Thursday, January 8, 2015

Istanbul, Turkey: My Favorite Place Between Two Continents

Of all of the places I have been to in the world, one has truly captured my heart. Sprawled across two continents, is the city of Istanbul. A place where the east truly does meet the west, as far as culture and tradition go. It's easy to be a tourist in the city. I saw all of the historical sites, the museums, and drank all of the çay I could endure.

(Image information: personal photo of the 
Galata Tower; photo from July 2014).


More than the beautiful sites, savory food, and mixed culture, though, I fell in love with the people. I did a number of different things in Istanbul that summer, but for the majority of the time, I got to make friends with university students. I loved their culture, their sayings, and their friendship. But, most of all, I loved that we could relate on a heart level. After all, we are all human, no matter our culture or beliefs. 
(Image information: personal photo with a friend 
at a çay cafe in Istanbul; photo from June 2014.)



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  1. Laura GibbsJanuary 8, 2015 at 10:30 PM

    This post made me so happy, Dakota - Istanbul is one of my all-time favorite places, too. I went there when I had a Eurail pass way back in summer of 1986, just on a lark really because it was the farthest place you could go on a Eurail pass... and I WAS AMAZED. Every minute of every day in that city was like magic! Wonderful! I know you are in the Indian Epics class, but you might be interested in the Turkish unit in the Myth-Folklore class; it's based on a fabulous book of Turkish fairy tales: public domain, so it is free to read online too! Great stories in there! :-)

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