Coffee is unbelievably good here. Inflation is present, food is great, hospitality is the strongest I've seen (thank you again, Kaya & Mine & Muggle). One thing I've taken for granted is public transit that can get you places quickly. Istanbul public transit is solid, but the nature of the city being absolutely massive (i.e unlike the cities I grew up in) means a 30 minute bus ride doesn't traverse all destinations. This fact combined with my extreme lack of planning to create a situation where I spent a *lot* of time on public transit (i.e dead time in travels). I felt guilty at some point, then I realised self-imposed guilt was a bit absurd, then I thought a bit about how disproving my faulty assumptions was reason enough to justify a visit. I had time for all of this, of course, for my bus ride was a hour and forty-five minutes (not including a short, pleasant ferry ride breaking it up). The beauty of Istanbul is in its eclectic chaos. In that spirit, other varia: underground cisterns are the most hauntingly beautiful thing I've encountered in a while, some restaurants have no menu and just serve you food, something called chicken lollipops. Did I mention coffee is unbelievably good here?