"New" Istanbul

Monday we took the new town walk, riding the tram from Sultanahmet to Kabatas and then the funicular up the hill to Taksim Square, walking Istiklal St. and then Galip Dede (I think) down to Tunel and the Galata Bridge.

The Kabatos/Taksim funicular

The very famous Republic Monument and 

Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey

Istiklal St., main drag, fashionable shoppes,

pedestrianized, crowded, even on a Monday

morning; the area burned in the later 19th

century and was rebuilt with lots of Art

Nouveau



Ceiling dome at Haci Abdullah (1888) where we had lunch;

lamb and chicken shishes, tomato and cucumber salad, tea,

coffee...

The old-fashioned way

In a kebabery

In the mother of all pashmina shoppes; fortunately, after

Nepal, Thailand, etc., we are so over pashminas

In the mother of all Turkish glass stores: too fragile to buy,

fortunately; not pictured is Haci Bekir, the mother of all

Turkish delight stores; fortunately, not breakable, so we

loaded up...

Cafeterias like this are very popular



Down-sloping alley cafe

At this point we left Istaklal and walked

down Galip Dede; in three blocks there must

have been fifty (50) musical instrument stores,

most general, some specialized, like this, the

(traditional) percussion store

Or this, the cymbal store

A few blocks later we are into the trophy and sign district

And, finally, having passed the Galata Tower (pictured

elsewhere), down to the Galata Bridge, we are in the

hardware district