Glamour Istanbul
Like in many other big cities around Europe, also in Istanbul the practice of “brunch” is getting more common; a very nice and quite place to do so is the Limonlu Bahce, located in a hidden garden accessible from one of the narrow streets of the Galatasarai district, an oasis in the middle of the town. There you can enjoy a very lovely atmosphere and a good cuisine under the shadow of a lemon tree, a corner of pure local life! Interesting, the bathroom is literally built around a very big and ancient tree In Istanbul, as in the rest of Turkey, even the simplest of the food is very tasty and, in most of the cases, also quite cheap for European standards. Well, if you nevertheless wants to enjoy something a bit more exclusive, I would recommend you to visit 5KAT, a nice restaurant not far from Iskal Caddesi. It’s an open air terrace on the top of a 5 stories’ building (KAT means “floor” in Turkish); the view of the Bosphoros is simply amazing! The food is also delicious, you can have both traditional Turkish and/or international cuisine, pay attention to the wine tough, it’s veeeery expensive! www.5kat.Com (ask your hotel to make a reservation, it’s highly recommended) Night life: number one of the coolest club in town is “Reina”, an open-air club located along the Bosphorus, in the area of Ortakoy, precisely next to the gigantic Bosphoro Bridge. The scenery is enough to pay a visit to this very exclusive club a bit far away from Istanbul downtown, nevertheless the sound is also excellent and you’ll have a chance to see the wealthy elite of this huge city. Many costumers comes directly with their yacht, I recommend you to go by taxi and, very important, to be extremely elegant if you want to be in line with the standards of the place. Entrance fee approx. 25 euro, including drink www.Reina.Com.Tr Cezayir Sokak, also know as the “french street”: probably more visited by tourists than the other references I made (it’s also mentioned by the lonely planet), nevertheless this narrow street present a unique and romantic atmosphere, perfect for those of you that want to appreciate a more relaxed part of Istanbul. Any of the bars in the street can serve you a glass of very good wine to enjoy the scenery in one of the comfortable sofas along the street.
To conclude, many thanks to my friend Gunes for her perfect advices! It’s all I wanted to say (the rest is in the lonely planet 😉 I wish you a pleasant stay in Istanbul, it’s an amazing place, whatever you’ll do I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
-d.
