The air smells like smoking meat and roasting chestnuts.

From my hotel room, the rooftops never end. I strain to see the Bosphorous, but the rooftops just go on and on.

The landscape is dotted with mosques – each with a skinny rocket tower from which the call to prayer comes five times a day.

I walk down the main shopping street in the Taksim area, and there are just as many people as rooftops.

It’s overwhelming at first, which encourages me to walk even more slowly, taking it all in. I’ve come to prefer this slow, relaxed way of traveling, even in the midst of some of the largest cities.

All we have is now: I see this message printed on a t-shirt and let it be my guide for the week while I’m in Turkey (I also see “Allergico alle Persone stupide.” and this is my second guide).

There might be more sweets shops here than rooftops or people: baklava, ice cream, pastries, cakes, chocolates. Stacked in the windows in tiny pyramids.

Men wearing fezzes call out from behind their ice cream carts, beckoning children to watch their acts.

Street vendors blow on their small bubble machines and every few seconds the crowded street is magically illuminated with bubbles floating overhead.

Down the side streets, people sit smoking flavored hookahs; every now and then, a large, hidden church peeks from behind more buildings. It reminds me of the religious and cultural diversity of this city, and its equally confused place in this world.

I see a lot of words I’m already familiar with from Germany. It’s like I am already more immersed into Turkish culture than I realize: names of food or friends or streets, indicative of the intertwined history of these two countries.

I meet up with my friend Yasemin, who, with her husband and friend, are my personal Turkey welcome committee.

Throughout my trip, I am overwhelmed at the amount of effort they put into showing me their country.

But then I also realize this is how they do it in Turkey.

For the few days I’m in Istanbul, they take me on a whirlwind tour of the must-sees: Hagia Sophia, Bosphorus boat tour, Topkapi Palace, the Asian side, the European side, Besiktas, Karakoy, Taksim, all the markets, all the Starbucks, and not to mention tasting all. the. food. It was crowded, busy, exhausting.

I found the smaller, quieter neighborhoods to be really charming. If I go back, I would spend more time in these areas.

We flew from Istanbul to Denizli, and this is where I really started to get a feel for the country.