New Year's Eve in Istanbul

Just a few snaps from our NYE in Istanbul, Turkey. I've been away from the blog for a while, but I hope the next few posts dedicated to the marvelous megacity of Istanbul are going to make up for that. Don't mind the quality of the photos, this is just to show you a bit of the great atmosphere that was going on in Nişantaşı (one of Istanbul's most luxurious residential and shopping quarters, full of gorgeous  neo-classical and art nouveau architecture). We were thinking of going to Nişantaşı first, and than go to Ortaköy to watch the fireworks over the Bosphorus bridge (the one that connects Europe to Asia), but when we saw the traffic a few hours from midnight, we decided to stay in the famous Abdi İpekçi Street. There were thousands of people on the streets all over the city. I'm not really into NYE celebrations, and I didn't have much expectations, but as soon as we got there, I got carried away. I listen to a lot of Turkish music, so this live event was a real treat for me. On the downside, there was this potentially dangerous incident that almost ruined the night, but thankfully, nothing happened. In one moment, there were so many people around that I couldn't move or breathe.  We had to fight our way out to escape the human stampede. To be honest, I was afraid for my life. This poor tree you see on the photo was almost knocked down by the force of the crowd, and I was literally stuck on that tree. Scary, but like a said, we got away, and all's well that ends well.  Hope you had a lovely time during winter holidays and that you're ready for some new adventures!  ♫ Athena - Yavaş Yavaş ♫