Türkiye, the cities I have been to and the food I love

The cities I've been to and seen in my own country are actually limited. I went to Adana, Hatay and Mersin and stayed in student dorms. I went to Eskişehir, İzmir and Sivas.

I love my country and I'm crazy about its food. I'm writing this post a bit for tourists coming to Türkiye. Wherever you go, eat that city's food.

What to eat, city by city

• Adana. Adana kebab, with şalgam, a fermented turnip juice, on the side.
• Hatay. A whole different cuisine, starting with künefe. Hatay is one of UNESCO's creative cities of gastronomy.
• Mersin. Tantuni and cezerye.
• Eskişehir. Çiğ börek, or çibörek as the locals say.
• İzmir. Boyoz for breakfast, kumru in the afternoon.
• Sivas. Sivas köfte.
• Istanbul. Fish sandwiches in Eminönü, simit and tea on every corner.

My Istanbul

I love Istanbul. But the Istanbul I love is Beşiktaş, Kadıköy, the Spice Bazaar, Karaköy and Eminönü. In other words, the part that sees the sea.

I live somewhere very far from the sea. I don't like water and I can't swim. But still, if I don't go to that side, I don't feel like I live in Istanbul.

If you come to Istanbul, take the ferry from Eminönü to Kadıköy. It's the cheapest and most beautiful way to see the Bosphorus.

A dream of mine

If I reach my goals, the first thing I want to do is learn to ride a bike and do a bike tour of Türkiye :D

What you need to know before coming to Türkiye

Visa

• Citizens of many countries come to Türkiye visa free, some get an e visa online.
• If you need an e visa, only get it from the official site, evisa.gov.tr. There are middleman sites that charge extra.

Money

• The currency is the Turkish lira. Cards work almost everywhere.
• To exchange money, use exchange offices in the city instead of the airport, the rate is better.
• When paying by card or withdrawing, if it asks whether to charge in your own currency or lira, choose lira.

Getting around

• In Istanbul get an İstanbulkart. Metro, tram, bus and ferry all work with it.
• The intercity bus network is very well developed, there are buses to almost every city at almost every hour.
• There are high speed trains between Istanbul, Eskişehir, Ankara and Konya.
• Domestic flights are often cheap and save time for faraway cities compared to the bus.

SIM card

• The operators are Turkcell, Vodafone and Türk Telekom. Tourist SIMs are sold at the airport.
• If you don't register a phone you brought from abroad, after a while it stops working with a Turkish SIM. If you're staying a short time it's fine, if you're staying long you need to register it.

Places to see

• Istanbul. Eminönü, the Spice Bazaar, Karaköy, the Kadıköy market and Beşiktaş. All of them are by the sea and you get between them by ferry.
• İzmir. A walk along the Kordon and Kemeraltı Bazaar.
• Eskişehir. The Odunpazarı houses and the banks of the Porsuk River.