{"id":59381,"date":"2012-11-20T11:56:48","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T09:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=59381"},"modified":"2014-01-07T21:51:24","modified_gmt":"2014-01-07T19:51:24","slug":"prelude-to-istanbul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2012\/11\/20\/prelude-to-istanbul\/","title":{"rendered":"Prelude to Istanbul"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Yomna El-Saeed<\/p>\n
Freelance Writer- Egypt<\/div>\n
Monday, 19 November 2012 00:00<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
Istanbul is the largest and most populous city in Turkey.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

I spent a week in Istanbul. In this week, my shopping mission was accomplished, my childish dream of eating turkey in Turkey was made true, but my plan to discover the city was far away from being even half achieved. I saw a lot, enjoyed a lot, and missed much!<\/p>\n

Istanbul is a big city in which every corner, every site has its own long story that is linked to the country\u2019s history. It\u2019s Turkey’s cultural, historical, and economic heart.<\/p>\n

Istanbul is the largest and most populous city in Turkey. It\u2019s the second-largest international gateway, after Antalya, receiving about quarter of the country’s foreign tourists.<\/p>\n

When it was named a \u201cEuropean Capital of Culture\u201d in 2010, Istanbul welcomed seven million tourists; making the city the world’s tenth most popular tourist destination.The city’s biggest draw is its historic center \u201cIstanbul Old City\u201d; partially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.<\/p>\n

Istanbul is also the city of cultural hodgepodge. If you\u2019re European, Asian, Middle Eastern, Arab or Muslim, you\u2019ll definitely find more than one reason to relate to it.<\/p>\n

The Turkish language is immensely affected by the Arabic language. Mosques are everywhere and Adhan is easily heard in many places. The food that tourists eat in Turkey like Shawerma (originally Levantine not Turkish), Kofte (Middle Eastern not Turkish), Simit, and Baklava, and drinking Turkish coffee, are all famous and available in the Arab countries. But all these \u201cArabic\u201d manifestations had a European flavor, which made every previously mentioned item feel new to me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My first impression about Istanbul? It\u2019s ancient, beautiful, and vibrant.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s very affluent with history, architecture, mosques, and shopping malls.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Three Empires, Two Continents<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout history, this Istanbul was the capital of three empires; Byzantine, Roman, and Ottoman Empires.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also one of very few cities of the whole world that lies in two continents; Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n

It straddles the Bosphorus strait, one of the globe’s busiest waterways with many ships, ferries and oil tankers going through it, that separates Asia from Europe and links the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea.<\/p>\n

The tourist industry is intense in the European side of the city; that ninety percent of the city’s hotels are located there.<\/p>\n

There are two bridges that link European Istanbul and Asian Istanbul, called the first and the second Bosphorus bridges. These bridges are lightened at night to make them look very beautiful and attractive. And Romantic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"bosphorus-tour-vid-cap\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
There are two bridges that link European Istanbul and Asian Istanbul, called the first and the second Bosphorus bridges.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Bosphorus Strait Cruise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each and every tourist of Istanbul<\/strong><\/strong> wants to\u2014and should\u2014take a Bosphorus cruise<\/strong>,<\/strong> trip up the 32 km (20-mile)-long strait.<\/p>\n

During this Cruise, one enjoys seeing the architectural and cultural treasures that lie along the shores, the balanced mixture of old and modern (16th century mansions and 20th century suspended bridges) and the Grand Ottoman palaces and historic fortresses. Not to mention the soft breeze and the lungful of unpolluted oxygen one does enjoy.<\/p>\n

When I was there I discovered \u201cThe Golden Horn\u201d; a small bay which, with Marmara Sea, divides the European side of Istanbul into Old Istanbul and Modern Istanbul.<\/p>\n

I found Istanbul to have more and more miles of waterfronts, boats and bridges than I imagined. Very beautiful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"istiklal-Street-in-Istanbul\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The street is very addictive, I walked in there almost every day of my trip, utilizing the fact that my hotel is quite close to it.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Taksim Square<\/strong><\/p>\n

My hotel was in Taksim Square; the heart of modern Istanbul. This square is a major shopping and tourist attraction that is famous for its restaurants, shops and hotels. At the heart of Taqsim is the Monument of the republic.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Monument of the Republic\u00a0is an 11\u00a0m (36\u00a0ft.) high monument that commemorates the\u00a0founding of the Turkish Republic\u00a0in 1923. It portrays the founders of the Turkish Republic, depicting\u00a0Mostafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk and his men.<\/p>\n

The monument was also erected to challenge the remnants of taboos that had existed from\u00a0Ottoman\u00a0era that restricted the depiction of the human form and the compliance with the\u00a0Sharia of Islam. It\u2019s an important site, where official ceremonies on national holidays are being held.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaksim\u201d is an Arabic word which means: division and\/or distribution. The history of Taksim square dates back to the Ottoman Empire, when it was the point where the main water lines from the north of Istanbul were collected to be divided and distributed to other parts of the city. The square took its name from the huge stone reservoir which is located in this area.<\/p>\n

One of both sides of Istklal Street starts at Taksim square. Istklal is Arabic word which means independence. It is one of the most famous\u00a0avenues\u00a0in\u00a0Istanbul. It\u2019s an elegant three kilometers long busy pedestrian street that is visited by nearly 3 million people in a single day over the course of weekends.<\/p>\n

Throughout this street you can find\u00a0everything; stores of major global brands, branches of McDonald\u2019s, Burger King, Starbucks, Subway, Turkish restaurants and caf\u00e9s, , historical\u00a0patisseries, chocolatiers, boutiques, bookstores, art\u00a0galleries,\u00a0cinemas,\u00a0theaters, money exchange, libraries, tattoo salons, music equipment stores and street musicians. The street is surrounded by\u00a0Ottoman\u00a0Empire era buildings. It\u2019s the liveliest and the most cosmopolitan place I\u2019ve seen in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

The street is very addictive, I walked in there almost every day of my trip, utilizing the fact that my hotel is quite close to it. I preferred walking in it and do more surfing in its shops than sitting and enjoying in any caf\u00e9 or even trying its tram. So beware!<\/p>\n

My first impression about Istanbul? It\u2019s ancient, beautiful, and vibrant.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very affluent with history, architecture, mosques, and shopping malls.<\/p>\n

Actually, it\u2019s affluent with everything. I also found it to be more European than Middle Eastern, and way more secular than Islamic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yomna El-Saeed Freelance Writer- Egypt Monday, 19 November 2012 00:00 Istanbul is the largest and most populous city in Turkey. I spent a week in Istanbul. In this week, my shopping mission was accomplished, my childish dream of eating turkey in Turkey was made true, but my plan to discover the city was far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":69191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1094],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-59381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-istanbul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}