All posts in europe

091111 | turkey: istanbul

with a similar tone of humility that in the previous post about thailand, i regard turkey as another of the most amazing places overall in all senses. there is so much to see, do, feel, and explore. so much to understand and yet so welcoming.

in just an afternoon’s time, i rushed off my plane to make the best out of my layover in istanbul today. took my camera out and checked my carry-on in the airport lockers. i hopped on the subway, switched to the tram and got out at the sultanahmet station. within a 15 minute walk, i was in front of the sultan ahmed mosque, situated just another 15 minutes away from the hagia sophia. within this 1km radius, i saw more than i could digest for the next 2 hours, and ate more than i could understand. maybe the other way around as well.

in a completely different environment, with huge language barriers, and terrible sense of location, i felt welcome. i was greeted with smiles, while some others posed in front of my lens and some other “extra friendly” people asked me to “go have tea with them”.

083111 | spain: madrid, toledo, zaragoza, barcelona

i wasn’t completely free to go explore, though i did get a chance to shoot around most touristy places in these three cities.

madrid was definitely but unexpectedly my favorite. not only did i enjoy the overall environment, but i was able to catch up with very dear friends. there was still much to see and do, creating a great impression as a port of entry. the inter city transition was nice though, going from madrid to toledo to zaragoza and ending in barcelona, the only place i had previously been to.

i did witness some change in barcelona from two years back as well. the city, as beautiful as it is, has been affected by the country’s financial situation.

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