Istiklal Street - Beyoglu, Istanbul

Jim picked up a brochure for me for the company Istanbul Walks. They offer a whole menu of different walking tours. One was listed as starting every Tuesday from Taksim square near our hotel.  It seemed like an easy way to check out the company, so I went to the starting point on Tuesday, but had not called them to register.  It was a cold rainy day and the guide didn't show up. I assume they didn't have anyone signed up for that tour. 
As long as I was there, I decided to walk down that street on my own. A tram ran down the middle of the street, but I think otherwise it was supposed to be a pedestrian street.

There were several Christian churches here and many buildings from the 19th century and possibly earlier.

This church was just off Istiklal street on a side street.

It wasn't open, but this foyer was quite pretty.

Here's another shot of the ceiling.

Here are a couple music shops on Istiklal street.

There were lights hanging above the street that looked to me like Christmas lights.  I don't know if they are here year-round or not.

Here you see one of the trams coming down the street.

A quieter side-street.  You can see the tram in Istiklal Street in the background.

Another Christian Church.

Looking back towards the main street, the arcade forms a courtyard in front of this church.

I was surprised to see a manger scene still here on Feb 14, along with a Christmas tree and white poinsettias.

Another church, which was accessed by these steps leading down to it.

This wall and gate separated this church and the steps from the street.

And there was a multi-storey mall here as well.  The hearts are perfectly in season for Feb. 14.
When I got back to the hotel, I did call the tour company and made a reservation to do a full-day tour with them the next day.

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