One day in Istanbul

Istanbul is a city of contrasts (a phrase from the movie "Diamond Arm"), however...

We decided to stop for one day in Istanbul, on our way to Cappadocia. There are sightseeing buses (Big Bus Istanbul) for the iconic sights until 16-17 hours. There are several routes (blue and red). Departures are every 15-30 minutes. We arrived in the afternoon, so we only explored part of the city on foot. Although, according to what I've read on the internet, the excursions usually amount to "standing in traffic jams"...

•     We went to Taksim. We chose Taksim because of its central location. There is an airport shuttle (point 1 on the map) from Istanbul to Taksim at night with an interval of 40 minutes. The ride is about 40 minutes at night, during the day with traffic jams this time of course increases.
•     During the walk, went down to the embankment (point 3 and highlighted a section of the embankment), walked along the Bosphorus Strait. So legendary from history lessons and so unremarkable in fact) The embankment is dull, unequipped. There is no walking part over the water. Views beautiful no. Cafes, stores do not exist.
•     Istanbul is a mosques and different beautiful buildings. Fans of architecture, history, and religion will love it.
•     Istanbul is a big beehive. The number of people on the main street İstiklal Cd. (point 2 and the entire street is highlighted) is off the charts. At night at 3 o'clock the stores are open, the cafes are open...there are people everywhere! Everything is lit up like in the daytime. Quite unusual.