Sorry this took me so long to send.

I was going through my lists and albums from

Istanbul to cut out some good stuff haha. Istanbul is an amazing city its layered
upon thousands of years of history. The earliest settlements have been dated back
to 100,000 years. The city has gone through numerous identities, from Hellenization
to Romanization to Christianization to Ottomanization to Islamicization to
Europeanization then Republicizatoin to the current shift, globalization. Theres
massive public works projects transforming the city, gentrifying it and privatizing it.
There are many protests nowadays in Taksim and around. If you run into one, I
recommend not sticking around. The police tend to get kinda brutal. But anyways,
its an amazing city to wander around. My favorite has always been anything along
the Bosphrous. Heres a list of things that stuck out to me while I was there, and that
are more easily accessible:

Also: rough guide and lonely planet are great guide books. Check out
timeoutistanbul.com for local events and new places to eat.

Taksim Area

stiklal is the main nightlife area of stanbul. The main street and a bunch of places,
but the side roads have more laid back places for beer, live music, etc. Kk
Beyolu, Asmalmecid are fun. There are lots of street musicians and performers
(apparently its the best place in the world for street performers to make money).
Theres a resurgence of Black Sea culture (Laz and Georgian) after
repression/neglect from the state, so keep and eye/ear out for them. The music has
good beats. Here are links to some songs
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdDELaX9SyY,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOy6hrHiZkM,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgnOj0zu6Ts,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GYl4HlcfuQ)

The street also has several really old churches and the Mevlevi (Sufi) museum. They
have whirling dervish shows and some good music shops around it.
Theres a cool caf called Kallavi that has a really nice view. Its on Kallavi street,
right across from St. Anthony of Padua Church.
take the elevator to the top. The Caf itself
has a three floor, two of which are terraces with nice views. If you go, ask to go to
the top floor (en st kat). Other restaurants with cool views are Istanbul 360 and
Divan Brasserie, and the Kebap. Shelya is a good traditional restaurant. They lots of
music and Rak (Turkish Vodka) for a fixed price. Its a great atmosphere, and
people are friendly.

Go to the Galata Tower for an amazing view of the city. This area used to be a
separate city called Pera, but now its part of Istanbul. Theres a Wine shop called
Sensus that only sells Turkish wines. I believe they let you sample as well. Nearby is
the Pera Palace hotel, which was where people stayed after going on the Orient
express. Its apparently on the 1,001 places to see before you die list. When I was
there, people would hang out by the Galata tower on weekend evenings, drink,
socialize, etc. Im not sure if the laws have changed about that, but its a nice area in
the evening.

Upper Bosphorus

The Bosphorus cruises start on the historic peninsula. They are a great way to see
the whole bosphorus. The 25E goes up the most of the Bosphorus on land. I lived in
Saryer, which is a small town on the upper west part. Rumelifeneri is a small town
where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea. The Bosphorus has many small towns up
the coast, they each used to be inhabited mainly by one ethnic group. Anadolukava
has the Yoros Castle, which is a great hike and gives really cool views. The
Bosphorus cruise goes there, or you could take one ferry from Saryer.

Sade Kahve is a great rooftop food place. Amazing view! Its near the Rumeli Hisar,
which I recommend walking around. It was built to help conquer the city.

Ortaky has an iconic mosque in front of the first Bosphorus bridge. Its super
touristy, but has some nice (but pricey) shops. The mosque is interesting, it was
built in a neo-baroque style during the Europeanization of the 1800s. Look inside,
and youll almost feel like youre in a European manor haha.

Around the Ayasofya

Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) - People write entire dissertations on this building, so
theres a lot to see. There is incredible history through the murals/tilework, or lack
thereof in parts of the building. The current structure was finished 537 AD. Thats
1477 years ago. It was actually commissioned by the emperor Justinian I after he
massacred tens of thousands of citizens during the Nika Riots (he was originally
going to flee, but his wife, who was a former prostitute who rose through the ranks
and married him to become empress wouldnt let him flee and made him stay and
quell the people). Also, the Ayasofya is legendary throughout history. Before the
Ottomans conquered Istanbul, there were legends that Muslims would go inside and
immediately convert to Christianity because it was so beautiful. Theres major
drama right now because the government wants to turn it back into a functioning
mosque.

Blue Mosque Its right there, so you might as well see it. But when it was built,
people hated it. First, at the time, the Hagia Sofia was a functioning mosque, so
people thought it was a waste of money to build such a thing with a bigger mosque
right next to it. Second, imperial mosques were only built after the sultan has a
major victory in battle, but Sultan Ahmet III, didnt he just built this because he
wanted to. Also, it had more minarets than the Grand Mosque in Mecca, so he
commissioned two more minarets there to calm people down. Inside, its incredibly
gaudy and the two giant pillars are nicknamed the elephants legs. Also, when you
go into these large mosques today, its very quiet. But in Ottoman times, it was the
opposite. Entering the mosque was meant to stimulate all the senses. The air would
be cool, there would be incense burning, and someone would be reciting the Quran
24 hours a day.

