{"id":51115,"date":"2023-12-01T08:48:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T08:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mircorp.com\/?p=51115"},"modified":"2023-12-01T09:38:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T09:38:23","slug":"istanbul-time-and-time-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mircorp.com\/istanbul-time-and-time-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Istanbul \u2013 Time and Time Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A Stopover in One of the World\u2019s Greatest Cities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Istanbul's
Istanbul’s Karakoy neighborhood, as seen from the Galata Bridge. Photo credit: Jake Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Istanbul really needs no introduction. <\/strong>It was the Byzantium and Constantinople of bygone eras \u2013 the capital of successive empires and now the largest city in modern Turkiye. It is simultaneously Asian and European<\/strong>, spanning the Bosphorus from Thrace to Anatolia. Istanbul\u2019s UNESCO-listed historic city center is densely packed with world-class architecture and iconic sights<\/strong>. Accordingly, it is a bucket-list destination for many. Istanbul has long been a MIR staff favorite<\/strong> as well \u2013 you can read more about that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The New Mosque (Yeni Cami) just after sunset in Istanbul. Photo credit: Jake Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

My first visit to Istanbul was in 2006, while transiting between the U.S. and Central Asia. I loved it so much that I ended up making dozens of return visits<\/strong> over the following decade. I lived and worked in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for much of that time, making the city an easy and logical stopover en route to or from the U.S.<\/strong> Visiting Istanbul never got old. So many other cities are exciting on the first visit but lose some of that initial luster on return trips. Istanbul is different. Sure, some things do wear thin. I enjoyed my first visits to places like Topkapi Place, the Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque, but having seen them (a few times now) I am less inclined to brave the crowds again. The enduring of appeal of Istanbul is not that it is home to world-class sights. It has those in spades, of course, but the appeal of repeat visits to Istanbul is that it is such a massive, diverse, and vibrant place<\/strong>. There will always be new neighborhoods to explore and new ways to explore them.<\/p>\n\n\n

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