Beautiful places of Barcelona and Catalonia: TURKEY

After nine days in Turkey, six of them in Istanbul, I must admit that Istanbul has surprised me. Istanbul is a really lively and warm city with an special charm. There are always a lot of people walking along its streets, which made me feel quite comfortable.

And the other 3 days we visited Cappadocia, a region of central Anatolia, where nature has created really amazing shapes. It's really worth walking between this strange shapes and enjoying the other secrets this region hides.

I will try to show you this charm and beauty of Istanbul and Cappadocia in the following posts with some photos I took throughout this trip. In this post, some photos of our first day in Istanbul (in fact, our first evening and night in Istanbul because we arrived at 6pm).

This postcard summarizes quite accurately how I remember Istanbul: a warm city, really occidental but with an oriental charm present in every corner of the city

Visits of the day

Istiklal Caddesi *

Galata tower

Pub Hayal Kahvesi

* Strongly recommended

Our first walk in Istanbul was in Istiklal Caddesi. A really crowded boulevard ideal for shopping, where people share this avenue with an old fashioned tram. This tram can take you from Tünel Square to Taksim Square

Galata tower in Istanbul, built by the Genoese in the 6th century to monitor shipping, is 60 meters high

Walking along Istiklal Caddesi we reached Tünel Square, where the tram has its first stop (photo taken by Elena Senao - http://elenasenao.com -, a freelance photographer friend of us)

After this first contact with Istanbul we went to a restaurant where we could enjoy a really delicious soup and other typical dishes of turkish gastronomy

Elena, our friend who lives in Istanbul, suggested this restaurant and other ones in the following days where we really enjoyed our meals

And after having dinner, we went to Hayal, a pub near Istiklal Caddesi and Taksim where there is always good live music

Clicking on the next link, our first day in Istanbul visiting Sultanahmet. Besides, clicking on the next link you will find links to the most beautiful places in Istanbul and Cappadocia we visited during this trip.

You can see more pictures of these days I spent in Istanbul and Cappadocia clicking on the links below:

- First day in Istanbul

- Second day in Istanbul

- The three days we spent in Cappadocia

- Third day in Istanbul

- Fourth day in Istanbul

- Last day in Istanbul

Finally, other great cities I have already visited are: