7. Adhan. Five times a day, the call to prayer echoes through the city. It is an eerie and magical sound. Even for non-Islamics, it provides a moment to pause and reflect on the day, whether you're waiting for the metro, drinking coffee at a local cafe, buying groceries or sitting in front of your computer.
6. Stray cats. They carpet the sidewalks, glossy-coated and elegant. One of the local favorites, affectionately known to us as "Gimpy," was hit by a car when she was a kitten and lost a leg. Someone took her to the local vet and paid to have her operated on and looked after. When she was well enough, she went straight back onto the streets. But this is not a terrible fate for a cat in our neighborhood. The residents come out with food daily, and she gets plenty of attention. Though she doesn't like to be trapped indoors, she dashes into the apartment when it rains.
5. The market stalls. Fresh fruit and vegetables spill out onto the pavement, hang from the awnings, and create an oasis in the middle of the bustling road. Most of the time you can't help but stop and buy something. Figs, pomegranates, bananas. Onions, spinach, zucchini.
4. The hidden stairways. Istanbul has grown organically, and this is most visible when you walk up the many staircases that litter the route from top to bottom of the cities many hills. You can see where one set of stairs was built, and when it became worn down, another was simply plopped on top of it, ignoring the layout of the previous set. Some steep, some shallow, some broad, some narrow. Some are straight, while others curve between the apartment buildings, allowing for entrances to peoples homes and you can catch a glimpse of someone's life through the gates. You have to keep your eyes open and try and take it all in.
3. The Cafe Culture. The heady smell of hookah is constantly in the air along to Bosphorus. Groups of youths gather after school, and old men play fiercely competitive games backgammon, all sipping glasses of tea. Pick your style - sitting on beanbags or bright purple armchairs, wicker benches or wooden stools, there's a cafe for every taste. All against the magnificent background of the water, the many minarets and mosques. Even on this rainy afternoon, people huddle under the awnings, stretching out the last warm days of fall, smoking, laughing and avoiding raindrops.
2. Turkish coffee. Gritty, sweet, and delicious. Doner sandwiches. Overflowing with meat and veg, satisfying, and cheap. Baklava. A sweet tooth can't resist.
1. Gill. An inspiration, a pillar of strength, a guide, a friend.