The city of the seven hills
Finally I took my good friend Okan Demirkan up on his offer to come visit him in Istanbul. For years he has been luring me with grand stories of how amazing the city is and how shameful it is that I have not been yet. Standard peer pressure tactics. So I finally succumbed and planned a visit for 4 days in Istanbul followed by a short week in the stupendously beautiful beach resort Hillside Beach Club.
It would be Millie's first real holiday abroad (not counting trips to the Netherlands). Which didn't start off in quite the way we had hoped, being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic late in the evening, coming from the airport on the way to dinner on the Bosphorus. Having done a number two in the back of the car and royally fed up with the days travelling, Millie decided to let us know about it. And know about it we did!
After a good nights sleep however we were all ready to take in the beautiful city that spans two continents. We got a private chauffeur and a young student as our tour guide and we managed to see all the relevant cultural sights within the time that was given to us. Haghia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, The Yerenatan Cistern and the Topkapi Palace were all taken in on an exhausting marathon of a cultural tour of Istanbul.
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| The Bosphorus |
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| From London with love... |
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| Galata Tower |
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| Haghia Sophia |
While I was in Istanbul, there was of course one more thing that I needed to do. A trip to Istanbul wouldn't be complete without a visit to "Hell"! Luckily Galatasaray had a home game that Friday night at the Türk Telekom Arena. What an experience!
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| Türk Telekom Arena |
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| Cim Bom Bom! |
After Istanbul we headed south to
Hillside Beach Club on the Aegean sea for some family fun in the Turkish sun. Recommended by Okan this is supposedly
the place to go on holiday in Turkey. I can see why they say that. Apart from wiping our bum and spooning us to sleep, everything was done for us. They even have an app that allows you to order your beachside drinks on your phone without having to leave your lounger! How ridiculous, no wait, how brilliant is that!?
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