Istanbul

2023-11-24

Βυζάντιον / Κωνσταντινούπολη / εἰς τὴν Πόλιν

Thousands of years of history, a mixture of Greek, Roman, Ottoman, Western and Eastern cultures, and marvelous places, natural and man-made.

I hope to return here someday for a longer stay.

(I can now also claim to have officially been to Asia)

Βόσπορος. The strait dividing Istanbul in half, with Europe on the Western and Asia on the Eastern side.

Its name, βοῦς (ox) + πόρος (passage) (or, you could say, “ox ford”), comes from the myth where Io, lover of Zeus, crosses the strait after being turned into a cow and forced to wander the earth.

The Bosphorus and the Karaköy district from Süleymaniye Mahallesi.

One of the many amazing opportunities in this trip was the honor of visiting a mosque (or several) for the first time. The ambience, especially with the singing at prayer times, is truly fantastic and takes you to another realm. I was particularly glad and pleasantly surprised to see that there were always several people praying inside, not matter the time of day.

Here, the awesome interior of Süleymaniye Camii.

Gülhane Parkı, with the Bosphorus (again) in the distance.

Sunset behind Atatürk Köprüsü and the Golden Horn, from Karaköy.

A dish I've always loved, now consumed in loco: dolma, stuffed grape leaves.

The omnipresent cats of Istanbul.

It is a little-known fact about Istanbul that if you order a kokoreç or katmer and a Turkish coffee, you get a cat as a bonus.

View of the Golden Horn from one of the public transport ferries.

Büyükada, the largest of the islands of Istanbul (its name is literally "big island" in Turkish), in the sea of Marmara.

Aya Nikola Halk Plajı, Büyükada.

The pier of Büyükada, with Heybeliada in the background.

The mortal struggle between cellphone cameras and low-light environments. But the islands of Istanbul at night are too surreal and beautiful to leave this one out.

I believe this one is Heybeliada.