Bright, crowded, and friendly, Istanbul is a city with territory in both Europe and Asia. The Bosporus strait geographically separates the continents, but the culture of Istanbul mixes European and Asian influence in every tiny alleyway and hookah bar. Istanbul has long been an important power in the region. It was the seat of several empires including the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires.

Old enough to have had previous names including Byzantium and Constantinople, Istanbul is a city that mixes the modern with the ancient. Trams pass ancient rows of apartment buildings with one or tow ancient ruins mixed in. Just walking in Istanbul throws historic experiences at travelers. However, there are many significant sites to visit as well.

The Blue Mosque, built in the seventeenth century, stands tall in the crowded skyline of Istanbul. The mosque is also called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque for the name of the man who built it to preserve his legacy, but it is more often called the Blue Mosque in reference to the blue tiles that dominate the interior décor. It is a working mosque, but visitors can respectfully enter the famed blue interior and stroll in the surrounding Sultan Ahmed Park.

The Hagia Sophia was designed to be the largest Christian church in the world, later became a mosque, and is now a museum restored to look much as it did as a Christian church, but it is not to be used as a house of worship. The museum includes extensive galleries in addition to the magnificent sites of Hagia Sofia’s massive dome and brilliant decorations.

In Istanbul, you’ll find Ottoman influence in traditional dishes. Breakfast in Turkey is quite hearty and often includes a selection of cheese, vegetables like tomatoes and cucumber, and olives; sometimes a soup or sausages are added to or made a morning meal. Spices like cumin, black pepper, and mint are essential to Turkish cuisine at any meal.

Yogurt is also an essential part of the Turkish diet (in fact, the English word yogurt comes from the Turkish language). Yogurt is used in soups and sauces, served as an accompaniment to meals, and turned into a chilled drink called ayran.

Tea is the national drink of Turkey and they brew it well. You can find fresh, hot tea almost everywhere you go, even on tourist cruises on the Bosporus. Much of the tea in Turkey is grown on the Black Sea coast and a box of fresh tealeaves makes a good souvenir for tea drinkers.

If you’d like to do some cooking or bring home some goodies as souvenirs, Istanbul’s bazaars are a grand place to shop for food and more. Many stalls sell Turkish Delight or Lokum, a chewy candy that comes in a wide variety of flavors. You can request a box of a single flavor or many flavors and break out your haggling skills to get the right price.

All images are used via Creative Commons Attribution rights. View the original images on Flickr at: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4