[PetrolRider]

I just loved this awesome thread and your crisp writing.

Somehow, you made me nostalgic as Istanbul was my home for 1 year in 2007. Much has changed since, but a lot are still same.

It was a good decision to skip Galata tower, there is just old broken stairs going up and no you cannot climb them. You skipped Top Kapi too, but what about Dolmabache palace? There used to be an old Funicular underground system (pulley based) from Galata till Istecal Chadezi.

Dolmus are pronounce as Do(h)moosh and when pronounced Domuz, it means pig and most likely your Dolmus driver is a follower of Islam and would take it as an offense.

Did you have a chance to visit Anatolia side of Istanbul, Bagdat Chadezi used to be a very upmarket area with lots of high-end shops, cafes and sports cars.

[rst89]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

I just loved this awesome thread and your crisp writing.

Somehow, you made me nostalgic as Istanbul was my home for 1 year in 2007. Much has changed since, but a lot are still same.

It was a good decision to skip Galata tower, there is just old broken stairs going up and no you cannot climb them. You skipped Top Kapi too, but what about Dolmabache palace? There used to be an old Funicular underground system (pulley based) from Galata till Istecal Chadezi.

Dolmus are pronounce as Do(h)moosh and when pronounced Domuz, it means pig and most likely your Dolmus driver is a follower of Islam and would take it as an offense.

Did you have a chance to visit Anatolia side of Istanbul, Bagdat Chadezi used to be a very upmarket area with lots of high-end shops, cafes and sports cars.

Galata tower has stairs fixed right now. I didn't use the funicular railway to go from Karakoy to Beyoglu.

Somehow visiting Dolmabache palace got missed from my radar. I did see the palace during the Bosphorus strait cruise but from distance.

I only visited Kadıköy on the Asian side of Istanbul.

The one year stay of you in Istanbul would have been quite memorable.

[ajmat]

The Dolumbace Palace is worth it but you need to get there first thing. I felt the Galata tower looks better from a distance. We walked from Taksim to Galata, it looked underwhelming so we carried on back to SultanAhmet

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by rst89

Galata tower has stairs fixed right now. I didn't use the funicular railway to go from Karakoy to Beyoglu.

Somehow visiting Dolmabache palace got missed from my radar. I did see the palace during the Bosphorus strait cruise but from distance.

Originally Posted by ajmat

The Dolumbace Palace is worth it but you need to get there first thing. I felt the Galata tower looks better from a distance.

+1 to Ajmet, Dolmabache is one of the star attraction, but again it is the most crowded one. As far as I remember, would take half a day to cover and very limited English guided tour available.

But, again as they, Istanbul is not a place, but a soul. You cannot cover it in a week, can you.

Originally Posted by rst89

I only visited Kadıköy on the Asian side of Istanbul.

The one year stay of you in Istanbul would have been quite memorable.

Memorable indeed. Its almost 12 years, but memories are still fresh as yesterday.

[Ranger747]

Amazing travelouge! Its awesome that you did all this in just below 80K! I would have thought this might run to lakhs. Nice writing and pictures too. Made me miss my short time in Europe. Its a motivation to plan for something in the future.