Packing for Istanbul in November is a bit like packing for three seasons at once. You’ll land expecting crisp fall weather, maybe even a sneak peek of winter… and instead you get a 68° afternoon where you’re sweating through your “cute layered outfit". Then the next day? Cold wind off the Bosphorus that makes you grateful you threw in that one heavier jacket (but that you still forgot back in the AirBnb). Welcome to Istanbul in November, where one side of the hill can be cool

Late-night çiğ köfte run at the legendary Ali Usta. If you wander far enough through the winding streets behind the Hagia Sophia, you eventually end up in Sirkeci, that in-between pocket of Istanbul where locals rush to work, tourists drift toward Eminönü, and street vendors battle over who has the best smell wafting across the tram line. (Corn or chestnuts, anyone?) And right there on a side street is Çiğköfteci Ali Usta , the man, the myth, the döner-speed wrap-rolling lege