City Life

Since I moved to Izmir for work, my visits to Istanbul have become more dedicated, more concentrated. Now, every time I return I feel...

Music festivals are essential to the very fabric of a quality Istanbul summer -- a yearly reminder of the city's appeal to international artists,...

Istanbul is a good city for writers. They have been living here forever, from Turks like Elif Şafak and Yaşar Kemal to foreigners like...

Do you remember your first memory of Istanbul? Maybe it was the first call to prayer coming from the nearest minaret. Maybe it was...

When I first lived in Istanbul for 6 months in 2013, some of my most memorable days were spent simply wandering the old city...

There is an obvious sense of openness within the people on the Anatolian side- a welcoming trait that speaks volumes for those making the...

Some places are institutions. They are so good and so perfectly embody their craft that their name becomes synonymous with their art. For Turkish coffee,...

On my first day of teaching English in Istanbul, I was thrust into the classroom without so much as a book or a clue. I...

Norm Coffee is the brainchild of Cem Bozkuş and Gizem Yavuz, who met while working at Cihangir’s hip Kronotrop. Cem, who studied physics in...

In the dead of this past winter, I ran into a friend in Cihangir who seemed uncharacteristically ecstatic. I told him as much and...

Calm, cool, easy-going Kadiköy has always been one my favourite Istanbul districts. I love to start my day with breakfast at the picturesque Thales...

I wanted to send a friend living in the U.S. a letter, so duly went to find my nearest PTT branch. This seemingly simple process...

A few weeks ago I was talking with friends after dinner in the warmth of my apartment. We were buying our time before we...

“There are just three rules: No Racism, no sexism, and no homophobia.” Rules? I thought this was an open-mic event. There shouldn’t be any rules. “You...