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When we arrived in Istanbul and makes Istanbul a very interesting and go out and have a few drinks is the
entered our apartment the very first unique city. There are a lot of different neighbourhood of Taksim and İstiklal
time we immediately felt at home. things to see and new surroundings Avenue. There are hundreds of venues,
Our flat is sunny and big but the to explore every day. from tiny bars to big nightclubs and
most incredible part is the view of we soon found our favourite places.
the Bosphorus from our balcony. The One of the first things we learned Beer and other alcoholic beverages
flat has soon become our shelter and about Turkish culture is the open- are quite expensive compared to
place of retreat when the city becomes minded and communicative lifestyle Germany. That sometimes results in
too suffocating. of Turks. People seem to be very empty pockets after a merry night at
interested in everything about Taksim. The good part however is:
In Istanbul, different worlds collide everyone and they like to talk. It is Taking a taxi is way cheaper than in
modernity and antiquity, occident very important for Turkish people to Germany and ensures that you get
and orient, Europe and Asia. These sit down and drink a tea with friends, home safe and sound.
different worlds sometimes seem colleagues or literally anyone who
to be a bad match but the city has is willing to spend a few minutes Interesting Facts about Istanbul:
found a way to merge its ancient and talking about life. This lifestyle is
modern elements. Turkey’s capital very different from Germany. In Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey
is full of historical monuments and our hometown nobody seems very with over 13 million people – more
architectural features of the past. But interested in spending a lot of time than the population of Belgium –
it also has a lot of modern elements, without doing anything productive. and the second largest in the world
especially concerning traffic and The open-minded mentality of by population within city limits.
transportation. Like other megacities Turkish people definitely enriches our It also is the economical, cultural
around the world Istanbul has to deal life in Istanbul. People are friendly and historical centre of the country.
with thousands of commuters every and try to help us whenever they can. Istanbul has 3,113 mosques, including
day which results in massive traffic The owner of the restaurant under the historical Sultanahmet Mosque
jams and crowded subways. This our flat for example helped us from and the Süleymaniye Mosque.
can be very tiring and exhausting for the very beginning. He helped us with
German students from a small town. administrational procedures, finding It is one of the fastest-growing
The public transportation in general is our way and supplied us with tea. We metropolitan economies in the world
very modern and well developed and soon became friends and we spend a and accounts for more than a quarter
it sometimes feels strange passing the lot of time talking and smoking water of Turkey’s GDP. Istanbul is the
Blue Mosque in a very modern tram. pipe in front of his restaurant. On the only city in the world that straddles
Modern and ancient elements collide other hand, it can be very annoying two continents: Asia and Europe.
everywhere: McDonald’s restaurants and feels uncomfortable when we While being the ancient capital of
in old Ottoman buildings, traditional walk through the streets of Istanbul many empires, from Rome to the
looking Turkish men with new smart and everyone around wants us to buy Ottoman era, it is not the current
phones or traditional cable cars whatever they offer. capital of Turkey which is Ankara.
crossing the modern and crowded Istanbul, which used to be known as
İstiklal Avenue near Taksim Square. Particularly interesting for students: Constantinople thanks to the Roman
The mixture of all these elements Istanbul’s nightlife. The best place to Emperor Constantine the Great, is