When still studying I had the opportunity to do my internship in Turkey. Due to some -unforseen- circumstances I ended up living for 1,5 years in Istanbul. First, the European part in which I was living in the famous (not for good reasons) Dolapdere, Taksim. Later on the company I was working for decided to move to another continent (read; the Asian side) so I ended up living in Moda, Kadikoy.

At that time, I had a lot of fun but as I hadn’t finished my education I was forced to return. That was already over 5 years ago in which I didn’t visit Turkey at all. Last year I joined my parents to Inegöl which is a small city near Bursa in the Asian part of Turkey. I took the opportunity to visit Istanbul for 3 days on my way back to Europe. Used this time to visit old places (specifically the “pilav cart guy” and the lahmacun shop in Dolapdere).

Istanbul is nice, it is a city of contrasts. People from all walks of life, poor, rich, laid back, busy whatever you can imagine are present in this city of 16 million. I specifically like the way people live over in Istanbul when comparing this to the Netherlands. More time for thought and in general more laid back.