Taksim Square, Art + Hipster Central

Had a bite to eat before reaching Taksim Square. It was nothing special and I tried to imagine the mass of people who had been here protesting not long ago. Some teenagers were showing off their rollerblading skills but I was unable to photograph them.

From here I made my way down the steep stairways towards the coast. I sat by the sea, saw some mosques and spent (wasted) some money on Istanbul Modern Art Gallery (These artists are better bullshitters than me) I mean I tried to be artsy fartsy but there's only so many naked fat contorted ladies I can put up with before i call bullshit on the 'deep' descriptions of what these pieces signify. It wasn't all bad though there were some cool pieces including a corridor with a ceiling made of books and a photo exhibition.

Walking towards the bridge along the coast I came upon the cool new hangout area of Beyoglu. A once poor district recently converted to a series of cafes, art galleries and restaurants. The injection of development into this area did have an interesting although melancholic feel for me as generations old history made way for new, to cater to the tourists and upper and middle class with money to burn (as if Istanbul didn't have enough).Read more