{"id":84498,"date":"2013-10-19T14:25:49","date_gmt":"2013-10-19T11:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=84498"},"modified":"2023-04-03T11:27:13","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T08:27:13","slug":"5-new-reasons-to-visit-istanbul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2013\/10\/19\/5-new-reasons-to-visit-istanbul\/","title":{"rendered":"5 new reasons to visit Istanbul"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<hgroup>\n<h1 itemprop=\"headline\">5 new reasons to visit Istanbul<\/h1>\n<h5><time itemprop=\"dateCreated\" datetime=\"2013-10-16T14:30:00+01:00\">Oct 16th 2013, 14:30\u00a0<\/time>\u00a0|\u00a0By\u00a0Francesca Menato<\/h5>\n<\/hgroup>\n<p id=\"nointelliTXT\">Make like Kelly Brook and visit the &#8216;gateway to the East&#8217; &#8211; you won&#8217;t regret it.<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div data-href=\"http:\/\/www.handbag.com\/displayarticle.php?id=523969\" data-send=\"false\" data-layout=\"button_count\" data-width=\"125\" data-show-faces=\"false\" data-action=\"recommend\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"articleimage\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" alt=\"Istanbul Turkey \" src=\"http:\/\/i5.cdnds.net\/13\/34\/450x450\/turkey-istanbul.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u00a9 Getty &#8211; Handbag<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">Beautiful architecture, history and culture galore, food you&#8217;ve never heard of and friendly locals &#8211; A recipe for a perfect city break.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly Brook was there not long ago\u00a0enjoying the Bosphorus waterway.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Here are some of the lesser known reasons to visit the honourary capital of Turkey:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>1. THE RAINBOW STEPS<\/h3>\n<p>The story of Huseyin Cetinel and his rainbow steps has to be one of the nicest we&#8217;ve heard.<\/p>\n<p>A retired forestry engineer dedicated four days and around $800 of his own money to painting a huge set of public steps rainbow colours in the Findikli and Cihangir area in honour of Gay Pride this year.<\/p>\n<p>The community was thrilled with the colourful addition to the landscape but the right wing mayor was not &#8211; The steps were painted over in grey over night.<\/p>\n<p>The backlash was so intense that new rainbow steps appeared across the area and the original steps mysteriously returned to their former multi-coloured glory as government workers repainted them over night.<\/p>\n<div id=\"articleimage\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Istanbul - rainbow steps - instagram - handbagcom\" src=\"http:\/\/i5.cdnds.net\/13\/42\/450x450\/istanbul-instagram-rainbow-steps-handbagcom.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u00a9 Instagram \/ Francesca Menato<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Who doesn&#8217;t like rainbow steps?!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>2. CHAI AND CHECKERS<\/h3>\n<p>There&#8217;s no better medicine for a weary traveller than a nice cup of tea. In Turkey it comes small, without milk and if you like,apple flavour (this tastes quite like hot jam).<\/p>\n<p>Near tourist areas a cup will cost you three to four Lira but if you go off the beaten track you shouldn&#8217;t be charged more than one, which is a little more than 30p!<\/p>\n<p>These quiet spots are said to be for men to play games &#8211; checkers and bat gammon boards are on most outdoor tables &#8211; but don&#8217;t worry women are entirely welcome and comfortable.<\/p>\n<h3>3. MACKEREL WITH A VIEW<\/h3>\n<p>The Galata Bridge is teaming with fisherman so it&#8217;s only right to sample a catch.<\/p>\n<p>There are amazing street food sellers on the side nearest to the Galata Tower who fry up mackerel with spices and add salad to create a delicious sandwich for around \u00a32.<\/p>\n<p>Wander down to the water&#8217;s edge to the west of the bridge for a perfect spot to sit with your food.<\/p>\n<div id=\"articleimage\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Istanbul - instagram - handbagcom\" src=\"http:\/\/i5.cdnds.net\/13\/42\/450x450\/istanbul-instagram-handbagcom.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u00a9 Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Enjoy a fresh fish lunch looking over at the New Mosque<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>4. SWIMMING SPOTS<\/h3>\n<p>Despite all the water, Istanbul is not known as a place to go for a dip.<\/p>\n<p>The main waterway is the domain of boats and fisherman.<\/p>\n<p>However you can make trips to the nearby Princes&#8217; Islands, known to locals as simply &#8220;The Islands&#8221; for a rest-bite from the city madness and clear waters you can swim in.<\/p>\n<p>Ferries run daily and if you&#8217;ve visited during the summer heat you&#8217;ll be very happy to make the short trip &#8211; just pick which ones you want to see.<\/p>\n<h3>5.JUNK SHOP MEANDERING<\/h3>\n<p>The area of Beyo\u011flu is teaming with junk and thrift shops.<\/p>\n<p>It is the perfect place to walk around taking in the local spirit and marvelling and the amount of &#8216;vintage&#8217; that can fit in one store.<\/p>\n<p>Stick to streets on the South-East of the Istiklal and enjoy getting lost.<\/p>\n<p>Remember\u00a0to haggle\u00a0the vendors down as things often aren&#8217;t priced.<\/p>\n<div id=\"articleimage\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Istanbul - junk shop - instagram - handbagcom\" src=\"http:\/\/i6.cdnds.net\/13\/42\/450x450\/istanbul-instagram-junk-shops-handbagcom.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u00a9 Instagram \/ Francesca Menato<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Most things in the junk shops won&#8217;t have prices so don&#8217;t be afraid to haggle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>KELLY BROOK SUFFERS BIG BAD HAIR DAY IN ISTANBUL<\/p><\/div>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\"><\/div>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\"><\/div>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\"><\/div>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-84499\" alt=\"istanbul-instagram-rainbow-steps-handbagcom\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/istanbul-instagram-rainbow-steps-handbagcom.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/istanbul-instagram-rainbow-steps-handbagcom.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/istanbul-instagram-rainbow-steps-handbagcom-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/istanbul-instagram-rainbow-steps-handbagcom-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>5 new reasons to visit Istanbul Oct 16th 2013, 14:30\u00a0\u00a0|\u00a0By\u00a0Francesca Menato Make like Kelly Brook and visit the &#8216;gateway to the East&#8217; &#8211; you won&#8217;t regret it. \u00a9 Getty &#8211; Handbag Beautiful architecture, history and culture galore, food you&#8217;ve never heard of and friendly locals &#8211; A recipe for a perfect city break. Kelly Brook [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":782164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1094],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-84498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-istanbul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}