So is the current plan to have both Lisbon and NC1-Guimar run as SFs for the time being, or are we going to let Lisbon grow and produce units and have NC1 be the sole settler factory? I'm a little confused by the matter.
If we intend to let both of them be SF for a while, I must note that we really just got started with producing units in NC1 and now we are intending to build a granary there. Seems like the waste of a barracks. I'm also wondering if we need 2 settler factories when we we barely have an army. Taking NC1 off military duty means we only have one decent unit producer, Oporto, for a while as the other barracks cities are still small.
Or, if the plan is to let Lisbon grow and let NC1 build the settlers, I'm wondering why. Currently Lisbon can work most of it's high commerce tiles and still be a SF. The main advantage to moving the settler factory to NC1 seems to be that it is more central, but that's seems like a very small advantage. Again we'd have to build a granary and waste a barracks. And after all, most of our planned expansion is north and south right now, and Lisbon can reach those places almost as fast.
So, what am I missing here? Not trying to be critical, just want to understand the plan a little better.
Onto other matters...
Settling on the hill, on the former site of Iznik, is fine. I would definitely, as Ivan says, use the nearby settler for this purpose first, and go after the silks later. Moving that settler around too much is a big waste.
When you attack Izmit, take 3-4 units. Each city will be probably defended by two units, likely reg spears, so taking only two units is way too risky. Three is ok, four is better.
I agree with Lanzelot that going after Babs right now is a waste. SoZ is important, but I don't think it's critical enough to drop everything and go after it immediately. I say let's expand more in our local area. We still have 15+ turns on deals with Arabs and Russia, so we can't attack them for a while. Instead, let's clean up the Ottos, take out the 2 close by Babs cities, and maybe go after the nearest Zulu city. Get our forces poised to invade Russia in force once our MA expires. Take our leftover units and push toward Mecca, the Arabs should offer little resistance as they are very small.
I don't like the idea of sending a galley force toward the Babs. It would take too long, and waste lots of resources in building a fleet now. I say let's be ready to blitz through Russia. I bet that will get us to the SoZ in a reasonably short timeframe.
Oh, and use horses and don't build more swords or upgrade reg warriors. If you get in a pinch on defense, cash-rush a horse or even a spear.
Speaking of rushing things, we still have quite a bit of gold and have a decent income. Unless we plan to proactively cash-rush an army, why don't we just go full research toward Currency right now and then turn research off again? I know we won't have a Lib in Lisbon yet, but is that critical? Getting Currency now may give us the key to trading for Construction in case Monarchy gets learned by another AI too quickly.
For the FP, be aware that most of the land through Russia has forest, no jungle. So we won't have tons of jungle to chop. However, I am curious how Ivan calculates Moscow as the best place for the FP? Wanna share any secrets, Ivan?
Just eyeballing it, I thought that the Novgorod area looked the best, or even further north near Sagres. I would think the rank corruption would knock out the area benefits of an FP if it's as far south as Moscow.
And if we do make a southern FP, are planning on jumping palace to Oporto?
Okay, that's my thoughts. Hopefully I was clear.
Isn't that Guimaraes, our best horse producer? Yep, I agree that we should get some irrigation going up north by Emerita/Coimbra. 
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) produce horsemen at 10spt. Later, when we have conquered our continent, we can still reduce it below 7 and run it as a SF for a while. (Or rush our settlers close to where they are needed.)
You don't have to tell if you don't want. 
