If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul. ~Alphonse de Lamartine
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”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”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.
It’s March now and March is the month of misty, chilly mornings in Istanbul. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the roads were empty. A perfect day for a bike ride in Istanbul!
The roads would be crowded soon, so I hurried to ride my bike for an hour or two.
It was really chilly and misty this morning. I first did a fast downhill to the Bosphorus, then headed south to Ortaköy.
Continue reading “A bike ride in Istanbul on a beautiful morning”On the European side of Istanbul, just one kilometer away from Maslak, one of the main business districts of the city, there is a lovely place to spend some time in greenery: Emirgan Park. It overlooks the Bosphorus (see notes 1) in the suburb of Emirgan. It is one of the largest parks in Istanbul. There are lovely gardens, a grotto, fountains, quiet picnic areas, and three former Ottoman pavilions (they are in use as restaurants now) in the park.
Continue reading “Emirgan Park”Jason Moran’s “Ringing My Phone” (Straight Outta Istanbul) features a sampled phone conversation between a girl (his hostess) and her mother in Turkish.
Continue reading “Ringing My Phone (Jason Moran & The Bandwagon)”The photos below are taken on a snowy January day in Belgrade Forest, near Bahçeköy (meaning garden village). Bahçeköy is one of the Northern Villages of Sarıyer, Istanbul. It was formerly the Byzantine Petra District. In the 19th century, the village was inside the Belgrade forest but due to the latter’s retreat before development, Bahcekoy now sits on the forest’s edge. The Belgrade Forest looks amazing under snow.
Continue reading “Belgrade Forest under snow”We went for a bicycle ride with a couple of friends to the Asian side of Istanbul. We crossed the Bosphorus by boat. And I took some photos on a beautiful September morning.
Continue reading “Crossing the Bosphorus by Boat”
