Istanbul Wrap-Up

Left my hotel after 9 and got to the airport stupidly early for a 1325 flight but there was nothing else to do and I AM an airport geek! IST airport is impressive. Only opened 2019 and is Europe's largest and busiest airport. Top notch spaces, services and facilities. They even have a dedicated lounge for 'Special People ' (Down Syndrome, dementia etc listed) to provide a calm space and dedicated staff to assist.

Istanbul is a fascinating place. All too short a visit, although I saw the main historic sights. It is quite a clean city. I don't know if Turks just don't litter, or if there is very efficient cleaning. You get the flavour of the 'orient' with the markets and the shops along the streets, but it is still a European city (not technically part of the Middle East) and the infrastructure is all up to date and maintenance levels are high. And so much history from the Roman Empire through the Byzantine era, then the Ottoman Empire, it was a leading city for some 1500 years.

Day 1 Tuesday, Oct 3rd: Arrival day, so really travel time. But did get the one event in. Put in 8,028 steps , mostly in airports. It was partly cloudy on arrival and about 20.

Day 2, Oct 4th: Long day today and saw a huge amount. Really experienced the hustle and bustle of this place and all its chaos. Was mainly a walking tour of the south bank and overdid the walking with 20,772 steps. The weird thing about Istanbul is that it is very hilly and they built all their main buildings at the tops of hills! Mostly cloudy and it wasn't too hot.

Day 3: Oct 5th. Got up and was worried I couldn't do anything. After I got home last night I fell asleep for an hour then couldn't get back to sleep and was also really sore this morning. However, got a shower and breakfast and took a cab to the first stop to save my muscles for important stuff! Weather was a bit iffy too. Had really heavy rains overnight and it was cool cloudy and we had intermittent light rain. For me, though, better than 30 degrees! Ended up doing one museum less than planned but also managed to walk all the way back today. Today was basically the #1 and #2 sites on the tourist trail. Easy day of 12,350 steps in cool weather..Read more