Istanbul was like the hunger games 12 Districts of Panem, divided based on goods that were sold. We noticed large areas for music (my favorite because it was such a Hipster area), sports, wedding stationary, plumbing, sewing supplies, etc.. we were surprised to find all of the competition in one place stretched out several blocks.
When traveling, we look for places that the locals would go to. In Istanbul, my favorite place was a coffee shop called the Lanterne Cafe. We were somewhat lost and walked in to use the internet. But then noticed some games, started playing chess and didn't want to leave. Funny how the best things are stumbled upon when you're busy looking for something else.
Also below is an interesting story about a man who jumped off of the Galata Tower in Istanbul and flew across the Bosporus with a set of man-made wings.
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Galata Tower - man's first flight, Istanbul (from pbase.com)
Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi (1609-1640), an inhabitant of Istanbul in the 17th century Ottoman Empire is credited with the first appropriate flight with artificial wings in the history of aviation. The event took place in the year 1638 during the tenure of Sultan Murad IV. Hezarfen took off from the 183-foot tall Galata Tower near Bosporus and landed successfully at Uskudar, on the other side. This feat was 200 years ahead of its time. Evliya Celebi, historian and chronicler and an eyewitness, recorded vividly in his Seyahatname (a book of travel), the jubilation that followed. Sultan Murad IV was inordinately pleased. Hezarfen was awarded a thousand gold pieces. He was bound for greater glory when religious intolerance and political asininity cut him down. Palace advisors and religious heads forced Sultan Murad to do otherwise. Hezarfen was exiled to Algeria. (In this irony of fate, he had another illustrious contemporary as company. Galileo had been sentenced for life and put under house arrest in 1633 for unmitigated brilliance that religion and politics found hard to digest.)
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