Istanbul: a visual diary.

My observations, thoughts, and quirky stuff while in Istanbul.

Arriving.

I have have entered Istanbul both by plane and by bus. The İstanbul Havalimanı (IST airport) makes quite the impression.

Although entering the city by train is no less exciting. Instead of getting a panorama view of the Black Sea, you get this:

Fatih.

I'll start with one of the most famous neighborhoods to get that out of the way. Fatih is the one with all the famous mosques and cisterns.

Obviously, we'll start with a train station. Sirkeci was built in 1890 as part of the Orient Express route (!), but now is more of a hotspot for cat lovers, rather than train enthusiasts.

View from the infamous bridge (infamous for a reason, look at these fishers):

Infamous bread:

(Infamous?) Turkish car:

Old metro station:

Cute metro poster design:

Less cute p.o.v. on the Galata tower:

Real Istanbulites, however, don't need crossings or signs. Even a fence won't stop them.

Moving a bit further into non-touristic parts of the neighborhood it gets even cosier, highly recommend it!

It actually does though

And the views only get better, too

Even the construction sites get cuter!

There's so much going on that even the buildings don't know where to look:

Oh Istanbul...

Beyoğlu and Şişli.

We cross the Golden Horn (note: this is technically not the Bosphorus!) north, to Beyoğlu, where the Galata tower is. Yet it is not the tower that should be our destination. It is the tower that we'll be avoiding, together with İstiklal caddesi (avenue) leading to Taksim (which we will also be avoiding).

Instead, this is what we're looking for:

...we're looking for the vibes, if you will.

And if we really feel like Istanbul locals (which we do), we know where to find a (free) rooftop for sunset.

And where to find the locals on a Friday evening

In Beyoğlu we're also looking for underground second-hand stores

And terraces hidden in the courtyards of residential houses

Cool museums

And cool libraries.

In Beyoğlu we do not do manspreading

We have multi-purpose toilets:

We do not believe a sign that says 'shared lane'

/only the cats are allowed to do micromobility cause they're locals/

I think it's time for me to drop the 'we' narrative and focus on some of Beyoğlu's urban details:

and on some amazing local initiatives.

Cute façade, cute plants:

traffic sign from the previous century:

agressive marketing:

And that's Europe. Having saved the best for last, let's go to Asia, aka the Anatolian side

Kadiköy and Üsküdar.

Here's a preview:

Or from a cat's pov:

Istanbul – the city of amazing people and their amazing lives.

And their amazing homes.

Very diverse homes...

Even the people on the traffic signs seem like they're just casually jumping around:

While the dogs hide from the people, pretending they're stones.

Some tactical urbanism is always nice to see:

Where the dense and lively Kadiköy is the neighborhood that never sleeps, Üsküdar is more about the day rather than the night.

Okay it's not always that calm, we're still in Turkey... There's also this:

And a lot of this:

The rest.

Istanbul is huge, so a lot happens ourside of the central area. Some examples:

Another not-at-all hostile train station:

But there are also new stations outside of the city center. This is the new metro to the airport – highly inefficient but looks nice I guess.

In Istanbul they love tunnels in general:

But there's more to the city than just metro's and tunnels:

And if you go far enough you can even find sault in the middle of a highway intersection:

Istanbul is a fascinating cities full of cultural artefacts, monumental buildings, public activities, but also small little details that everyone has to discover for themselves.

Thanks for travelling through Istanbul with me.

I will leave you with one of my favorite pictures from the city on the seven hills and between two continents: