After the short one hour flight from Dalaman Airport that serves Fethiye to Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport we were met by our hotels driver and taken into central Istanbul for our five night stay. Our apartment in Bansko (Bulgaria) was booked from the 15^th of December, so we still had just over a week to enjoy our final stage of our Turkey stay – the delights of Istanbul, before working out our route into Bulgaria.

The city has certainly changed since I was here last and over the following days I have the feeling of familiarity and unfamiliarity almost simultaneously…

One of the most obvious differences is the public transport system – I do not remember much of a transport system at all and indeed after investigation learn that the modern tram lines that we use constantly to get around this time either just simply didn’t exist with most seemingly starting service in the mid 1990’s, and the underground Metro only going into service in 2000. It is a city that has grown both in population and wealth which is very visible by the many shopping malls and ‘status’ shop’s, it truly is a world city.

A unique city that spans two continents, with the Bosphorus dividing Asia and Europe, it has always had an exotic feel, ancient yet now increasingly modern as well. The young seem particularly fashion conscious, at odds with what I had witnessed from their southern counterparts.

We had hit the jackpot for our Istanbul hotel too.  Only a week before I had contacted a hotel high up on Tripadvisor’s reviews who advised they were full but who recommended their sister hotel, the Sarahan.

Checks revealed that this scored pretty high too, so we were happy to go with it.  However they advised that there was only one family room left, located in the basement but they could offer it at €37 per night. To say I was a bit apprehensive about a basement room was an understatement, but it was fantastic!

It was a large warm and cosy room with underfloor heating and radiators, with queen bed plus bunk beds, crisp white fluffy doonas and a big marble bathroom complete with heated  towel racks – and all at less than $50 a night including the buffet breakfasts in the rooftop restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus.  In what must be truly one of the world’s most wonderful cities; this was a bargain!

The only downside (to some) was the fact that it had no outward looking windows, but that didn’t bother us in the slightest, and in fact made for a quieter room where we could hardly hear the call to prayer of the many Mosques surrounding us, something that I remember too well from my last visit where I was woken before dawn daily.

The weather forecast for Istanbul for the coming days was bleak; cold with overcast skies, so before doing the tourist thing, we had decided our first priority was to get some warm clothing – namely skiing attire for our time in Bulgaria.

Some on-line research and discussion with the guy at the front desk brought us to the conclusion that our first option should be ‘Decathlon’, a French owned sporting goods retailer.

So, the next morning we bought an Istanbulkart  – the smartcard used for Metro, bus, tram, ferry and funicular travel, cashed it up and took the tram and metro across town to one of the largest shopping emporiums in the world – Forum. Decathlon is a bit like ‘Super A-Mart’ on steroids; they sell everything to do with sports and the outdoors. Once inside the store, we found several large aisles dedicated to cold weather activities including ski equipment and clothing.

And so the comparing and trying on began with everyone getting ski pants, ski jackets, inner gloves, outer waterproof ski gloves (mitts for the girls) warm socks, ski goggles, fleece scarves and beanies. We threw in some extras like cheap toboggans and ski skates for the girls and even found some much needed new swimming togs. Although a shock for the credit card at the check-out ($700 ouch!), compared to shopping elsewhere (especially Australia) we were well prepared for a pretty reasonable price, especially seeing as we were spending best part of the next three months in the European winter.

The young girl at the register, noticing we were foreigners, offered the necessary forms for us to claim the eligible tax back on our purchases.  We had now filled to capacity the cheap sports bag David had brought in Fethiye.Believe it or not this shopping expedition took up pretty much the whole day –  my favourite pastime – not! With this chore out of the way, we were able to get on with enjoying Istanbul…

Eating during our time out and about was at the many ‘Lokanta’ restaurants where locals go for fast fresh home-style cooking and a lively atmosphere.  We nicknamed these ‘soup kitchens’ as there was always at least one big pot of soup alongside the dishes displayed in a bain marie. Sometime all we would need was a big bowl of lentil soup with bread, before we headed off again, but more often than not we tried all manner of flavours in the stew and hot pot type dishes on offer – delicious flavours of mediterranean vegetables and usally lamb as the meat of choice.

Our hotel was within easy walking distance to some of the more treasured attractions: literally ten minutes from The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern and only a little further to the Grand Bazaar and Spice markets. Each time we ventured out and back to our hotel we walked up through Sultanahmet Square, what was once the Hippodrome of Constantinople (of horse and chariot racing fame); the sporting and social centre of the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The lower part of the curved U-shaped structure still stands and three of the ancient monuments still exist.

We spent the remaining days being tourists…

Immi recognised the wonderful Hagia Sophia and Basilica from our beloved Amazing Race show.  Some days the weather was a bit hit-and-miss, and we started using some of our warm clothing immediately.

We enjoyed a short cruise on the Bosporus firstly heading north up the European side before passing under the Bosphorus Bridge and heading south down the Asian side.

We caught the funicular to Taksim Square and walked down the length of Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Street) the elegant pedestrianized street, approximately three kilometers long, full of boutiques, bookstores and art galleries  with facades and late Ottoman era buildings designed in Neo-classical, Neo-Gothic, Renaissance Revival, and Art Nouveau and even some Art Deco style from the early years of the Turkish Republic.

Just a bit further south and to our intended destination of the Galata Tower, the medieval stone tower that was the highest landmark in Istanbul when it was built in 1348. It was just on dusk and we watched the city come alive with lights during our time up on the observation platform that circled the tower. We took in the  magnificent view of the city and the many boats ploughing the Bosphorus before we headed for home.

 “If the Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be its capital.” – Napoleon Bonaparte