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Gotham City?

Towertown Revisited

October 8, 2016 by A. Cemal Ekin

Gotham City?

Jan and I are in Istanbul, visiting family and friends. In less than a week, Elif and Mina will arrive to spend the rest of our time together. I felt the same way as I did last year, the city I used to know and enjoy very much was gonee. In its place was a different town which I nicknamed last year, Towertown. Of course, fitting to the scene was one of the Trump Towers that only carries the man’s name.

As we traveled from the airport to our destination, the traffic was maddening as usual and the ever present cranes were stretching their arms, ready to lift the next thing to bring up high. The architectural style of the towers is nouveau riche with ostentatious components and presence. In the dimmer light of the early evening, some parts reminded me of the Gotham City waiting for Batman!

As we approached the Bosphorus Bridge, probably the only bridge in the world that connects two continents, the hills of Camlica appeared covered with piled on apartments, communication towers (they are towers too, you know), and a new mosque, large enough to accommodate 1,000 people at once. Istanbul is extremely rich in terms of mosques but you cannot have enough mosques!

The next day we went to Kuzguncuk, a small village on the Asian side that maintains its texture despite being right across a mass of towers on the European side. Lunch at Ismet Baba was pleasant with palamut fish (bonito?) in-season. We enjoyed the fish and the scene outside. Back at home, we toured the garden and the greenhouse to see the newly labeled flower collection in the garden.

Here are some scenes from the first couple days.

Gotham City?
Waiting for Batman?
Trump Towers
Varied, ostentatious architechture
The everpresent cranes
Made by you
Towers, towers everywhere
Crossing from Europe to Asia
A new mosque and communication towers
Once covered with pine trees, Camlica
The Crow of Kuzguncuk
Towers dwarfing everything
Cargo ship passing
Ortakoy Mosque and a boat
Container cargo ship passing
Kuzguncuk
Feeling the squeeze
From the garden
The greenhouse
Petals on the floor

Category: Family, TravelTag: Istanbul, Photography, Travel

Previous Post: « Colors #1 22–Minutes in the Mall
Next Post: Istanbul 2016 – 2 »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. blaine ellis

    October 8, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    Sad what is happening to Istanbul. Sorry I never got to see Ara Guler’s Istanbul. But all in all it still my favorite city.

    • A. Cemal Ekin

      October 9, 2016 at 2:46 am

      Blaine, apparently about 20 million people agree with you as the population exploded in Istanbul. I got to know Ara Guler’s istanbul, it was a city with much character and history. Perhaps that is the main reason why I feel so sad about the city. In some corners one can still find the remnants of Guler’s Istanbul. And, I say all these not because I oppose progress, but abhor erasing the traces of history, time, and culture. But, of course, I am glad that you find things to enjoy there, and thanks for stopping by.

      Cemal

  2. Haluk Atamal

    October 9, 2016 at 12:57 am

    It was great to have met Jan and you in face. For this occasion, I will give some positive points to the TowerCity because She embraced us and brought us together.
    Rest is still ugly as you have very thoroughly documented in your beautiful photographs.

    • A. Cemal Ekin

      October 9, 2016 at 2:53 am

      Indeed, Haluk, it was great to meet you and Turkan last night. I wish we were in Ara Guler’s, Old Istanbul, but … I hope that we will have another chance to see each other. Take care, hello to you and Turkan. Have a nice trip to Azerbaijan.

      Cemal

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