Andre and the huka
Unlike Africa, I can draw lots of comparisons with my visit to Istanbul and life in Canada. Istanbul is bathed in history. From a historical and cultural standpoint it is one of the most robust and interesting places I have visited in my life. As it is a city of 20 million it is almost like a small country. Canada has only 30 million for goodness sake, so one city alone makes up 2/3 of our population. Given its size, the orderliness of the place is remarkable. It is actually very clean and you see garbage workers at work constantly. The Turks do not leave you to search for washrooms as they are everywhere and also kept clean and well attended. This was quite the contrast to Africa where washrooms were rare to be found and ones that you did find were not the cleanest experience.
Ornate from door or what
Cost wise I found Turkey to be fair. I did spend more money there on clothes and a Turkish bath and a fitness centre to treat myself. But you can get fresh juice for 1 – 3 lira and a doner for 1 – 5 lira. So you can certainly eat cheaply. Alcohol is readily available and average in cost as well. Certainly some restaurants are more expensive but you are not restricted to having to go to them.
The rose I left at Bosphorous Bridge
Given the size of the city, it is not really a place you can find lots of parks to run in. There are some but you have to get to them to run. From a safety perspective, I felt very safe and there were always lots of policemen everywhere. Aside from having to learn to deal with the Turkish men, everyone for the most part were polite and left me alone.
Beauty in the forgotten
I would have liked to have seen more of Turkey but it was in the opposite direction than I wanted to go, so I chose not to this time. But I would certainly go back to Istanbul again in the blink of an eye. It was not at all what I expected and was so so much more.
I wouldn't exactly call it New ...
Istanbul sounds amazing – so interesting receiving your information. It is the first place that you have said definitely that you would like to go back to.
Yup – loved Istanbul, but also loving Belgrade. So many great cities.
It is a world of beauty, suspense and unbridles history. Enjoy
Am doing – quite.
This is probably a stupid question, but here goes: why did you leave a red rose at the Bosphorus Bridge?
Did you know that this bridge had the 4th longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1973? At present, it is the 16th longest suspension bridge span in the world. Sorry, I just had to return the favour by giving you some information…hahaha
Thanks for the info. Nope not a stupid question. I saw an old woman selling them and felt sorry for her so I also thought that if I bought one, if I happened to pass someone who looked like they could use one, I could give it to them – just to be nice – but ironically I didn’t see anyone that inspired me to give it to them. So I decided to give it to the bridge marking the fact that I had walked all the way there.