Istanbul for free

Istanbul literally provides delicious street food on every corner. And grabbing a bite on the street, either straight from one of the vendors there or in a snack place is a typical part of the life in Istanbul. Literally sold on the streets are mainly three typical dishes: Misir, Kestane and Balik Ekmek by the real street sellers with their push-cars. Warm street food in Istanbul Kestane - Istanbul Street Food Kestane - in winter time the street vendors sell roasted chestnuts instead of corn. Misir - sold mainly during the summer time, freshly boiled or grilled corn on the cob, eaten with salt or spices.  Balik Ekmek - the famous fish bread.  Misir - Istanbul Street Food Balik Ekmek - Istanbul Street Food http://www.wittistanbul.com/magazine/istanbuls-street-food-whats-hot-and-whats-not/ Eating street food is very much part of the Istanbul way of life. You can’t walk for over a kilometer without coming accross one or more street vendors and ...

Travel guide apps are not the only ones which make visiting a city more easy and relaxed. Also apps like dictionaries and guides for public transportations can be very helpful - for travelers and for locals. Here are three free apps which make it easy to get around and along in the beautiful city of Istanbul. With those one you will not get lost in Istanbul and find everything you want to see, while making your way back home. 3 Apps to easily get around in Istanbul Trafi Trafi Türkiye is probably the most useful app when it comes to finding the way by public transportation in Istanbul. And public transportation in this case covers bus, ferry, metrobus, metro/funicular, dolmuş and tram. Always there are multiple routes provided which allows to pick the most convenient one, without buses, with less walking, with ferries - you name it. Once you choose the route, it provides a listing of all the stops along the way with times, including any interchanges if necessary, a map of the jo...

Turkish Food is well known for its variety and tastiness. That applies to the snacks and the main dishes as much as to the side dishes. Here are the most famous, and eventually the most tasty, ones: Typical Turkish side dishes Pilav - the most plain version of Pilav is just plain rice cooked with oil or butter, called sade pilav. It normally comes in variations. Cooked with eggplants or chickpeas and combined with chicken or other meat. And of course spiced up with pepper, salt or cumin. Another variation is Bulgur Pilav, where the rice is substituted by wheat. Cacik -one of the classic refreshing dishes. Yogurt with a mixture of shredded cucumber, garlic and mint. In the summer time often served with ice cubes, even more refreshing! Mücver - Lightly fried in olive oil it is made of shredded zucchini, eggs and flour, sometimes green onions, mint and white cheese are added - as one likes.  Fried vegetables - those are a lot to find in Turkish Cuisine, basically every veggie...

Even though Istanbul does provide a lot of museums, the majority of them are unfortunately - for the budget traveler - not free, not even cheap. One of the very few exception is the Turkish Bank Museum - Türkiye IS Bankasi Museum or Isbank Museum.  Turkish Bank Museum Istanbul Turkish Bank Museum Istanbul According to the name of the Museum one normally would suspect it is a museum about the Turkish Bank, but that is only half of the museum. Being situated in an old bank building in Eminönü it is a sight by itself. Built 1892 and used as the Isbank main branch from 1926 to 2005 it is a museum since 2007, and hosts changing exhibitions - about three to four throughout the year. Besides an exhibition about the history of Türkiye IS Bankasi itself and about the technical development of banking over time, this years main exhibition is about Canakkale 1915 . The Canakkale 1915 "From the depths to the trenches" exhibition will run until the mid of August and is also in En...

Everybody who is intending to stay longer in the cultural and economic heart of Turkey, Istanbul, may want to learn Turkish. At least at a basic level. May it be just to get better in touch with all the locals and their culture, for better integrating or even for just being able to interact smoother when it comes down to everyday life. Learn Turkish for free in Istanbul Turkish lessons & more in Istanbul - for free There are literally mirads of Turkish lessons offered all over the city. Of better and worse quality and every level of rates asked. But besides that it is not the easiest thing to pick the right language school at all, not everybody may be able to pay much for a language course. Luckily here come the ISMEK in, which is kind of a free public school run by government. In the first place aiming at Turkish residents to provide courses in a broad range of topics from languages over programming to handicrafts, ISMEK also offers Turkish language courses for foreigners...

After providing an overview of the breakfast served in Turkey and typical drinks in Turkey , now an overview of the cold street food in the city. The probably most well known of them is the sesame ring called Simit, which can literally be found on every corner of the city in the red push-cars on the street. For a mere 1 TL one gets a decent snack, sometimes even with chocolate cream or cream cheese, the latest is highly recommended to try. Turkish Cold Street Food Simit Simit - crispy round savory roll covered with sesame, kind of a Turkish bagel. The street version, the sokak simit (cold) is very crispy. Some street vendors also offer to prepare it with cream cheese or chocolate cream. Simi are dipped in water which is sweetened with molasses and are dipped into sesame seeds before baking. This process keeps them moist and tasty. Besides the only contain half of the calories as a boiled bagel. Prices are between 0.75 and 1.40 TL for the plain Simit, cream cheese or Nute...

Typical Turkish Breakfast After the explanation of some  typical turkish drinks  before, now some information about the what is what in Turkish breakfast. Yet Turkey has not such a big breakfast culture as for example Germany in matters of variations, especially of bread. Nevertheless, at least on the weekends, people gather together for splendid breakfasts with quite a range of foods at home or even at cafes and restaurants. The kahvalti - the turkish word for breakfast - is relatively healthy, provides quite some variations, and always comes with some tomatoes, cucumber and olives. Includes some juice, but less likely a coffee (kahve), which is more likely to be consumed after it, but with the typical tea, cay.  Turkish Food: Breakfast Ekmek - Bread in different variations, mostly soft Börek - A baked pastry made with phyllo dough and stuffed with a one or more vegetables and sometimes meat or cheese Peynirli Börek - Cheese börek Kymali Börek...

Raki, typical turkish drink The Turkish cuisine goes well beyond Kebap and Raki, providing a high variety of dishes and drinks for every time of the day and every occasion. But for those not familiar with the names of Turkish food and drinks it might not be easy to experience all of it, if one does not want to go for trial & error. Therefore here a list of typical Turkish drinks and translations of common drinks, and don´t worry, a list of Turkish Foods will follow soon! Turkish Drinks Raki - THE national spirit of Turkey, anise-flavoured, high level of alcohol, not sweet at all, either consumed straight - called sek - or combined with some chilled water and/or ice cubes as a 4cl shot, a tek. Cay - Tea, which one can find literally on every corner, black, and relatively strong Ayran - Yet another famous turkish drink, salted yogurt, supposedly the national drink of Turkey at all. Kahve - The turkish version of Coffee, one should sip carefully at the end as the coffee ...

Turkish handicrafts exhibition for free Turkish handicraft exhibition Istanbul by TKHV Turkish handicraft exhibition Istanbul by TKHV Everyone who is interested to see, or even make, Turkish handicrafts in Istanbul should take a look at this hidden gem. The Caferaga Medresesi is a center for education with focus on Turkish handicrafts, the name Medresesi refers to the label for educational institution during the Ottoman period, Medresseh. Since a mere 15 years this special school, which was built in 1559, is a touristic centre run by the Turkish Cultural Service Foundation showing a broad variation of Turkish Handicrafts. Spread over 15 exhibition and class rooms, a big salon and a garden handicrafts like marbling, ceramics, jewelry or calligraphy are shown, but also taught, made and sold. Meaning besides being taught how to make traditional handicrafts in workshops or buy some of them, it is also possible to just visit the exhibits and enjoy a drink - like the typical T...