Istanbul for free

Yet another hidden gem in the always surprising city of Istanbul is located on the Asian side, in Kadiköy. There, located in some in the first glimpse normal streets of a standard neighborhood of Istanbul, around almost every corner there is an impressive piece of street art to find .  Backstreet Street Art The street art in the backstreets of Kadiköy mainly features murals  which have been painted during the Muralist Festival   2012 and 2013. For those who wonder what a mural is, a mural is is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. But now some of those impressive and marvelous murals should speak for themselves. Here are three out of eleven wall high murals, not counting all the graffitis which are to be found around the area.  Occupy Antartica from B.Shanti of the artist collective " Captain Borderline ".  Elephant at Night by South African rooted artist Freddy Sam  Re...

This is the first post about something which is not free, but might save everybody some money. As local markets are by far the best option to buy fruits, vegetables and cheese cheap in Istanbul. Saying that it needs to be stated that the ones which are Organic Markets are relatively expensive in comparison to the normal ones, but they are still cheaper as all the organic supermarkets in Istanbul.  And at least the unique atmosphere of a more or less packed Turkish Market is for free and nevertheless priceless! List of Local Markets in Istanbul To provide a better overview here the markets sorted by days:  Monday Markets Bahcelievler - Next to Türk Böbrek Vakfi  Göztepe - Next to Selamicesme Özgürlük Park, starting at the Selamicesme railroad bridge Tuesday Markets Clothes Street Market in Istanbul Arnavutköy - Close to the Arnavutköy bus stop Bahcesehir - "Pazartürk", located between Bahcesehir and Esenkent Bakirköy - Zuhurat Baba, Karabal Avenue, ne...

Yet another sight in Istanbul, but one which is often not overseen but not visited. Assumingly because it is a little bit of the beaten track and located in Kadiköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul. Nevertheless the Haydarpasa Railway Station is for sure one of most grand and important symbols of the city. It is situated next to the wharf in Kadiköy and has a unique architecture, representing German renaissance.  Neoclassical Haydarpasa Railway Station Haydarpasa Railway Station, Kadiköy, Istanbul © Nevit Dilmen The neoclassical Haydarpasa  building, basically a gift to the Sultan  Abdul Hamid II   from German Kaiser Wilhelm II, was built by the Anatolia-Baghdad Corporation, according to plans carried out by the German architects  Otto Ritter von Kühlmann and Hellmuth Cuno,  between 1906 and 1908. Its foundation is 1100 wooden piles, each 21 meters long, driven into the mushy shore by steam hammer. It outer appearance resembles to a certain d...