Tag: Istanbul

MUHANAD ALNAHAS

JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY

Istanbul at night overlooking the Bosphorous – a wonderful place for a cruise.

expat

A visit lead to a new life abroad for Muhanad Alnahas.

Why did you move to Istanbul?

I came to Turkey more than three years ago. I was always interested in Turkish culture and history and wanted to have a closer look. I live in Istanbul but I spent almost six months in Ankara, where I met my Turkish wife, Filiz.

What do you do there?

I came to Istanbul for a visit, I learned the language and I ended up working as a freelancer for a year. After that, I started as video editor with the Turkish national TV.

What do you like or dislike about life in Istanbul?

I can describe Turkey as a Middle Eastern, Mediterranean country with a semi-European system. Istanbul is very crowded and very active, which defines the beauty of the city; however, many crowds leads to so much traffic, which can be annoying sometimes. Wherever you go in Istanbul there is something historical, and the city is full of antiques and items from both western and eastern civilisations. When you are a foreigner in Istanbul, or Turkey in general, people would go out of their way to help; They are very welcoming of strangers and very generous. Plus, the beauty of Istanbul is that you can enjoy it all seasons. Even in winter, almost wherever you go has an outdoor heating system.

What do you think of the food?

I love the food. Turkish cuisine is very rich and very nicely presented. There are restaurants everywhere open until very late. Durumcu in Besiktas is one of my favourites, or Sutis and Mado are very good restaurants and you can find them almost everywhere. Popular Turkish dishes are kebabs, kofte (meat balls), pide and lahmacun (sort of Turkish pizza) and the sarma. There are fantastic pastries too; pogaca, borek and (a must try) simit. Also don’t miss Turkish coffee, Turkish tea and the popular Turkish delight.

How does the cost of living compare with New Zealand?

Over all Istanbul is cheaper than Auckland, and it is even cheaper in other parts of Turkey. In general the rent is cheaper and so is the food, apart from red meat. Dining out is cheaper.

What do you do on weekends?

I live on a hill and near my home is Ulus Park where you have a great view of the whole city. Downhill, there is Ortakoy and the famous Bosphorus bridge that connects Europe to Asia. We go there for tea or just to have a walk. Nearby there are Arnavutkoy, Bebek and Besiktas, which also have a lot of restaurants, historical places, and parks.

What’s the best way to get around?

In Istanbul there are all sorts of public transportation options: Metro, tramway, bus and minibus, which start from the airport to almost everywhere in the city.

What’s the shopping like?

Istanbul is the best place for shopping. You have a huge variety of Turkish-made products, also all the well-known brands, antiques and handmade souvenirs.

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What’s the nightlife like?

There are all kinds of nightlife in Istanbul suitable for everyone. If you like a crowded place to party then Taksim is the place for you; Istiklal Caddesi is full of life at all times – it is packed with people and bars. There are also night clubs almost everywhere but the most popular would be Reina. If you’re looking for dining options for a quiet night with family or friends there are heaps of places alongside the bays. Istanbul is known as the seven hills city, so there are restaurants and cafes where you have a wonderful view of the city; places like Emirgan, Piyar lotti, Camlica and Ulus. What is your favourite part of Istanbul?

Besiktas where there are a few restaurants and cafes looking the sea; my favourite would be Durumcu and Hakan cafe. There are small shopping centres less crowded and closer to where I live. There is also Dolma bahce, a very beautiful castle/museum and Yildis Park. What time of year is best to visit?

Depends on what you want to see but usually, and like anywhere else, summertime and spring would be the best; spreading from March until the end of August.

What’s your must-do for visitors?

A Bosphorus Cruise would give you a wonderful view of the city. You can start from Eminonu or Ortakoy. Near Sultan Ahmed, have a walk in Gulhane Park. There is a restaurant at the end of the park where you can have tea in a semi-traditional way and enjoy a fantastic view of the city.

What are your top tips for tourists?

Egyptian Pazzar (misir carshisi) and Sultan Ahmed are a must visit. The last one is very central for historical places such Ayasofya, blue mosque and many other Ottoman and Byzantine remains. There is a tramway which passes through all these historical places and the Pazzars.

If you learn a few Turkish phrases and words, Turkish people will be happy to see you trying and would help you even more.

How easy is it for you to get back to New Zealand?

Last time I went back to Auckland it was a 22-24 hour trip with transits in Dubai then in Sydney. Due to my work, though, I haven’t been to New Zealand for almost two years.

via Istanbul travel – travel | Stuff.co.nz.

Istanbul is a Feeling, an Impression and a Steppingstone

The first time I was here I was 12. Memories of smog, crowds, kebab and an incomprehensible wait for the telephone to connect to my mom in Denmark are left behind and 19 years later it’s a different city. The calls for prayer and the scent of apple tobacco are still the same but now they float through streets occupied by men in cravats and women with and without hijabs lunching at trendy cafes next to designer shops and photo galleries showcasing the latest from the international art scene.

