Bucket List *Istanbul, Turkey*

"Oh, the places I could travel and the countries I could see..."

My love to arrive at new destinations keeps itching at me more day by day. The fact that I sit in a small cubicle with no windows lets my mind wander to these destinations only possible for now with a computer or a phone that is connected to the internet. 

Today my wanderlust grew more towards an old Byzantium or Constantinople country known to modern day as Turkey. Known to be a transition of Asia into Europe and vice versa, Turkey holds very strong cultural relevance rich in history which makes the country one of my top places to visit.

For nearly a thousand years, this country stood as the last remaining outpost for the Roman Empire before it was finally conquered by Ottomon Sultan Mehmed II in 1453 expanding the Ottomon empire even further thus giving birth to the Republic of Turkey in 1923. This is sometimes also marked as the end of the middle ages. Today Turkey has its population almost 14 million and increases at an estimate of 400,000 immigrants per year.

Turkey is divided into seven geographical regions separated according to their climate, location, agricultural diversities, human habitat, topography, etc. Located on the Mediterranean, separated by the Turkish Straits, with the Black Sea to the north and the Aegean Sea in the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south west.

Istanbul is one of the largest cities in Turkey, also ranked as the world's most populous cities and the world's 5th largest city proper. A former capital of Ottomon and Byzantine Empires situated between the two continents of Asia and Europe. Its commercial and Historical center lies on the European side and about a third of its population lives on the Asian side.

The name Istanbul colloquially is commonly held to derive from the Medieval Greek phrase meaning "to the city" and this is also how Constantinople was referred to by the local Greeks.

Some beautifully captured images of Istanbul from Google images :

and then the market images of colorful porcelains, spices, dried fruits and the local cuisine especially the donair and hummus which is my favourite: