The city of two continents. Divided by the Bosphorus strait,
Istanbul forges an identity through having Europe on one side and Asia on the
other. Whist the country of Turkey is 97% Asia, Istanbul is a perfect blend of
European ideals, Middle Eastern culture and Asian delights. It is an absolute
blast to claim you’ve walked from Asia to Europe, when you simply crossed a
500m bridge. Still we are claiming it. Staying miles away from the hub of
Sultanhemet gave us an appreciation of the entire city that is Istanbul; it
also gave us an appreciation of public transport which in Turkey is cheap,
seamless and abundant. It is essentially a modern city set upon the precipice
of powerful ancient empire. The expectation f Turkey and in particular
Istanbul, was of dry arid conditions, Islamic law and basically the images I
had seen of Middle East countries on the news. How wrong I was. It is an
extremely modern city with all vices and wants fulfilled. At times it felt like
we were in Melbourne or Sydney just with better food.
The people of Turkey
remain my favourite race thus far. They are the most genuine, friendliest;
happiest people that could grace this fine earth. Nothing is ever too much
trouble and if neither party speaks each other’s language a phone call is
placed to someone who does, or Google translated is given the workout of a
lifetime. During our explorations of the city we were joined by two
Australians, James from Tasmania (who we had met in Cinque Terre) and Henry
from Adelaide, who as it turned out was a petty thief who enjoyed stealing
headphones of hostel owners. Needless to say it was fun to have some people to
travel with. Overall Istanbul is a city that you could comfortably live in and
I think that a part of it will live forever more within me, such the impact
this gloriously anciently modern metropolis had on me.
