0
Catalans Abroad
1 May 2014 2.00 h

Jordi Garcia

Istanbul (Turkey)

Between Europe and Asia Some suggestions

Can you rec­om­mend a place to have lunch with friends?
–I'd sug­gest the Azzur restau­rant, in the Möven­pick hotel. The fish is fresh and su­perbly pre­pared. Mediter­ranean cui­sine, Turk­ish style; you won't re­gret it.
When is the best time of year to plan a visit?
–Any time. Is­tan­bul is a great city with a huge his­tory. There is al­ways some­thing old or new to dis­cover.
What is the best kept se­cret about the area?
–After vis­it­ing all the or­di­nary places you should visit as a tourist (don't miss Hagia Sophia), go and visit the re­gion around Is­tan­bul, Mar­mara. It is a won­der­ful area, full of his­tory and with a mar­vel­lous gas­tron­omy.

Jordi Gar­cia He ar­rived in Is­tan­bul four years ago, look­ing for new ex­pe­ri­ences after many years in a bor­ing job in a cu­bi­cle. He is in love with the city and its peo­ple.

Why did you leave Cat­alo­nia?
–I spent more than a decade locked in a bor­ing job in a bor­ing of­fice in Barcelona. One day I de­cided that I wanted to travel and see other places and meet dif­fer­ent peo­ple. So, I quit my job, packed my bag and moved on.
Why did you choose Turkey?
–I tried Lon­don and Paris at first, but I couldn-t find a de­cent job there. Then I de­cided to push for a big­ger change, and I came here to Is­tan­bul to find a job in the tourism in­dus­try. Since I can speak four lan­guages, it was quite easy to find a job here.
How long have you lived there?
–I've been liv­ing in Is­tan­bul since 2009.
Are you happy with the job op­por­tu­ni­ties you found in your adopted coun­try?
–Well, Turkey is not an easy coun­try to work and live in, but I am quite happy with my per­sonal ex­pe­ri­ence. If you work hard you will find good op­por­tu­ni­ties to im­prove and grow in your ca­reer.
What do you think is the best thing about liv­ing there?
–If you are open minded, you will find that peo­ple here are fan­tas­tic. It wasn't easy at first, but now I have great friends here.
What would you most like to change?
–Bu­reau­cracy. Any re­la­tion­ship with the ad­min­is­tra­tion is a night­mare in Turkey.
What char­ac­terises your neigh­bour­hood?
–I live in Lev­ent, one of the main busi­ness dis­tricts in Is­tan­bul , with a sky­line that you wouldn't ex­pect in an an­cient city like Is­tan­bul. It is on the Eu­ro­pean side of the city and it is very mod­ern and full of life.
Do you plan to go back to Cat­alo­nia?
–I don't think so. I feel at home in Is­tan­bul now.
Sign in. Sign in if you are already a verified reader. I want to become verified reader. To leave comments on the website you must be a verified reader.
Note: To leave comments on the website you must be a verified reader and accept the conditions of use.

Most Viewed