ISTANBUL TODAY

Why we travel is unknown but where we travel is always arranged ahead. Not to go into details but Istanbul is becoming a much more popular destination world wide.

However Istanbul is geting ready for a big change to overcome this poularity. Last two years the city is re-urbanising its major areas. Many old neighbourhoods are being almost rebuilt or rennovated. Not only that but the new residential areas are being built around the city in the late five years and still continiuing.

This brings in a crowd of peaple with a lot of construction in and around the city. Jst because of this reason the lenght of the rush hour has expanded and the public transportation became over populated during these hours. 

It is important to appriciate the public transportation in the city. Personally, I like to move and not to get stuck in traffic for longer hours (which sometimes you can not run away from it!), like many Istanbulians. If I am driving, I always look for alternative roads that is fastmoving. On my smart phone I have two apps to help me for this: 

1-The municipality official traffic app IBB TRAFIK. 

Iphone or Android

2- Yandex Maps app that shows traffic in Istanbul. Unfortunately Google Maps do not have that function here in Turkey. Yandex also will give you street view of the major areas in the city, which I find it very helpful. Even many real estate agents are using this app. (Both in itunes and google play)

So these are handy if you are on the road, but always get some time to strech your legs and walk because you will need to many times. Istanbul is not a flat and elevated city, especially during these days when we have many ongoing constructions in the city. However walk... it will save you more time rather than taking a taxi or public transportation. 

If you are going to cross the Bosphorus to other continent, the best way is using the Public Ferries . Hop on a ferry and enjoy the quiet ride across Bosphorus. Don't forget to buy a Simit (a kind of bagel with sesame seeds around) to feed the seagulls :)

Other public transportation options are busses, subway, finicular and tram that runs until late midnight arond the city. You can buy a public transportation card from many vendors at the stops and use it to load credits that you can use on every Public Transportation including ferries. The widely used option for travellers is just to use the machines to get tokens for each ride.

One new addition by the municipality is the bicycles that you can rent. Very cool looking bikes but no gears on them makes it difficult for uphills. Also difficult to find the paces to get them around the city (there is one in Sultanahmet Sq. but still check updated map on the link above). 2 TL per hour, but you need credit card to get the bikes.

Be wise and Enjoy your time..

Travel to Turkey

... You Should Do It ...

Getting to The Greek Islands

If you are coming for a tour around Turkey and willing to end it with a visit to the Greek Islands there are many different locations that you can take the ferry. 

Kusadasi to Samos
Bodrum to Cos and Rhodes
Marmaris to Rhodes
Ayvalık to Lesbos
Kaş to  Megisti

The ferry companies are Turkish and Greek. The morning ferries to the Greek Islands are operated by Turkish companies and they are not going on strike any time of the year :) . They will depart for the islands around 8 am and will arrive back from the island late in the afternoon around 5-6 pm. Same schedule applies for the Greek companies as well.

It is better to purchase the tickets locally at the towns from the companies because the ferries will only run weather permitting. You can still book online at your own chance. 


For more information please check this site or just simply send me an email :)
It is great to see both sides of the Aegean to appreciate it more...

Happy Travels

Coming to Istanbul; Taxi

The best way to arrive to your hotel from the airport, if you have not arranged a shuttle transfer, is to take a taxi. Do not negotiate the price but use the taxi meter all the time (which is the legal way), this is for your adventage.

Istanbul have %125 more traffic than the normal (which is %50) during the rush hours. So it may take up to 1 hour to downtown, and also about 60 Turkish Liras. Normal case it is about 50 Turkish Liras.

Always take a taxi from the station or call it from the hotel. If you forget something in the car you always have a chance to contact the driver this way.

Welcome to Istanbul :)

Turkey Istanbul / Byzantine Constantinople

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia served Christian faith for a thousand years, Islam for five hundred years, and has been open to visitors as a museum for 75 years...

In etymological dictionaries, Sophia means wisdom, hagia means divine or holy, so the church was not dedicated to a saint but to divine wisdom. Byzantines thought that its impressive dome had been suspended from the heaven by a golden chain. Europe had to wait a thousand years to be able to built something similar to Hagia Sophia.


BASILICA CISTERN

The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul.

Emperor Justinian built the Basilica cistern in 532 in the neighborhood of the Hagia Sophia. Constructed in the middle of the ancient city and not to lose any space they dug this cistern so that’s why it is also called the underground palace.Even today, many other buildings rest on these foundations. In this construction, columns and capitals from earlier monuments were used. 336 marble columns support the roof. The cistern is 70m wide, 140 m long and 8m high and was used for centuries as the main water supply for the city.However, some historians do not believe that this place was a cistern!!


CHORA CHURCH

This small church in this tranquil neighborhood Edirnekapı, is considered one of the most beautiful examples of a Byzantine church. Like Hagia Sophia, it was build as a church, converted in to a mosque by Ottomans, today a museum.

Great people watching

The name Chora, referring to its location originally outside of the walls, means suburb. The original church on this site was built in the early 5th century, and stood outside of the 4th century walls of Constantine the Great. However, when Theodosius II built his formidable land walls in 413–414, the church became incorporated within the city's defenses, but kept its the name as Chora.

The Byzantine minister of treasury Theodore Metochites endowed the church with much of its fine mosaics and frescoes between 1315 and 1321. The mosaic-work is the finest example of a period called late Byzantine Renaissance. It was well cared for by the Ottomans and all the paintings and mosaics were covered with plaster or whitewash.By the time of the Republic, the mosque was converted into a museum and since that time, the Byzantine Institute of the American Boston University is working of the restoration of all the inner decoration.

In the mosaics and frescoes, the lives of Jesus and Mary and scenes of the bible are depicted, it is like Christian history is told in a comic book. These famous mosaics and frescoes are amongst the best preserved in the Byzantine art; the rich collection rivals the one in Ravenna. You might have read about the life cycle of Jesus Christ, but what about Virgin Mary?

To ask questions and to get more information please click here..