly has a
split personality. Taksim and
Bagdat Caddesi are all hot style and
European modern attitude. Full of
wannabees and wannabe seens. But
the further you go from the center,
the more rural it becomes and soon
you can't believe you are in the
same century. Drive an hour from
the Bosphorus and you can be eating
fresh fish and drinking Raki in a café
in a sleepy fishing village on the Marmara or the Black Sea. Head in
another direction for breakfast in a village where everything is
homemade and there's plenty of it.
Aga Sophia, the Blue Mosque,
Topkapi, The Orient Express, the
magic of the Bosphorus and of course
the Turkish Carpet salesmen!
Istanbul is an amazing, crowded and
without a doubt,the largest city we've
ever lived in. There are close to 18
million people living in an area about
the size of the Sydney Basin.
Straddling the Bosphorus and two
continents, Istanbul truly has a
split personality. Taksim and
Bagdat Caddesi are all hot style and
European modern attitude. Full of
wannabees and wannabe seens. But
the further you go from the center,
the more rural it becomes and soon
you can't believe you are in the
same century. Drive an hour from
the Bosphorus and you can be eating
fresh fish and drinking Raki in a café
in a sleepy fishing village on the Marmara or the Black Sea. Head in
another direction for breakfast in a village where everything is
homemade and there's plenty of it.
| "Taking a break", A workman stops for a cuppa during maintenance work on Aga Sophia. Istanbul 2003. |