A beautiful and interesting video showing Istanbul in 1967. The time that there were no intercontinental bridges, no skyscrapers, no traffic jams, and much fewer people.
Continue reading “Istanbul in 1967 (video)”Snow in Istanbul?
Most Europeans and Americans think that Istanbul is an Arabic city in the desert. Simply, it’s not. It’s cold, humid, rainy, and even snowy in winter. Rain is also common in late spring and June.
Continue reading “Snow in Istanbul?”St. Anthony of Padua Church
St. Anthony of Padua Church is the largest church of the Roman Catholic Church in Istanbul. It is located on İstiklal Avenue (see notes 1) in the historic Beyoğlu (Pera) district, the social and cultural center of Istanbul.
It is also known as the Sant’Antonio di Padova Church, S. Antonio di Padova, St. Antoine, or locally as Sen Antuan.
Continue reading “St. Anthony of Padua Church”Olympos ancient city (Antalya, Turkey)
Olympos is an ancient Lycian city, its ruins lie at the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, in the borders of Antalya province, in a river valley near the coast. It was presumably taking its name from nearby 2,375 meters height (7,792 feet) Mount Olympos (or Mount Olympus – Turkish: Tahtalı Dağı, Timber Mountain), one of over twenty mountains with the name Olympos (Olympus) in the Classical world.
Continue reading “Olympos ancient city (Antalya, Turkey)”Uzunya Beach
Uzunya is a small and beautiful cove in the north of Istanbul, near the Black Sea. It has a beautiful beach, one of the best beaches in Istanbul actually. There’s also a restaurant on the beach.
I went there during a training road bike ride. It is a good place for a train ride because it has a steep road, and very little car traffic.
Continue reading “Uzunya Beach”Cycling through the Black Sea shore
I went for a training ride yesterday with two friends. We headed up to the north and cycled through the Black Sea shore. We climbed a lot.
First, we headed to Kısırkaya, where the road has a lot of short-but-really-steep (up to 20%) climbs.
Cycling to Karaburun
Karaburun is a small village in the northeast of Istanbul, near the Black Sea. Me and two friends cycled there and swam in the sea.
Continue reading “Cycling to Karaburun”Maiden’s Tower
Since the medieval Byzantine period, 200 meters off the shore of the Salacak district in Üsküdar, at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus, a tower lyes on a small islet: The Maiden’s Tower (Turkish: Kız Kulesi).
It is also (mistakenly) known as Leander’s Tower (Tower of Leandros), which comes from one of many legends about the construction. Mistakenly, because the legend of Hero and Leander took place in the Dardanelles, not in the Bosphorus.
Continue reading “Maiden’s Tower”A bike ride on a sunny but windy day
1st day of April… It was windy but sunny and warm. I jumped on my bike and ride it to the North, to the Black Sea.
Rumeli Lighthouse (Turkish: Rumeli Feneri, aka Türkeli Feneri), a historical lighthouse still in use, is located on the European side of Bosphorus‘ Black Sea entrance in Istanbul, Turkey. Rumeli (or Rumelia) is the former name for the Turkish lands in Europe. It is across from the Anadolu Feneri lighthouse, which is on the Asian side of the strait at a distance of 2 nautical miles (3.7 km).
Continue reading “A bike ride on a sunny but windy day”A bike ride on a chilly, sunny Sunday morning
Another Sunday bike ride in Istanbul: I started as early as 6:00 in the morning, first headed to South (Ortaköy), then climbed up to Maden (Sarıyer) and went to Rumeli Lighthouse village.
At the end of the ride, I covered 83 km and climbed 921 meters in 2:54:38 (avg. 28.50 kph)
Then I returned back to home through Kocataş. Here are the photos below, enjoy.