Adios 2013!

Whenever I set my foot outside in the past 2 weeks, I felt i got swept away by the wild waves of people, especially in my neighborhood, Nişantaşı, a byword for urban chic. I ran out of all of the shortcuts to my house. For the fear of being labeled a snob, I even refrained from being critical and complaining about the crowds gathering in to see the dazzling new year’s decorations in Nişantaşı, on Bağdat Avenue, and in many shopping malls scattered around the city. I almost concluded this has turned into a kind of Thanks Giving or the New Year’s eve shopping craze taking place in many parts of the world.

When I finally gave in and went out to take photos with the intention of showering you with the new year’s feel dominating the city nowadays, I have come to realize that this is more about hope than anything else this year. As you all know, it has been quite a rough year for Istanbullites and for the rest of my country. Through Gezi Park events, we learned it the hard way what it takes to be an urbanite. Now struggling with the new graft scandal, we now need hope more than ever.

Let’s hope 2014 brings into our lives the inspiration & opportunities we crave for, the courage we need to make fresh starts and peace we all deserve. Have shiny sparkly days…

Click on the arrows for more photos. some more photos on Istanbul travelogue’s Facebook page where I compile more articles, photo albums and announcements about Istanbul from different sources both in Turkish and English.