Things to do in Amsterdam

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 Amsterdam Every year, to celebrate my birthday, I travel somewhere, in 2019 I went to Morocco , in 2020 to Israel and this year (2022) I decided to visit Amsterdam. It was a long time since I wanted to visit this city and there I have a friend that I wanted to see, so with these three points combined, I decided to visit Amsterdam in winter. I spent five days in Amsterdam and I visited the city plus some places outside like Zaanse Schans, Zandvoort and Haarlem. One important thing is that I forgot my camera so all the pictures were taken with my phone, maybe the quality is not high but I think they are anyway beautiful. Amsterdam is the capital and the most populous city of the Netherlands, with a population close to a million. It is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the north" due to the large number of canals which form a UNESCO world heritage site since 2010. Amsterdam was founded at the Amstel, the city's name derives from the Amstel dam, originating as a sm

Things to do in Istanbul, Turkish wedding | Travel Blog

Istanbul

This was my first trip outside Europe since 2019, my destination was Kyrgyzstan, where I was for two months. I had to transit in Istanbul so I decided to stop there for 4 days.

What impressed me the most was how welcoming Turkish people are, an amazing memory I will keep with me forever is the Turkish wedding I attended.

When I am travelling alone I usually try to meet locals and live with them or at least hangout. This time I met Onur who invited me to his sister's wedding, he picked me up from the airport and directly to the wedding, really an unusual start to a trip!. 



There I met his relatives, ate good food and dance a lot, an amazing experience!. One of the first things that Onur told me was: "you will learn Turkish dances!", I don't know if I learn them, but for sure I practice a lot, I'm confident there are tons of videos of me dancing at that wedding.

Topkapi Palace Museum

The day after Onur helped me to visit the most important things downtown, and one of these was Topkapi Palace. 
This was the residence of the sultans, now it is a museum, and it let you immerse in the sultan's life during the ottoman empire.





It is a very touristic place, you have to buy a ticket to enter, but it is beautiful and there is an amazing view of the Bosphorus.

Hagia Sophia

The second thing that I visited that day with Onur was the famous, nowadays, mosque. Because of COVID, it was not really crowded and there was no queue at the entrance.





The story of this building is fascinating, at the beginning it was a church, then a mosque, after a museum and now a mosque again. Nowadays the entrance is free.

Karakoy

For dinner, we went to this area of the city, one of the most dynamic with a lot of bars and restaurants; I liked it, it is really European. We had a nice Turkish dinner, I tried two different dishes in a good and cheap restaurant.




After dinner, I met with another friend, she should have hosted me but she couldn't. We met for a drink and after we found a place where to watch the final match of the euro cup, nice night.

The Blue Mosque

The day after, alone, I started from the blue mosque. I didn't know it was in the renovation, so inside you can't see much. Anyway even only from the outside is very beautiful!.


Grand Bazaar

I couldn't wait to visit the grand bazaar, I love these kinds of places, you can learn a lot from the local culture and usually, they are crowded and full of life.
Visiting this place gave me that feeling that I had when I was travelling before the pandemic, I was happy with my heart full of love.





It is one of the largest and oldest cover markets in the world, with 61 streets and over 4000 shops. This bazaar is also regarded as one of the first shopping malls in the world.

Suleymaniye Mosque

This mosque is up on a hill and it was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificient. I was lucky because I went there just before the pray of the afternoon ('asr) and they let me stay there and take the pictures you can see here. 






In the mosque, I had the opportunity to talk with a volunteer that was there to inform tourists about the history of the building and the Muslim culture. We end up passing all the evening together talking about everything: religions, cultures and ourselves. It was a beautiful exchange and we are still texting each other.
I have to stop here, at the half of my trip, because the post will be too long, soon the second part.

Comments

  1. I loved this post! Istanbul has been on my list for so long as it looks so fun and packed with history and culture. How amazing that you met some people here and still in touch, that says a lot about the lovely Turkish people. I can't wait to go one day :) Thanks for sharing your experience.

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    1. Thank you for your nice comment! I was lucky to find wonderful people, but Turkish people are welcoming and lovely in general

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  2. I am so in love with Istanbul and wish to someday visit it alone.
    I so wish to go here ❤️. I secretly wish to get some proposal as an artits or writer and get a call to stay there. 😝 (Just a fantasy)
    It was great to read you had such a great time i was told Turkish people are not that welcoming but glad to read its other way round.

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    Replies
    1. From my experience Turkish people are lovely! You can work as digital nomad and write from there!

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  3. Thanks for sharing your experiences in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey 🇹🇷 is on my list of places to visit. Your pics are awesome 👌.

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  4. istanbul looks cool, what other place you gonna vist next? Alyssa Blogger from https://alyssagermaine.com

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    1. Today I will post the second part of my trip to Istanbul, so you will know soon

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  5. What a great trip! It must have been fun learning more about the culture and exploring new places. If you took another trip there, which places would you revisit?

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    1. Thank you!! It was a great trip, I would revisit the grand bazaar for sure! I loved that place and it is so big that for sure there are other things to see!

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    2. True! I can't imagine how many new shops you would be able to explore! It would probably take you at least a few days to visit all the places that interested you.

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    3. Yes, and for me visit these kind of places is like to sneak into the locals life, see how is their daily routine, what they eat, buy etc...

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  6. Love this post! I had booked my trip to Instabul for 2020 but I had to cancel it due to Covid. Can't wait to plan it again 😊

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  7. Istanbul looks absolutely amazing and I would love to go to the Hagia Sophia as I have read much about its history. Going to a wedding in a foreign country is such a good way truly experience a country beyond its main tourist attractions.

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    1. I'm officially in Love with Istanbul, and I thing big part of it is because of the wedding, an experience I will never forget

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  8. This is really cool to see another country and a Turkish wedding. Thanks for sharing!!
    ~Michelle
    https://michellescrazybusylife.net

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  9. Nice blog, thankyou for shairng keep it will helpull for who are explore the world best tour of your life with us.
    Istanbul Turkey Tour

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  10. Wonderful blog. I came to know many things about Istanbul
    Thanks for sharing
    Cheap flights to istanbul

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I appreciate that you like read it!

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  11. Aw! Now I miss Istanbul! What a wonderful city I absolutely loved it. I went a few years ago and have to say Hagia Sophia absolutely took my breath away. It's such a diverse city so rich in history and the people were so friendly, not to mention the food is absurdly good!! :) Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. Thank you for this nice comment! I had the same experience in Istanbul and I can't wait to come back!

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  12. Such amazing images and a fun time. I feel like I went on the tour of the city with you. Amazing.

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  13. This sounds like an incredible trip; I have never been to Turkey but have seen so many interesting travel posts and documentaries that I would one day love to visit!

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    1. Yes, I really suggest you to visit Istanbul and Turkey!

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