ISTANBUL

With this article, I want people to know all they need, to make a great journey to Istanbul.  So I hope I will help you as much as I can.

Istambul

I love travelling and knowing new places, and from all the places I have been, the most different and beautiful one that I have visited, it's Istanbul. The only problem its that I went to Istanbul with only 9 years, and although I could see how beautiful it was, I couldn't appreciate all the beautiful and different things. Clearly, it’s better to go when you are older. I would go again without thinking it twice.

Istanbul, historically known as  Constantinople, is located in the north-west of Turkey. It has a lot of gorgeous buildings and places of interest, that you can’t forget to visit.

This are some of the most important ones:

Santa Sofía museum

1 Santa Sofía museum: It’s one of the most important architectural works in the world. Continues to fulfill its historic mission: 916 years as a church, then, 481 years as a mosque, and finally, since 1935 as a museum. It is really beautiful and awesome.  When I went there, I was impressed how beautiful it was.

2 The blue mosque:  This is the most important mosque from Istanbul. Has five minarets, unlike all other mosques that have three or less. Is the mosque with more minarets of the world. As the name says, you can see clearly from a distance the blue color it has, given by the 20,000 blue tiles adorning the dome. I went to visit it with my grandparets, and all of as, we had to take off our shoes, and my grandmother and I, we had to put a veil on our heads.

Bosphorous bridge

3 Bosphorus bridge: One of the reasons why Istanbul is as famous as it is, is due to a really special bridge, that separates Europe from Asia, The Bosphorus bridge. More or less, measures 1500 metres. We pass by there many times, and I have to say, that the views were awesome.

4 The big bazaar: It's the biggest market in Istanbul. It has a 45.000 m2 area, were 20.000 people work. More or less 300.000 - 500.000 people go to visit it per day. This bazaar, has more than 3.600 shops and 64 streets. For me, was practically impossible, to visit all the markets, and we spend a lot of time there, but we had a great time.

The call to prayer

The culture, also is an important aspect in this place, because, It’s very different from other countries. For example, as I said before, to enter The blue mosque, you have to take off your shoes and if you are a woman, put a veil on your head. This is because of their religion, the islam. The 90% of the population is muslim, and all these people, pray the “ezam” six times a day, looking at Mecca, a Saudi Arabian city.

The gastronomy in Istanbul is very peculiar, because apart from the kebab we all know, they also cook: chicken with honey, Lüfer (typical Bosphorus fish), Baklava (walnuts with filo dough and honey)... and also their typical drinks are: Ayran (yoghurt, water and salt) and Raki (turkish anise).

In conclusion, I completely think that, to go to Istanbul, is a very beautiful experience. I recommend you to go there, know different cultures, visit beautiful places, taste new flavours, live amazing experiences and above all, enjoy a lot!

Have a nice trip! xxx