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Introduction: Talking to a Strange City

1 Athens, a handsome young man who never aged gracefully

The presence of the Acropolis
The superstar of Western civilization, the Parthenon
The Fall of the City, the Doom of the Temple
Agora, a battleground between reason and emotion
A Time Traveler's Museum Walk
The Glorious Beginning: Marathon and Salamis
Roman ruins testify to the fall of Athens
A gap in history, a disconnection in space
Aspasia, the refugee girl who became First Lady
Plaka, a space where reason and logic flourish
The city's 'path-dependent' expansion
Drive in Piraeus
Dinner with a night view of the Acropolis

2 Rome, a city that allows for unexpected discoveries

Italy's worst city
From the Palatine Hill, with the Emperor's gaze
Icons of ostentation: the Colosseum and the Arc de Triomphe
A walk through the ruins of the Roman Forum
Caesar, the emperor who failed to become emperor
Pantheon, a cylinder containing a ball
The historical drama of Italian unification, the Monument to Emmanuel II
The streets of Rome were beautiful everywhere
Italian-style capitalism in the Vatican
Meet Bruno in Piazza Fiori
A city with unexpected fun
In Rome, espresso!

3 Istanbul, a rainbow shrouded in monochrome

An international city that has lost its diversity
Hagia Sophia, a difficult and unfriendly museum
Azan Battle in the Old City
Topkapi Palace, the young emperor's grand support
Dolmabahçe Palace abandons luxury goods and opts for counterfeit goods.
Atatürk and the Turkification of Istanbul
Bosphorus Cruise and Üsküdar
From Taksim Square to Galata Tower
Istanbul, where I wandered as I pleased
Kebabs, potato dishes, and grilled fish
Turkish coffee? Ottoman coffee!

4 Paris, the forefront of human civilization

From the shabby frontier to the forefront of civilization
Notre Dame Cathedral and Pont Saint-Michel, the power of literature and French democracy
The Louvre, a museum you'll regret entering or not.
From the Arc de Triomphe to the Champs-Élysées, a delightful stroll
Napoleon at the Arc de Triomphe
Baron Haussmann's Great Renovation of Paris
Men of the Bourbon Dynasty
The Palace of Versailles, a living testament to the theory of the leisure class
The Eiffel Tower, Proof of its Global Cultural Capital
Orsay Museum and Rodin Museum
Montmartre, Montparnasse, Latin Quarter
There is no such thing as 'French food'

A European travelogue born from the thrill of travel and intellectual imagination.
“I traveled to unfamiliar European cities this way.”

Everyone has their own reasons for traveling to an unfamiliar city.
I learn new things by listening to the stories the city holds.
I experience many emotions about myself, humanity, and our lives.
That's why I travel.
To do that, you need to be able to understand what the city is saying.
The city is like a big bookstore.
Even if you just go in, you can find a book you like.
But there are so many books that it takes time and is physically tiring to browse them all.
There is also a risk of not being able to find a suitable book.
However, it is not wise to decide in advance what books you want to buy, go there, buy only those books, and come back.
Why go all the way to the bookstore when you can just order it from an online bookstore?
The biggest advantage of large bookstores is that you can make 'unexpected discoveries'.
To experience such pleasure, you need to understand the structure of the bookstore in advance and plan which categories of books you want to browse.
It's basic to check if the book you've decided to buy is as good as it looks in the new release guide or reviews, and it's also a bonus to take the time to browse through the new releases section, bestseller display, steady seller display, special edition display, and even the corner bookshelf.
I traveled to unfamiliar European cities in this way.
I didn't miss any of the places I had taken pictures of, and I also enjoyed discovering places I hadn't known about.

--- From the text

The author explored a series of events (history) that occurred in each city and the lives (story) of people who left a distinct mark on that city.
The political, social, and cultural achievements of these four cities and the people who lived there profoundly transformed not only Europe but also all of human civilization.
So, we personally visit each and every space in the city where historical events more dramatic than those in a novel took place, and where the protagonists of history who created that civilization were born, and tell us the stories that this unfamiliar city has to offer.


European cultural capitals in different eras - Athens, Rome, Istanbul, Paris
"Meet the city's hidden history and hidden protagonists."

The city's architecture, museums, art galleries, streets and parks, everything in the city is just 'text'.
As with all texts, the urban text demands interpretation.
To respond to that demand, we need to understand the 'context'.
Context refers to 'all the information needed to interpret the text'.
The architecture and spaces of a city contain information about the thoughts, feelings, and desires of the people who created them, as well as the environment in which they lived.
To those who do not examine who, when, why, under what constraints, and by what means it was created, the city merely shows itself and does not speak kindly.
--- From the text

From Athens, where the Big Bang of civilization took place; Rome, where the microcosm of civilization that was born thus underwent accelerated expansion; Istanbul, an international city for nearly three thousand years; and Paris, a city that once served as the forefront of civilization from a humble periphery; the author conveys his own feelings while traveling through these four cities that once served as the heart of European history, civilization, and culture, in his own way.


These four cities can be said to contain the DNA of European civilization.
Athens, a city like a handsome boy who has not aged gracefully; Rome, a city that allows for unexpected discoveries; Istanbul, a mysterious yet complex city like a rainbow shrouded in monochrome; Paris, a modern and young city and the cultural capital of the 21st century.
These are the stories and names of the four cities that the author reads in his own way.
Within the city, we can encounter the hidden stories of the people who once gave birth to European civilization, or the protagonists we know so well or who we discover for the first time, one by one, in a different way.