Milion Its a small stone structure, but it marked the starting point for all roads to
ancient Byzantium! The Divanyolu, which was once the Via Egnatia, used to run all
the way to the Adriatic sea.

Hippodrome Look at the Serpents column (brought from Delphi) and the Obelisk
of Thutmosis III (brought from Egypt). These were brought to Constantinople to
give the city significance in the ancient world. If it had monuments like these, the
city could be tied to Hellenistic history. This is also where the tens of thousands
were killed (keep in mind, one by one by sword) during the Nika riots. Justinian III
told the people to go into the hippodrome to have a city wide meeting, but he just
killed them all.

Check out the Kk Ayasofya Its a bit away, but youll see a bunch of really old
Istanbul while you get there. there are still Greek inscriptions along the wall
People who converted it into a mosque didnt know what they were so they just left
it haha.

Topkap Palace This is the Ottoman palace built atop the ancient acroplolis. Notice
how open and quiet the palace is. It was meant as a retreat for the Sultan, and
sanctuary for him. If you see the Dolmabahe Palace, its interesting to contrast the
vibes. There are lots of relics from Ottoman times and from all over the Islamic
world.

Aracheological Museum is amazing. Dont go to the Islamic Science museum, its a
waste of time.

The Grand Bazaar is okay, the best stuff is way deep inside. Go to Sahaflar ars for
old books/prints/etc.. Check out the column of Constantine (emberlita). It was
built in 330 AD in an attempt to Romanize the city. The legend is that in the base is
the Palladium of ancient Rome from Troy, Relics from those who crucified Jesus, the
basket from the loaves and fishes miracle, and some other things. These all would
bring Constantinople to importance in the ancient Roman world. The column was
built to commorate the dedication of Constantinople as the new capital of the
Roman Empire. This area was once the Forum on Constantine.
-
Other cool things: Basiliaca cistern look for the medusa head. When the Ottomans
conquered, the Byzantines obviously didnt walk them through the city to show
them everything, so no one knew about this place until much later.

Rest of the Historic Peninsula

Chora Church (Kariye Mzesi) and the Church of Pammakaristos (Fethiye Camii)
these both have amazing Byzantine mosaics! I highly recommend seeing them if you
like mosaics.

Yavuz Sultan Selim It was built in 1520s, and a has a great view of the Golden horn.
Right behind it is a former cistern, which is now used as a soccer field haha.

Sleymaniye Camii complex is really nice. There is a library with old manuscripts, a
coppersmith alley, and the tomb of Sinan the famous architect who gave Istanbul
some of its most famous buildings. The mosque is really nice, and theres a cool view
of the golden horn. If your walk around the north side, there are a bunch of cafes
with rooftop seating that give good views. Theres a caf here called Lale Bahesi
(pronounced Laleh Bahchesi) on the northwest side of the complex, thats really
cool. Ask people for it, and grab some tea/food/hookah there.

If you go past the Sleymaniye, there are some small, cool things to see. The
Kalenderhane Mosque is beautiful., and theres a place called Vefa Bozac, which
sells this applesauce-esque drink of Istanbul called Boza. They have a cup that
Atatrk drank Boza from haha.

Spice Bazaar (Msr ars) this area is interesting. Most mosque complexes have
the mosque in the center, and everything else surrounding it. But this one is
different. If you look at a map, youll see the market is the center, and the mosque is
off to the side. Originally, this was a merchant neighborhood, which housed the
much of the Jewish population (they owned much of the wealth in the city). During a
period of Islamicization, the land was confiscated on the premise of making a
mosque complex. But the trade characteristic of the neighborhood stayed, and the
market took the center role in the area over time. Also, there are really good fish
boats next to the Galata bridge. If you like Turkish coffee, Kurukahveci Mehmet
Effendi, Turkeys most famous coffee company, sells ground coffee here. Also, the
dont eat from those corn vendors. It sucks.

Asia
The Asian side is much slower, and there isnt too much to see here. Moda and
Kadky (where the first city in the area was founded) have nice cafes and places to
walk around. I highly recommend the restaurance iya the chef went all around
Turkey to gather recipes that are being forgotten. Everything is delicious.

I also really like the town of engelky. Theres a really nice caf called naralt. If
you cant tell so far, cafes along the/with nice views of the Bosphorus are my main
obsession.

Outside of Istanbul

Princes Islands. I recommend going to the largest Island and renting bikes. Theres
also a monastery there. The other Islands are supposedly nice and less touristic, but
I really like biking so I just went to the main one. Im not sure if you can rent bikes
on the other ones.