Post on Istanbul almost a month later!

In a rare moment of forward planning I booked tickets to Istanbul in July for the long weekend of Eid in November. Now in Dubai there is always an element of suspense when it comes to the exact dates of Eid since the ‘moon sighting committee’ based in Saudi Arabia (YES there really is one NO I have not made this up) declares the dates only after sighting the moon. So I had my fingers and toes crossed from July to November and hurrah Eid holidays were declared on exactly the dates I wanted. Since my husband and I have valid visas to the US we knew we would get visa on arrival in Turkey. Istanbul was where we were spending most of our time and we found it to be enchanting, historical, exotic and very tourist friendly. We stayed in the Sultan Ahmet district since that’s where all the main tourist destinations are. We got to our hotel by taking the metro and then the tram from the airport. Infact throughout our stay in Istanbul we did not use a cab even once.

The first sight of the Blue Mosque took my breath away....

We did not expect to fall in love with Ishtiklal street near Taksim Square. The street was lit up beautifully for Eid and if you like shopping please go to the clothes and shoe shops there. I’d like to give a special mention to ‘Mavi’ where we bought two pairs of jeans, two shirts and a sweater and after all that my husband left all his credit cards and our hotel room card there, but we got them all back the next morning!

The Agya Sofya, Basilica Cisterns, Bosporous Cruise, Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower are all beautiful. It is also worth walking on the Galata Bridge and watch people fishing. If a fan of seafood you can also enjoy grilled fish at Eminonu.

Had we had more time on hand we would have probably taken the bus to Izmir to go to Ephesus but we had to fly there. Ephesus is absolutely worth going to. Unfortunately we could not go to Cappadocia since it was snowing there.
Ideally Turkey needs atleast 10 days to do justice to it. Street food there is yummy and affordable. The people are lovely – not only do they ALL look good but are also friendly, helpful and excellent salespersons. You see chubby cats everywhere and all in all when you get there you know instantly that you are in a region that is not only rich in history but also has a promising future. With an emerging market economy and strategic location, being at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Turkey is considered to be a force to reckon with. Istanbul has now replaced Amsterdam as my favourite city in the whole, wide world!