Ferry

I went to Eminonu and Spice Bazaar today to do my weekly shopping. Bought delicious cheeses and olives. And took this photo, while I was crossing on the ferry, back to the Asian side . It was an icy cold day, but a cup of warm tea and the nice view kept me content. After all, I was not the only crazy person who was sitting outside.

Zapyon Greek High School

Since 1875
This high school is in Taksim, on the European side of Istanbul, the cities heart beat. It is very crowded during the day time, surrounded with clubs and restaurants...For me, it looks more like the Castle of Dracula than a high school...

Tunnel

Tunnel, between Karakoy and Beyoglu was built in 1875. Since then, it has been renovated several times but the ceilings are still original. Not in the best of shape, but good enough to give an idea about Ottoman's interior designs. For more information, click here.

Artrium Antique Shop

Artrium is an antique shop. When you're going to an antique shop, you expect to see old things, right? This shop welcomes you with these tin ornaments on the door . I liked the contradiction about it and decided to share...

Pickels

Can you imagine a shop selling pickels only..... There is lots of in Istanbul. These are homemade. Very colorful. This shop is very close to the Flower Passage in Beyoglu. They let you taste it and decide wheter you buy it or not. But as you can imagine, it is almost impossible not to....

Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar

The Spice Bazaar in (also known as the Egyptian Bazaar) is one of the oldest bazaars in the city. Located in Eminonu district, on the European side. It is so named because various exotic spice types from the Orient were offered here in the past. Still hundred ts of spices, nuts, different type of sweets like Turkish delight or baklava, all kind of teas, coffees and dried fruits are available. The Spice bazaar was completed in 1660.

Ollie Girl

Finally, winter has arrived. It is snowing today. Ollie and I had a long walk. She loves to play at snow... And when she comes home, she goes directly to the kitchen, checks what's cooking and acts like a good girl, hopes something falls from the counter......

Beaman's World: Café Erotica - Two Dreamers

Beaman's World: Café Erotica - Two Dreamers
Wow, the only thing I can say is; "you can write".

Flower Passage

Flower Passage is the L-Shaped courtyard of a building, named Cite de Pera, one of the first European style buildings constructed during the Ottoman Empire in the 19'Th century. During that time the Cite de Pera building hosted mostly flower shops on its ground floor and offices on the floors above. In the 1980's a part of the building collapsed and the lovely building was closed. It was renovated and re-opened at 1988 as a upscale eating and dining locale. There were no flower shops anymore but the name remains the same....Each evening the tables are filled with people from all around the world and Turks of course, eating and drinking Turkish Raki, beer or wine...

At Last...

At last, we had some cold weather. When I say cold, I mean 10-12 Celsius, which is not normal for this time. Last year, this time we had snow. This year, it is even not raining. Took this photo on my way home, in front of the Haydarpasa Railway Station, while the wind was blowing....

Mc Donald's

Here is the Mc Donald's in Istiklal Street. The thing about this street is, almost all buildings are old, historical buildings. There are very strict rules about renewing them. It has to look exactly like as looked before. Only indoor changes are allowed. And the more intersting thing is that all the signs has to be the same. For example Mc Donald's can not be written in red and yellow. It must be like in the picture above.

Little Girl

I took this photo in Beyoglu, European side of Istanbul today. This little group with their traditional, local costumes were coming from Dalaman, very south of Turkey. They were displaying their placards, trying to get the attention of the public, to emphasize their wishes to keep their envoirment as is.

Surp Takavor Armenian Church

Istanbul has numerous places of worship belonging to three major world religions. There are 450 Mosques in the city, at least 32 Armenian Orthodox, 16 Roman Catholic, 80 Greek Orthodox, 2 Bulgarian Orthodox, and 4 Protestant churches and 15 Synagogues and several active monasteries. Surp Takavor Armenian Church is in district Kadikoy. It is open to visitors on Sundays after 9:00 am.

Kadikoy City Hall

Istanbul has 31 districts. It can also be divided into three main areas; The Historic Peninsula, North of the Golden Horn and the Asian side. District Kadikoy is located in the Asian side and is an older settlement then the city itself. You can tell that by looking at the City Hall also.

My Food Tour

We have a very nice, sunny Sunday here in Istanbul. Take the time to go to Kadikoy, where the food and fish markets are. Food is fresh and very afordable here. I like to walk around, look at all the colorful variety of the goods and thank God, what an amazing city I live in...

A little house

I took this photo in Eminonu, European side of Istanbul. A little house, sells newspapers, magazines, etc. Very unic to Istanbul. Don't see this often. Especially, on old and historical neighborhoods.

Simit / Kind of Bagel

Typical Turkish Bagels. You see these fellows everywhere in Istanbul. Actually not in Istanbul only, they are in whole Turkey. It is very cheap. We usually have some cheese and tea with it. No matter, it is rains or snows, these guys are always there, in every single corner.

Money Money Money

All started with bartering, then shells, after that, first metal money in China. First silver coins were first shown in Lidya (Turkey). This was on a bank window in Eminonu. I gues the are trying to show how the coins looked like in the ancient times. I see coins from Ottoman times, then i see some Turkish Lira and Kurus…Other than that, do not know what this little men are doing there…

Haydarpasa Railway Station

Haydarpasa Railway Station is on the Asian side of Bosphorus. The Neo-Classical castle was build between 1906 and 1908 by the Anatolian Baghdad Corporation and was a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany to Sultan Abdul Hamit II. The terminal is the start of the Anatolian railway system.

On my way to Asia

This photo was taken on may way from Eminonu to Kadikoy; in other words, from Europe to Asia . Takes 15 minutes only.

Welcome to My Istanbul

Very soon, I will be posting a photo of My Istanbul, every single day…
So, whoever has been here, whoever wants to be here, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy….