Istanbul

May 14 - 20

MILONGAS
hoy-milonga.com

• ​Amorada
• Che milonga
  
• Martes milonga
  
• Nar​
  

RECOMMENED RESTURANTS

• Smyrna Art-Gallery Cafe

WARDROB
ADDS

• Gold medallion  necklace
• Large cuff bracelet 

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I had been to Istanbul once before and did all of the touristy things like seeing the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Cisterns, a Bosphorus tour, etc. So this time was more about hanging out and seeing the city and dancing. I had the absolute pleasure of traveling with Pinar (who's Turkish which is always great to have a native speaker along haha) and we walked for hours most mornings exploring the city. The dancing was fantastic, as expected, but we got waylaid by a continuously amazing experience.

On our second night I found a cafe, ​Smyrna Art-Gallery Cafe, that was this cool funky mix of art and vibes. I ordered the meatballs at the suggestion of what I had assumed was a customer at first but quickly realized was the owner. When the food came out they brought something else which I was ok with but he insisted I have the right dish so when that came out and I took the first bite, wow was it amazing! We ended up going every day after, sometimes twice a day, because the food was so good but more importantly because of the owner, Kuzey. 

Kuzey Yücehan turns out to not only be the owner of the cafe but an actor, business man, Instagram and Youtube influencer, and more! When Pinar and I were sitting there having our first conversation with Kuzey she tells me that there is a Turkish saying that if someone likes something a lot they want to "eat" it so he wanted to "eat my rings"! He was fascinated by my look and story so much so that he even invited me to be on his Youtube show "Say Yes" where the concept of the show is that he is talking to foreigners about different topics and the interviewer asks follow up questions but as the foreigner I'm just supposed to say yes. Needless to say I said yes but was kind of confused but did what any good non-native speaker does and just said "yes". It made for a funny moment for sure! It was quite the experience to hang out with such an interesting and coolest of cool guy!

Back to Istanbul! Walking the through the city is amazing, the incredible hustle of 15.5 million people means there's so much energy! Everyone was so nice in the shops, dining spots, and even just walking the streets! I was also lucky enough to not only find Mary, who's recently moved to Istanbul, but also Rie who was visiting which was so nice to see old friends!