Istanbul at night

Last night I was finally able to walk around town after I finished my group meetings. We are at a hotel not far from Taksim Square, right in the heart of the city and I took a walk to the metro station over there to get the Istanbul Transport Kart and catch the subway towards the Galata Tower, one of the many sights in the city.

This is the view from the terrace of the hotel during the sunset.

We walked towards Taksim Square and the mosque was all beautifully lit up

This is the view further away when we just got out of the metro station.

Then we walked through one busy tiny street towards the tower

On the way back we decided to walk instead of taking the subway again. The temperature was quite nice and the streets were all crowded even though it was a Tuesday. We had a chance to stop by some of the local stores.

Until we reached the famous İstiklal Avenue, full of luxury local candy stores.

And the famous cable car

We then decided to get lost in the tiny streets surrounding İstiklal Avenue as it is full of tourists and we preferred to have some local food. We ended up tasting a local Turkish döner kebab

And some grilled chestnuts

And we ended up having some Turkish tea with an apple and mint pipe smoke at one of the many street cafes.

I love the crowded chaos of the city with all the busy life but after a long working day, it was a pleasure to have a nice walk and dinner in the busy streets.