Enigmatic Istanbul. Beyoglu

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My second day in Istanbul. I was staying on the Asian side, so I had to take a minibus to Usküdar, then take the ferry to go across the Bosphorus until Eminönöu (European side). The ferry takes around 15 minutes, enough to take a deep breath, watch the landscape and believe it! You are in the city that belongs to 2 continents. It is better to take a ferry than going in car trough the Bosphorus bridge, it could take until 2 hours because of traffic.



I loved Eminönü, from the ferry you can see the New Mosque and lost of people around (population in Istanbul is around 13 million people). I was satrving so I bought a piece of bread sold in small cars (only 1 TL) and then took my way to Galata Bridge which it's perfect to take some good pictures with the fishersmen on the side.

Galata tower is a medieval stone tower which offers an incredible panoramic vista from old Istanbul. I which I could stay more but it is impossible to stay in a so narrow space with persons who keep arriving tot he top of the tower.

I decided to get lost in Beyoglu, but there is only one main street: Istiklal Caddesi. This is the modern part of Istanbul, you cand find fashion stores, restaurants, embassies, hotels. It is quiet nice but it is always crowded. There is a very old and nice tramway which goes trough the street from Tünel Square to Taksim Square.

One tip: amazing sunsets from Üsküdar (Asian side): take Eminönü ferry. Besides the sunset, you can find in the middle on the Bosphorus the Maiden tower.

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Photos

Üsküdar
This is the Asian side and the ferry takes to Eminönü (European side); it takes 15 minutes to go across the Bosphorus

Galata Tower
Amazing view at the top from ond Istanbul

Istiklal Caddesi
Old tram which goes from Tünel Square to Taksim Square

Beyoglu
A street close to Istiklal Caddesi. There is a very nice cafe where I took watermelon shisha

Taksim Square
The very modern part of Istanbul; it is always crowded with restaurants and stores around

Bosphorus Ferry
This is my favourite pic; I took Eminönü ferry to get back from Uskudar. This is the new mosque and to the right the fish restaurants down the Galata bridge

Maiden Tower
It is close to Uskudar in the middle of the Bosphorus, so pretty!