INCREDIBLE HOST. My brother and I stayed in Firat’s apartment in the Taksim neighborhood of Istanbul. It was such a cool experience to be able to open the windows and listen to the hustle and bustle of the city and the call to prayers of the mosque, truly beautiful. When you want peace and quiet, the double paned windows really shut out the street noise. We also found the living room very nice and relaxing after a long day of exploring the city. Also super convenient location with just a minute walk to the metro station or you can take a nice 15 min walk to Galata area.
Side note: On our first day in Istanbul, my brother dropped his iPhone in a random taxi we found on the street. He didn’t realize it until 15 min after we got out of the taxi. Of course there was no way for us to contact or track that driver. We reached out to Firat and he helped us contact the building that had camera footage of us entering the taxi which then led us to meeting the most amazing tourism police offer who ultimately tracked down the taxi driver and got the phone back. (My brother forgot apple id password, find my iPhone wasn’t an option🤦🏾‍♂️) I say all that to say, we’ve met a lot of amazing people in Turkey but Firat was the first spark that really showed us the true character of the people in Turkey. We’ll be back!!