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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe have a saying in T\u00fcrkiye: \u201cthe path to one\u2019s heart goes through the stomach\u201d. In the land of delicacies you should start your day with a big meal. You can seat yourself at a marvelous table for an open buffet at a spot with the view of the Bosphorus (Like Divan Pastanesi in Bebek), you can try to sample b\u00f6rek (A Turkish pastry dish) shops, pide places (Turkish pizza) and breakfast halls which can be found all around the city \u2026 But don\u2019t skip breakfast in Istanbul, make sure to try the wide variety of different tastes and atmospheres! Go ahead and try some of the famous breakfast halls in Rumeli Hisar (Kale Pastanesi, Lokma, Sade Kahve, Nar Cafe etc.), or Van breakfast homes in Cihangir, enjoy your cheese toast and linden tea at Mustafa Amca\u2019n\u0131n Kahvesi on Istiklal, enjoy pi\u015fi<\/em> (A Turkish fried dough specialty) at some of the breakfast places of Be\u015fikta\u015f or grab a simit<\/em> (Turkish sesame bagels) off street vendors to eat it along with feta cheese, tea or ayran<\/em> (a Turkish Yoghurt drink).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take a stroll in the alley ways of Beyo\u011flu, Ye\u015filk\u00f6y and Ni\u015fanta\u015f\u0131 to explore, find little stores, boutiques and cafes off the beaten path, have a drink and continue shopping. There are loads of nice little cafes in Ni\u015fanta\u015f\u0131, \u00c7ukurcuma and Karak\u00f6y to discover, as well as many clothing stores in the back streets of Taksim where you can find retro clothes and second-hand sunglasses, or go to one of the several chocolate shops and ice cream parlors in Moda. You\u2019ll find yourself on a journey through time and cultures where you take unexpected turns through streets in the historical districts of Istanbul like Balat, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breathing in the fresh sea breeze is good for you especially when you\u2019re in a very crowded city like Istanbul. Cleanse yourself of the stress of the crowds by taking a fresh breath of the sea breeze. Try a fish sandwich<\/em> in Emin\u00f6n\u00fc or Kabata\u015f, enjoy baked potatoes<\/em> in Ortak\u00f6y. Take a boat trip to Kad\u0131k\u00f6y, \u00dcsk\u00fcdar or the Islands and Kavaklar. You may take a sip of the delightful Turkish tea<\/em> served in small elegant glass cups while enjoying the lovely view of Istanbul\u2019s Maiden\u2019s Tower, the Bosphorus Bridges, and Galata Tower. Take in all of the city\u2019s seagulls, the sound of the waves, the noise of the old ship you are on. If you\u2019re lucky you\u2019ll get a chance to enjoy the music on one of the boats if there are street musicians playing local tunes on their accordions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve made it to Caddebostan, historical Moda Pier or Galata Tower you\u2019ll see the sunlight turn the spectacular silhouette of Istanbul into a lovely painting with the sun painting the sky and clouds a deep red. As they say, the sun sets in a thousand different ways in Istanbul, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll agree with me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other than the hundreds of incredible restaurants that serve the delicacies of Turkish and world cuisine, stop by a local restaurant (\u201cesnaf lokanta\u201ds) that cooks home-style cuisine and order as much of the rich choices of our local cuisine as you\u2019d like. After dinner, drinking a cup of Turkish coffee<\/em> for the night with some Turkish delight<\/em> is the best way to end the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the song \u201cIstanbul, Not Constantinople\u201d for you? Of course there are loads of other songs about Istanbul but let me pick one song for you: the magnificent debut album by Birsen Tezer is called Cihan and the song is \u201cIstanbul\u201d. You may also want to listen to the flute player Mercan Dede while you are walking through Istanbul, with its harmonies from the East that is particular to Sufi music exclusive to the East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n James Bond\u2019s classic \u201cFrom Russia with Love\u201d (don\u2019t let the title mislead you), \u201cThe World is Not Enough\u201d, and \u201cSkyfall\u201d adventures take place in this city; Clive Owen in \u201cThe International\u201d, Tom Hardy in \u201cTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy\u201d stops by in Istanbul. If you prefer the touch of a Turkish director, you may watch \u201cUzak\u201d (Distant, 2002) by esteemed Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Fatih Ak\u0131n\u2019s famous \u201cGegen Die Wand\u201d which takes place both in Istanbul and Germany or his documentary \u201cCrossing the Bridge\u201d, \u201cAnlat Istanbul\u201d directed by 5 directors with a script by \u00dcmit \u00dcnal, Ferzan \u00d6zpetek\u2019s movie \u201cHamam\u201d connecting Rome with Istanbul or \u201cOrganize \u0130\u015fler\u201d (Magic Carpet Ride, 2005) by Y\u0131lmaz Erdo\u011fan adorned with beautiful scenes of Istanbul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is essential to read Ahmet \u00dcmit\u2019s novel \u201c\u0130stanbul Hat\u0131ras\u0131\u201d. You can also add \u201cIstanbul, Memories and the City\u201d by Nobel Prize for Literature winner Orhan Pamuk to your list to discover more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this piece, I wanted to prepare a list full of food and drink that\u2019ll make you feel like a sultan in the city known as the \u201ccity of Sultans.\u201d It\u2019s important to do something other than just say, \u201cgo to the Haghia Sophia or the Blue Mosque or Basilica Cistern or the Topkapi Palace!\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":6113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[243,149,145,895,240],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-istanbul-travel-guide","8":"category-crew-insights","9":"category-destinations","10":"category-featured","11":"category-turkey"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\n2. Lose yourself<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n3. Breathe in the sea<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n4. Watch the sunset<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n5. An evening out<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nWhile in Istanbul:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Listen<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Watch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Read<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n