Istanbul: A Cultural Crossroads

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
February 27th 2007

Published: March 7th 2007

Istanbul. A city straddling two continents, two religions, and two ways of life: one ancient, one modern. Although they are all stereotypes, my recent visit to this magnificent Turkish city taught me that there is a lot of truth behind each of these images. Although not the capitol of Turkey (that would be Ankara, on the Anatolian plateau), Istanbul is most definitely the demographic, economic,... Read Full Entry

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Robyn Liska

CricketREL

My name is Robyn Liska and I graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. I spent my junior year abroad in Paris and studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (aka Sciences Po) studying international relations and sustainable development. I created this blogsite so that all of my family and friends could stay in touch with me and follow my adventures through Europe and beyond. Subsequent moves have taken me to Breckenridge, CO, Boston, MA and Washington, DC, so there is plenty to read about! Enjoy.... full info

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Nuts and Dried Fruit Rack

Inside the Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar. You can buy 6 dried figs for only 1 lira!!! So I did and ate the whole bag right away. Gotta love vacation indulgences.

Spices!!!!

Guess where?

Dolmabahce Palace

Built around 1850, this opulent palace replaced the older Topkapi Palace as the primary residence of the sultans. It also bankrupted the weakened Ottoman Empire and hastened its demise!

New & Old

The Bosporus Bridge and a Baroque-style mosque on the banks of the Bosporus Strait in the village of Ortakoy. This is the famous bridge that links Asia and Europe, built in 1973.

Under the Bosporus Bridge

On a boat cruise up and down the Strait. At its narrowest, it is only 750 m wide...talk about a strategic passage!

Me on the boat

Rumelli Fortress

Built in 1452 by Mehmet II to protect the narrowest point of the Bospore.

Bryony and Robyn in Asia!!!!

It was so freakin' cold that we basically hopped off the bus, snapped a couple pics, and ran into the restaurant (WOULD have nice panoramic views on a clear day) for a cup of boiling-hot tea. Can you believe there were snowflakes falling the next day?

Looking across to Beyoglu (the modern city)

Taken from the Asian bank. The skyscrapers are known as "Mashattan."

Tea with Chris, Dan, and Bryony

We met a really nice guy named Dan on our tour-day and spent the day with him. He was from San Francisco.

The Hippodrome

This is the Tiled Column in the foreground.

The Egyption Obelisk of the Hippodrome

I think the arc of birds is a nice artistic touch. I did that on purpose ; )

The Basilica Cistern

This place was seriously cool.

The Basilica Cistern

Inside the Cistern

Upside-down Medusa-head column bases

No one knows why these sculpture column-bases were placed wierdly (this one is upside down, a second is sideways) but it was apparently done on purpose.

Bryony is right-side up.

Can you tell which one is her and which is Medusa? I hope so...

7th March 2007

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Istanbul: A Cultural Crossroads

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