Istanbul

We arrived exhausted after flying from Phoenix to Seattle on Alaska Airlines and then 12 hours more to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. St. Christopher watched out for us, though, with both flights on time and with better food than usual. The Turkish flight, however, was full of big families, and there was one screaming baby in particular who had repeated tantrums. There was even a changing table set up at the front of Coach! The Istanbul airport is very elaborate. We learned our first Turkish word—cikis, which means exit. Oceania had a kiosk outside of Baggage Claim and transported us from there to the Vista. Very efficient. The beautiful Vista is Oceania’s newest ship and what enticed us to do this cruise. We checked out our ship a bit, had dinner, and then went to our stateroom to gear up for our first excursion in the morning. Our delightful steward, Raymond, came by to introduce himself.

Istanbul is today a transcontinental city (located in both Europe and Asia) straddling the Bosphorus Strait between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea (Eastern Mediterranean). The city's historical and commercial downtown is on the European side, and around one-third of its population is on the Asian side. It has had many names over the centuries, including Byzantium, New Rome (when the Romans made it their new capital), and Constantinople. The city’s name of Istanbul was not officially changed from Constantinople until 1930. The name “Istanbul” was derived from Greek. Turkish soldiers asked Greek migrants heading to the city where they were going; they told the soldiers in their language “to the city,” which sounded like Istanbul.Read more