As the plane approaches the airport it is increasingly clear to me that this is a metropolis with a responsibility. A responsibility to keep two parts of the world together so they don’t drift too far from each other, but also a responsibility to keep them separate so we still can tell them from us and us them.

Bosphorus is the name of the strait that cuts through the giant. With a head in one part of the world and a body in another the strait is like an aorta that pumps life into the Turkish economy as well as to the oil market in Europe via tankers full of the black Russian gold.

Also for the individual Bosphorus is a vein of life. All along the many kilometers of coastline couples promenade while local fishermen sells their catch of the day. Tivoli’s offer entertainment while small ferries sail back and forth non-stop, working as needle and thread tying these two continents together.

While the empty bottles on the table in front of me goes from one to two, ships slowly drift by in the night. Across the strait thousands of lights waver and then disappear one by one as we pass midnight. A new day is coming and one thing is for sure. Istanbul is neither Asian nor European, Istanbul is it’s own.

Atatürk airport Tube entrance.

via Istanbul is a Feeling, an Impression and a Steppingstone « Anders Birger.

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Buyukada, the largest of the Princes’ Islands, an archipelago in the Sea of Marmara. Picture: Alamy Source: Supplied

YOU have done the sights – the Hagia Sofia and the great imperial mosques, the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar, the Bosphorus cruise and Basilica Cistern. With the tourist boxes ticked and the past squared away, it’s time to start exploring the real, living city.

You may have had enough of museums, but Orhan Pamuk’s new Museum of Innocence in the bohemian neighbourhood of Cihangir is worth a visit, if only for the abiding oddness of the concept as much as anything in the exhibits. The museum and Pamuk’s eponymous novel were conceived at the same time, and as Turkey’s Nobel Prize-winning author wrote the book about love and obsession set in 1970s Istanbul, he also collected artefacts.

The result is a charming confection of the paraphernalia of bourgeois Turkish life, from a collection of cigarette butts supposedly smoked by the novel’s heroine to toys, cinema posters and Victorian-era family photos. It is a monument to whimsy, a great literary project and a vanished era all at the same time.

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Istanbul is one of the gourmet capitals of the world, but you have to dig a little to find its most interesting vernacular food. To really get to grips with the authentic tastes of the city, spend a half hour or so browsing istanbuleats.com – a site and, for the old-fashioned, a book compiled by passionate connoisseurs of Istanbul’s waterside fish-grilling joints, its raucous raki-and-mezze restaurants (known as meyhanes) and its endless varieties of street food.

You can trace the social history of the city through its restaurants, or take a gastronomic tour of the rest of Turkey and even the old empire, with its Balkan, Middle Eastern and Caucasian influences. Anatolian soul food restaurant Ciya is definitely worth a trip to the Asian side of the city, while the newish bread-and-stew restaurant Datli Maya is as brilliant and tiny as its owner, culinary wizard Dilara Erbay.

Those committed to exploring Istanbul’s gastronomic underbelly can even find directions to a famous pair of rival sheep’s-head restaurants located on opposite corners of a crossroads. One sells the heads boiled, the other roasted (counterintuitively, boiled is better).

Of an evening, don’t get stuck in the Old City, which is a ghetto of touristy restaurants and pushy carpet pedlars. Istanbul’s real life is elsewhere, in the mile-long strip of pedestrianised streets around the old Grande Rue de Pera, the heart of the European quarter now known as Beyoglu.

Start at the House Cafe by the Tunel funicular and work your way down Istiklal Avenue though backstreets crowded with tables and revellers. One can go high-low, literally and metaphorically, from flashy socialite-packed rooftop bars such as 360 to grungy live music venues such as Haymatlos, concealed in a crumbling Ottoman office building.

A full tour of all the hidden bars and restaurants would take about eight years. At 2am you’ll find Istiklal Avenue still packed from end to end, a sight that beats even Barcelona’s La Rambla into a cocked hat.

After a heavy night in the city you may wish to escape to the Princes’ Islands, an archipelago in the Sea of Marmara where the Byzantines exiled their surplus royals and the Levantine bourgeoisie of the late 19th century built large wooden summer villas. But one has to be smart about planning a visit, because on hot summer days they are also the equivalent of New York’s Coney Island – a place where every local who can’t afford to go anywhere else crowds on to packed ferries.

If you’re rich, take a 10-person sea taxi from central Istanbul. Or take the public ferry from Kabatas, but on a weekday. On Buyukada, the largest of the islands, avoid the rip-off tourist restaurants on the seaside strip and hike (or bike) up the mountain to the monastery of Aya Yorgi, with its charming open-air restaurant and breathtaking views of the whole giant city of 15 million souls, now spread at your feet, distant and silent.

The Spectator

via Insider’s Istanbul | The Australian.