Let's roam and ramble.

The high rise buildings of the suburb stand tall against the plum coloured November sky as a yellow taxi passes them by on its way to the city. A lonely plastic bag struggles to get free from a barbed wire fence. The stray dogs roam the boardwalk of the Marmara Sea and the middle aged fishermen are still occupying the Galata Bridge, even though it’s close to midnight.

First, you notice the neon signs. Eat here. Stay here. Come here. All of them desper- ately begging for your attention. The bright lights alight the umpteen different restaurants, hotels and bars, stacked next to each other like cardboard boxes on the grey and gloomy sidewalks.

Then, as you think you almost can manage to distinguish the lit buildings on the other side of the strait, the speed of your taxi starts to decrease. Countless numbers of tail lights appear in front of you, replacing the neon signs and the real life cardboard boxes: welcome to your first traffic jam of Istanbul. And I will tell you this right here and now (because I can't see the reason to hide it) - the traffic over here is absolutely mad. Or “totally bonkers”, as Alice in Wonderland would have said. There are vespas, cars and mini busses are all over the place, accelerating, honking and finally standing on their breaks. All day, all night. Just like a never-ending story.

And then, as the surrounding finally starts to sink in, you begin to notice them. The people. All the 13.9 million of them, to be exact. But just not all of them at the same time. There they are, the pedestrians zigzagging their way through the traffic, as the students are meeting up for a drink on the town. The sidewalks are bustling with people and the smaller the street, the bigger the crowd. I know it might feel a little bit intimidating at first, but just relax and enjoy it, you’ll get a grip of it soon. And I really hope you like it, because darling, welcome to Istanbul.