Istanbul feels like the middle of the world. The city itself straddles two continents, sliced by the Bosphorous strait that separates Europe from Asia. But the geography just feels like the physical expression of a culture that resists falling cleanly into one box or another. On the same street you’ll see a woman in a hijab covered to her ankles, a girl in a crop top with half blue hair and fishnet stockings, and a flamboyantly gay guy in a muscle shirt and makeup (but they’ll all be smoking a cig). The call to prayer rings from the minarets 5 times a day but it’s also legal to walk around with an open bottle of beer.