Istanbul
We carried exploring the city, taking a Dan Brown tour with Fest Travel to visit the Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern. We also visited Kuzguncuk with tour guide, Serhan Güngör. We met with travel bloggers behind the site For 91 Days, to hear about their experiences of Istanbul, and we looked into the history of artsy hang-out, Sumahan.
Food
Following our unashamed passion for searching out the best food Istanbul has to offer we spoke with local chef Emre Şen, Olga Tikhonova-Irez of Delicious Istanbul, half-Turkish celebrity chef, Silvena Rowe. We also checked out the Istanbul’s best Culinary Workshops and found out where Istanbul’s top chefs go shopping .
We also brought you some delicious recipes for Çiğ Köfte, Fava, Firik, Aşure, Topik, and Sumac Octopus with Pomegranate.
Istanbul People
We had the opportunity to interview some of the Istanbul’s most stylish people, and other interesting locals, including head of IMG Fashion, Banu Bölen, blogger Hazal Yılmaz, and man-about-town, Deniz Karaman. We discovered Turkish Tea Time, an excellent new resource for learning Turkish, and met with its founder, Justin Cannon.
Music and Comedy
We attended a lot of outstanding gigs this year, and got to speak to some of the artists, including: Public Service Broadcasting, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Lisa Stansfield, Belle and Sebastian, Chrysta Bell, Brazzaville. We also spoke to the people behind music website Groovypedia, and found out more about the Lindy Hop scene in Swingin’ Istanbul.
When legendary British comedian, Eddie Izzard, came to town we were thrilled to get to ask him a few questions about comedy, politics and physical extremes. Equally outspoken stand-up, Russell Brand, also divulged his thoughts on Istanbul and meditation.
Health and Beauty
With all the eating, drinking and dancing we’ve been doing, we thought it only right to take care of ourselves too. So we checked out the best Yoga and Pilates classes in Istanbul. We also visited the newly refurbished Kiliç Ali Paşa Hamam, and got some excellent beauty tips from make-up artist, Melissa Chartan.
Travel
For our holidays we visited the peaceful Mediterranean coastal town of Çıralı, for a weekend getaway. We also took a trip to the Aegean to the charming bay of Orhaniye, and the picturesque island of Bozcaada. We also brought you the latest new from Bodrum.
kaynak:http://www.theguideistanbul.com/article/looking-back-istanbul-lifestyle-2013
