From Besiktas (which is also the best place to watch football, an Istanbuli obsession), along the waterfront to the one-time separate village of Ortakoy, there is a long, vibrant strip of outdoor bars, restaurants and clubs, which on warm weekends in particular become wildly popular.
From disco kids stuck in jams with house music blaring from 4x4s to super rich sophisticates who arrive by speedboat direct to their chosen venue it rocks all night. The whole thing is a riot of exuberance and exhibitionism and a thrilling introduction to this brash, new face of Turkey. Take dinner at Reina, a brilliant white modernist complex, awash with the overdressed, with this sensational panorama arrayed in front of you and it is a brilliant antidote to the ancient solemnity of the old town.
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