Istanbul does feel like a city ran by cats. They are entitled to every space in the city and people feed them and love them: book shops, piercing parlors, and in one case the VIP table at a bar we found close to Taksim Square.

two tabby cats playing around a metal fence in Istanbul, on a pillar. One of them is much less amused by the other's presence.

When it came to planning, we had some help: friends that had lived their whole lives in Istanbul suggested neighborhoods where we might find top spots for baklava (Karaköy), mussels (Midyeci Ahmet - the Lord of Mussels), or a full Turkish breakfast (Beşiktaş).

Aseef and Iulia are wowed before a table of many small plates, including 'menemen' -- Turkish scrambled eggs in a tomato sauce-- cheeses, meats, honey, clotted cream, and more. The table is laden and it looks like plates might well fall off by the time they're through. — Thank you, Fulya, for capturing the joy and wonder at our first Turkish breakfast, and for taking us to the Eleven Brothers breakfast restaurant.

A friend gave us a lift back to the hotel on our first night in town, saying while he maneuvered through the busiest parts of Karaköy that one has never learned to drive if they haven’t driven through Istanbul. Even before 2 a.m., traffic on the European side seemed super intimidating - but they have a pretty accessible public transit system for tourists to navigate. Your red Istanbul transit card can scan multiple people in at once to take the tram, the bus, the funicular.. Even the ferries that cross the Bosphorous Strait. Yes, it's totally worth it to cross to the Asia side - we had a lot of fun. Aseef & I felt like we found the cool spot in Kadıköy, where all the young people flock. He even felt quite at home with all the other dudes that were sporting nose rings.

We had a lot of fun using public transport, and are just a LITTLE bitter from the whole experience about the state of it in most cities in the United States. Though, let's be real… the amount of tourists in Istanbul every day are more than the population of each US city (save only NYC).

There was a lot to see, but the ~free~ stuff is in the Sultanahmet neighborhood on the European side: a beautiful park overlooking the city, with two historically-epic mosques that we could visit respectfully. Still, I got a lot of laughs watching little kids bounding through historic holy spaces as if it was their personal tumbling gyms.

side by side images of Iulia and Aseef overlooking the European side of Istanbul, with Galata Tower in the background, and a selfie or "ussie" of Iulia and Aseef before the Hagia Sofia. — On the grounds of the Süleymaniye Mosque, with the Galata Tower visible in the background (left), and an ‘ussie’ before the Hagia Sofia (right).

The Sultan Ahmet mosque, or the Blue Mosque, has been under renovation for 5 years. It’s supposed to boast some exquisite tile work inside, but it’s been largely obscured by construction. The inside of the dome is visible — but we weren’t too disappointed — we found our way to the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, commissioned by the daughter of the longest ruling sultan, Sultan Süleyman, (thus getting only one minaret). This smaller mosque features painted blue tiles from the same town of Iznik as the ones in the famed “Blue” mosque.

Iulia and Aseef taking a picture in front of blue tiling, featuring red accents, and flower patterns — Only one minaret, but many impressive tiles.

This smaller mosque is also famous because it’s built by THE chief Ottoman architect, Mimar Sinan (who went from being kidnapped from his Armenian family to leaving a mark on the Ottoman style; he is responsible for the wonderful acoustics at the grand Süleyman Mosque).

Honestly, walking through Istanbul, the beautiful and elaborate mosques is a perfect amuse-bouche for the complex history and intrigue of the centuries of Ottoman rule. There’s so much juicy stuff there… they should really make a TV show about it. Kidding - they have! And then, of course, there’s the newest hard-to-miss mosque, built in —— on the Asia side of Istanbul, so grand that it fits 6,000+ worshippers, though it's said maybe only 100 people will be in there at any point. It is super visible across the river, but a lot of people seem to think it's a waste of money to have such a giant mosque in a low traffic area, built under the order of the current president to be more grand than even the mosques of the sultans (6 minarets instead of 4! It's a new record that has tour guides stumped on explaining its symbolism in a remotely polite way.)

I would love to come back to Istanbul, to try living a little longer there -- maybe my Duolingo Turkish skills will catch up to make it easier to joke around. All the hills being close to the water mean that the big touristy areas will offer views of the whole city at every steep street drop-off. And the friendliness and energy of the whole city is just very charming. The reason I'd be a little hesitant is the amount of (well-fed) seagulls that we saw, swooping in over certain terraces. I dislike seagulls since seeing Hitchcock's Birds, but also because their eyes don't seem to possess any sort of look that my brain can translate into "kindness." I don't trust them. And not just because I got hit by some bird poop.

aseef.the.world

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Anyways.. Istanbul was incredible - we loved everything from the action of the city to the food, though Aseef never found quite enough spicy options for his liking. Maybe Turkey is something to consider for a longer term, perhaps after the Turkish Lire recovers.

Our Favorite Tastes of Istanbul: Aseef prefers menemen and stuffed mussels, we loved Sujuk and chocolate baklava, and Iulia loved Ayran and honey with clotted cream

Reading the Revolution

Will be picking up as much fiction as I can written in the countries I visit, focusing on works that were at one time censored or banned in the countries where they were published, or written by authors that were helping shape political movements.

Pick for Turkey — Ince Memed (or Slim Memed in the original ‘55 publication) — because it was first described to me as “the Robin Hood of Anatolia.”

Memed My Hawk, a Turkish novel, Yashar Kemal. Book cover of a man and woman in front of fields of thistles, with barren mountains in the foreground — This novel is a labor of love for the author, who lived with Memed in his head for decades, publishing 4 novels centered on a young man as he becomes aware of the corruption that occurs under feudalist structures. The author is a famous character in recent history, speaking out on Kurdish oppression and criticizing racism in the country. He helped lead the Turkish Workers Party of Turkey (though he quit after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in ‘68).

Why Go There

Istanbul at first glance