It may be open to debate which cities would qualify for the label of a “major” European capital, but using my loose definition, I possess sufficient familiarity with all them. Until now, that was bar Istanbul.
My trip that took place last week was part opportunistic and part long-planned, and it definitely happened for the purposes of seeing Istanbul in a reasonably greater depth than my one past layover in town allowed to date. As these trips always go, I fully succeeded in seeing all major sights, walking all major routes (to the habitual tune of 25,000+ steps a day), lingering at major public spaces, trying street food, observing people, and basically getting as much of a feel of the city as I could handle.
Istanbul did not blow me away, it should be said. It has breathtaking vistas and quite a few superb points of interest, but in its overall mass it presents as either too chaotic, too bazaar-like or at places simply lacking appeal if not outright dilapidated. The people, though, are uniformly nice, the food is excellent, and things to do are aplenty.
I also included a two-day driving trip to Bursa area in my itinerary, which allowed me to get a small taste of Türkiye outside of the capital. Even though those additional destinations may not be true “musts” on their own merits, they enhanced my overall impression of the trip in no small measure.
As always, there are thousands of photos to sift through, which will eventually manifest as a series of photo-retrospectives. Watch this space. For a sneak-peak, here is the sun setting down behind the magnificent Süleymaniye Mosque.
Of course, I am not yet done with Sardinia retrospectives; in fact, there are five sets to go there at a minimum. We will return to that programming in the coming weeks.