A Day in Üsküdar

It was a sunny Sunday morning, perfect for our first foray into Asian Istanbul, so we hopped on a ferry and headed over to Üsküdar. Originally settled by the Greeks as Chrysopolis in the 7th century BC, Üsküdar’s founding predates that of Byzantium.

To get a sense of how insanely populous Istanbul is, consider this. Üsküdar comprises just a small section of the city, but counts half a million people packed into its eighteen square miles. If just the Üsküdar section of Istanbul were a city in I...