Sirkeci – the terminus of the Orient Express

When you are on the European side of Istanbul, you can hardly miss the historic Sirkeci railway station (Sirkeci Garı), which is now known as an important station for the Marmaray commuter train. Marmaray takes you beneath the Bosphorus from Europe to Asia. However, Sirkeci Station has been significant throughout history because it was once the eastern terminus of the Orient Express (Sirkeci Terminal), a famous train that traveled from Paris to Istanbul.

Sakıp Sabancı Museum – an enchanting experience with its versatility

Calling the Sakıp Sabancı Museum just a museum gives a far too narrow picture of this unique place. First of all, in its artistry, versatility and beauty, this museum is a place that will leave a lasting impression on your heart. Secondly, the museum’s deep and open-minded vision is great – and the execution really exudes the winds of future development. Thirdly, here you will once again be enchanted by the nature of Istanbul.

Istanbul guide for beginners

When we plan a trip, we hope to find as much information as possible about our destination – preferably even as easily as possible. As the information is often fragmented, I have compiled in this post both important general information about Istanbul as well as a variety of tips for your visit. In this post you will also find practical information about everyday life for your trip, for example, tips for the ways to commute in Istanbul. And please remember, I will publish new stories about the oriental wonders of dazzling Istanbul on my blog every month.

Welcome to be amazed: The Rahmi M. Koç Museum (Rahmi M. Koç Müzesi)

Perhaps a little surprisingly, I will introduce an industrial museum as the first museum in Istanbul. Although I have visited countless museums in my life – and I don’t think I’m a materialist – this private museum made a memorable impression on me with the awe-inspiring surprises it produced. The fingers of my two hands weren’t enough to count all my “wow” exclamations that just continued from one exhibition hall to another…

Beylerbeyi Palace (Beylerbeyi Sarayı) – the summer residence of the sultans

I am not particularly interested in writing about the palaces of Istanbul, because you will already find a lot of information about them anyway. But one of the palaces is close to my heart because of its special beauty, colors and versatility. And also because it is closely related to my grandchild’s ancestry. So welcome to Beylerbeyi Palace, to the summer residence of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire!

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

Rumeli Hisari, Bosphorus, Istanbul, Euroope

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).

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?