izard

Just returned from trip to Istanbul and Izmir. Istanbul is certainly the most amazing city I've been to so far.
Turkish bird is a younger sibling of a german bird :)

Turkish Airlines btw serves great food in economy. Even on domestic flight that takes just 50 minutes, they manage to serve a very tasty food in reasonable quantities, not just a sandwitch.

View from the first hotel in Istanbul. Construction goes round the clock. When I've been to Russia recently everyone told me "they build more and more shopping malls, who needs so many?" This is axactly the same what ppl in Istanbul were saying.

Bosphorus.

Bosphorus in late evening.

Bosphorus at night as seen from a hill.

Bridge over Bosphorus.

Thanks to our hosts, despite practically having zero free time, we were shown a bit of the city.

Rain on Taxim square. Not the best time for those selling coffee, but business on umbrellas goes well.