Day 30-36 Turkey I

I crossed the border to Turkey without any complications and followed the highway in eastern direction.
Istanbul welcomed me according to all the typical prejudges. I was in a traffic jam for half an hour until i reached a traffic sign that announced the outskirts of Istanbul. Not considering the change in the time zone, I arrived perfectly for the rush hour. The remaining 40km to my destination took me 3 more hours. Uff.
Finally I reached the shared flat of Lenard in Kardiköy. Lenard (yes, the name is similar) is a friend from my bachelor studies. During his master studies, he does one semester abroad and lives together with Mustafa. Mustafa is a super nice guy, studying engineering.
All three together, we explored the city in the next days and i found a good friend in Mustafa. He did an excellent job showing me the beauty of Istanbul and I fell in love with the city. Thank you so much!

The famous blue mosque Sultan Ahmed

Galata Tower

Mustafa, Lenard and me (from the left to the right)

The mixture of the different districts, each with a unique character, is astonishing. All the important central areas can be reached by public transport ships crossing the Bosporus. 

This somehow resembles Venice, but provides a more authentic feeling. Of course, there are the crowded touristic places too as the blue mosque (it is called "Sultan Ahmed" here) and the Hagia Sophia, but there are also a lot of less famous places as "Valide Han". It is kind of an old  bazaar. Apart of some old workshops, all the other shops are closed. The true beauty is revealed on the crumbly unsecured rooftop, which offers an amazing view on the area around the Galata Tower, especially during sunset. In a hidden corner, you can even find an old weaving machine left behind.

Valide Han

Forgotten weaving machine

Street art is everywhere... in Kardiköy too.

Istanbul has so many faces. There are traditional things as the tea culture, which I admire a lot. They have street art and especially in Kardiköy, you can find good bars to have a great party.

But some bad things happened too. We passed the Vodafone Arena only 5 hours before the bomb exploded at the 10th December. It is a really sad story but in the next day the Istanbul people kept going like nothing happened. I was very impressed by their strong will and courage.