Polonezköy – nature holiday in Istanbul Province
Did you know that less than an hour’s drive from the center of Istanbul you can find a scenic oasis? In addition to the peaceful nature of this countryside, there is also a surprising historical dimension. So welcome to a nature holiday in Istanbul, the village of Polonezköy!
Istanbul Cable Car, Pierre Loti Hill & Turku Funicular, Kakolanmäki
In both cities of the seven hills, Istanbul and Turku, you will find one hill, the top of which you can reach using other methods than walking or driving by car. You can travel to Istanbul’s Pierre Loti Hill (Pierre Loti Tepesi) by cable car and Turku’s Kakolanmäki by funicular. Have you experienced either these means of transportation? And do you know the history of these hills? Do you know what you will find at the tops of these hills today?
Rumi (Mevlâna) and Sufism in Istanbul: Galata Mevlevi Museum (Galata Mevlevihanesi Müzesi)
Rumi is my important “teacher” in every day of my life. Therefore I had to think carefully about how could I bring this topic up with sufficient respect. I was grateful to have the opportunity to share this great wisdom of Rumi with the letters of the book of my another important teacher Erkki Lehtiranta: “Tien päällä ja taivaan alla”. In this post, we’ll also visit the Galata Mevlevi Museum in Beyoğlu, where Istanbul offers you an experience of this mystical and deep wisdom of Rumi as well as Sufism.
The seascapes of Istanbul – part 1: Europe and the Princes´ Islands
There are no words to fully describe the beauty of Istanbul’s seascapes, so this post will consist mostly of photos – after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. We have a positive problem i.e. there are too many beautiful seascapes in Istanbul, so I had to divide my post into two parts. In this post, you will see the seascapes of Europe and the Princes´ Islands (in part 2, I will present the seascapes of Asia).
Pera Palace Hotel – The heart of Pera (the historical name of Beyoğlu)
When my steps took me to Pera Palace Hotel for the first time, I wondered why our family’s second grandma, Zeynep, wanted to show me a hotel. What interesting things we could find in a hotel when we had whole Istanbul in front of our eyes? I couldn’t have been more wrong!
10 most interesting and best things in Istanbul
Naturally the history is by far the best thing in Istanbul, and you can read basic information about it from the post “Seven hills cities”. Here I’ll introduce the important things that touches me at the moment of writing. Of course, it would be easy to list at least the 100 best things in Istanbul, and in the future you’ll get to know many of them through my posts. Even in addition to these, Istanbul always manages to surprise you; for example, have you ever, on the basis of a shop window, thought of going to a luxury cosmetics store that turned out to be a luxury butcher shop?