4 days in Istanbul

Those who follow me for a longer time or on social media, know that Istanbul was on travel list for quite some while. I should say that it went straight to number one after I read The bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak, you should too if you haven’t already, it’s a beautiful book.

Istanbul didn’t came up in my travel plans this year either, but the universe has a way to fix things and make dreams come true, an email from Lorelei Bratu, PR lady extraordinaire, sneaked up my inbox with an invitation to spend four marvellous days in this marvellous city. My reaction? I was stunned and then I started to panic a little because my passport expired and Easter was just around the corner, literally.

Well, got a temporary one, sent it to Lorelai and last week I spent four amazing days in Istanbul. Two at the Evteks Home Textile Exhibition and two wondering the city.

Hands down, this is in my top three travel logs, which is a bit peculiar because, well, it was a “business” trip, although I love everything home deco related,  and it was with 9 different people which I didn’t meet before. And you know I’m a total awkward panda when it comes to such gatherings. I was already  an avid reader of Diana’s blog, Fine Society, but that doesn’t count, ok? Ehhm, it was so, so, so, fun, even though we came from different environments to say so.

Right away after we arrived from the airport, which was a challenge because neither the driver or the person waiting for us didn’t actually speak English,  we went straight to Sultanahmet for a evening of visiting and good food.

Business or pleasure trip, you can’t miss Hagia Sophia, it’s an architecture wonder and the culture clash is mesmerizing. Breathtaking, I’m telling you.

The Blue Mosque was again, breathtaking and a tad contradictory… I wouldn’t let people take selfies inside.. but hey, that’s me.

An evening stroll on the Galata bridge with it’s passionate fisherman and….

…the view from the Galata tower, again, breathtaking. I think I used this word too much in this post. Ok, the whole city is breathtaking…

Taksim area with its charm & vibe…

And the Grand Bazaar, I don’t really wanna talk about this because I’m a little ashamed of myself.. Yeah, I bought way to many things that I do not need. But the whole thing makes you wanna spend money, especially if you’re a hoarder like yours truly here.

We had a little cruise on Bosphorus that well, ehhm, see this video... but only if you’re reading from RO.

Aww, and I was about to miss my flight due to crazy Monday morning traffic… 

photos by me & Alex Damian