Before crossing the Golden Horn to the New District, Nick and I visited the Rüstem Paşa mosque. It is a small mosque not far from the Spice Market, whose exterior and interior are richly decovered with 16th century Iznik tiles.
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| Nick under the portico covering the courtyard of the Rüstem Paşa mosque |
Having spent a considerable amount of time obsorbing the tiles' floral patterns, we crossed the Galata Bridge and visited the well hidden (down a tiny alley) and rather empty Museum of Turkish Jews. For example, I did not know that in the 1930s the Turkish government invited many German and Austrian Jewish scietists and professors to relocate and continue their work in Turkey in order to escape the Nazi regime.
Our next adventure was the Galata Tower. There was quite a crowd on the viewing platform, but the views were well worth the pushing and shoving.
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| View of the Bosphorus Straight and Bosphorus Bridge from Galata Tower |
After the tower we continued walking up the hill and soon reached Istiklal Street--the main pedestrian "drag" of the New District. This street was very busy as promised by our guide book, but pleasantly there were as many (if not more) locals as tourists strolling by. We followed Istiklal Caddesi all the way up to Taksim Square. On the way we counted at least 3 Burger King joints, several Starbucks cafes, and a few clothing stores whose names we actually recognized, among many other fancy stores, cafes and restaurants full of locals.
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| Looking down Istiklal Caddesi |
Taksim Square was partially closed off to pedestrians, and it was only after we got back to our hotel that we realized that there was a suicide bombing there in the morning.
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| Republic Monument in Taksim Square |
From Taksim Square we walked down to the water on the Bosphorus Straight and enjoyed the sunset.
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| Bosphorus Bridge |
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| With Bosphorus Bridge behind me | Nick with Hagia Sophia in the background |
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