After several months of stressful workweeks, we finally decided to go on a short trip. It was to one of my now all-time favorite places that I want to revisit again – Istanbul!
We only had a few days to explore the city —Friday to Sunday. However, it ended up being one of the most enjoyable short trips we’ve had. When touring Istanbul, even a short stay can be extremely gratifying.
Our flight departed from Cluj-Napoca towards Istanbul from around 11 AM. Turkish Airlines was a bit expensive but I got to watch the first half of the movie “The Iron Claw”, which I highly recommend. However, just before we landed in Istanbul, I could feel that I had some early symptoms of a cold.
After we landed, I honestly think we spent almost 2 hours figuring how to get out of the airport. Then, we had to take the Subway to the center. By the time we reached the center, we got used to the weather – it was around 36 degrees. We had to walk roughly 3 km from where we were, somewhere near Yildiz station. We were going towards Tophane to take a tram from there to a station near Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Once we got off in Istanbul, we headed towards our hotel – the Nomade Old City Hotel. With my fever getting worse, I had to sleep for a couple of hours just to get my energy back up and feel a bit better.
I made a reservation for the two of us on the Bosphorus Dinner & Boat Cruise. We got there by tram in Istanbul and arrived a bit earlier than our scheduled departure time.
When our ship arrived, we were escorted to our table. It was a really nice vibe on the boat and everybody was enjoying themselves. The views were amazing and we had some professional Turkish dancers entertaining us.
The Bosphorus dinner cruise was easily one of the best parts of the trip. The view, the show, the food, the vibe—it just hit all the right notes during our Istanbul visit.
After about 2 and a half hours, we were left off at the same spot and hopped on the same tram to return back to our hotel. On our way back, we brought some Turkish delights from a Haviz Mustafa dessert shop.
We would have to make the most of everything and we had a lot to explore on our second day.
Stay tuned for Part 2!
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