Shopping, sleeping, eating …

Posted by Istanbulboy on November 5, 2010 · 5 Comments 

The above mentioned pleasures can obviously also be enjoyed in Istanbul. And you can jump from SoHo/Shoreditch to Avenue Montaigne to Oxford Street – all in one day here in Istanbul.

Last Saturday I took the Metro from Şişhane (the stop is just around the corner from me) to Osmanbey – and within minutes one dives into a totally different Istanbul. The district is called Nişantaşı. It is located north of Taksim Square and there you can find the Bond Streets of Istanbul. It was my first time that I went to this part of town – and I could not believe how different it is. It is like landing on Avenue Montaigne, having just started the journey at the fish market by Galata Bridge … Prada, Hermes, Tods, Armani, Burberry … You name it, it is there. The pavements are wide and straight (!) and new. There are brasseries and cafés, girls with Dior and Gucci bags … Miles away from the Grand Bazaar in Sultanahmet…

Prada opened in September; their first shop in Turkey

and LV, of course ...

Upper East Side NYC? - No, Nişantaşı Istanbul!

the jeunesse dorée ...

After my Gucci-Prada-overdoes, I returned to my stomping ground, which is near the Shoreditch/SoHo of Istanbul. The district is called Çukurcuma and is south-east of Istiklal Caddesi. Here the world looks very different – and in my view much more interesting and a far far cry from Nişantaşı …

Çukurcuma Street

skater shop FREEDOM in Yeniçarşı Caddesi no. 34

FREEDOM shop window

Lazy on Yeniçarşı Caddesi no. 9

Antijen on Yeniçarşı Caddesi no. 11

tailor-made at Antijen

second-hand bookshop - rare photo books! Yeniçarşı Caddesi no. 7

Pi Artworks - contemporary art gallery, Kadirler Yokuşu no. 69/1

Galeri Apel - contemporary art gallery, Hayriye Caddesi no. 5A

http://galleryapel.com/go.php?page=anasayfa&lan=EN

EDISYON - photography gallery Bostanbaşı Caddesi no. 20A

DeForm Müzik - rare vintage record shop on Turnacıbaşi Sokak no. 45

So, and in between all these shopping finds, one has to eat!

Café Kedi - wonderfully local coffee place

good local Turkish traditional meat dishes at Çukurcuma Köftecisi on Hacioğlu no. 1, next to Café Kedi,

breakfast, coffee, tea place with great pizza! - Çukurcuma 49 on Turnacibaşi Caddesi no. 49 A

And between the most intriguing and obscure interior decorating shops is a rather splendid hotel on Bostanbaşi Caddesi. It is part of the HOUSE chain in Istanbul: http://www.thehousehotel.com/en/GALATASARAY/galatasaray.html.

HOUSE Hotel Galatasaray

and there is still so much more!!!!

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