Istanbul is a pot where one could boil sugar and salt and serve the end result as one of the tastiest hot drinks in the world. Dazzled with influences from around the world, the city brings together both the best and worst aspects of the Western and Eastern world. Even though Istanbul sits on two separate continents, she does not let the two worlds co-exists side by side. Rather she put them the two odd ingredients into to the pot with warming water and as a result we have one of the universe’s most unique cities.
She does not come as aggressive or overcrowded as most Middle Eastern, Asian or Latin American metropolitans. Although even she can have quite a temper and then the drivers, helplessly stuck in the midst of her chaotic mind, attempt to find salvage in the sounds of horns in spite of knowing the jam is there to stay, at least for a little while longer.
Bust most of the time Istanbul is tender, loving and heartwarmingly welcoming who are visiting her. She is a world-known architect whose work keeps bewildering even those closest to her; the bulk of her monuments such as Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Sultanahmet Mosque are located in the old city what used to be called Constantinople, one of the cradles of modern civilization that we so endlessly admire. She shows us the history we are so blissfully unaware of; the past that is now wrongly used to define the difference between them and us. Continue reading
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