u/HKDrewDrake

Visiting until the end of July and looking for things to do that don't require German. I was searching for free events and saw next weekend there are some neighbourhood day events but they seem quite local, summer exhibition at the New Residence, Flower 3.0 dance party tomorrow starting at 22:00, and movies at Push Cinema. Assuming an exhibition and dance party are fine but I'm having trouble trying to be sure it would be okay. Any recommendations for events?

• I am taking advantage of the TA stopover program (I know, I know) to hopefully catch some migrating and local birds in Istanbul. Will Arrive early afternoon Tues May 5th and leaving the morning of Thurs May 7th. Looking to spend the afternoon/early evening on the 5th and a good portion of the day on the 6th checking out the hotspots. Would love to meet up with some fellow birders if possible.

Staying in Gayrettepe and hoping to take the metro as much as possible. Through a combination of Reddit, Google, AI and ebird I have found the following suggestions. Can anyone chime in on what I should prioritise? Thanks!

• The National Parks Bird Observation Tower - Sarıyer Birding Tower (Is this in Belgrad Forest?)
• Riva (a top ebird hotspot but far)
• Lake Büyükçekmec (a top ebird hotpsot and also very far)
• Manyas Lake/Kuşcenneti National Park (meaning bird heaven in Turkish)
• Gülhane Park
• Validebağ Korusu Nature Preserve
• Topkapı Park
• Istanbul Technical University/İTÜ Ayazağa Kampüsü
• Ataturk Urban Forest/Atatürk Kent Ormanı
• Emirgan Park
• Polonezköy Nature Park
• Tuzla Lake

Will be visiting for 3 months and the pickleball websites that are mainly focused on the US don't list any pickleball courts in Halle. I'm assuming it's unlikely but thought checking here might help me be sure. Don't want to pack the paddle if there's no chance of me using it. Thanks in advance!