We went to bed in our airport motel at about 9pm Sunday evening with two alarms set for 0130 as one alarm cannot be trusted with a major event. Hamish really had trouble settling even though he said listening to music would help him sleep (it didn’t) so honestly I think we may have slept for 3 hours at the most before we got up, showered and caught the bus to the airport.

Check in was seamless. The ‘who can pack the lightest’ award went to Hamish with 13.8kg. Then I at 15.5kg and Rod at 15.8kg. The flight from Athens to Rome has a 15kg checked in weight limit, so we will redistribute some of our things to Hamish (I refuse to pay MORE for this already expensive 90 minute flight!)

The flight was pretty full, although it was hard to tell from our front of the plane premium economy seats. We missed our section boarding call due to playing Rock Paper Scissors so were the last to get settled in our section. Look, we think flying with Emirates is always lovely, but the PE seats were just luxurious. There was a foot rest, a leg rest and the back of the chair reclined about 30 degrees – it was like having a recliner chair for your flight! You know how on a long haul flight there always ends up being a heap of junk underneath your feet – bags, blankets, pillows, shoes, a tangle of headphones…you know this feeling? Well, there was none of this in PE. Our meals were incredible, the wine serves generous and the section very quiet. Rod had no one sitting next to him, which was a blessing as he had to clap when the plane landed due to losing the first round of Rock Paper Scissors.

You would think with all this space and quiet, we all had a good rest. No. Only I slept for maybe 4 hours of the 14? Rod maybe 30 mins. Hamish not at all. This started going against him as we began our descent into Dubai and he started feeling sick. I likened this to night shift – sometimes you’re just so tired you’re nauseous. Hamish turned very pale and had a little pre-spew sweat going. I scrambled to get some ondansetron into him, which helped just in time. No spew and back to his usual self as we landed.

With a 5 hour layover in Dubai, we had pre-booked the Plaza Premium Lounge where we could eat & drink, relax and shower. Those showers were hands down the best thing – we met back in the lounge feeling, looking and smelling fresh. There was a delicious buffet – we weren’t really hungry, but we had a few little things anyway. Unfortunately Hamish had some garlic chicken which didn’t agree with him, as we found out a couple of hours later. Our flight was about 1/3 full, so once Hamish had stopped spewing, we were able to get him 4 spare seats to lay down on. The flight attendant was lovely and caring – helping us with whatever we needed for him. He slept most of the 4 hour flight to Istanbul and is now nearly back to 100%.

The city sparkled as we flew in. It was really exciting finally getting here after 9 months of planning and travelling for about 27 hours. Customs line were quick and staffed by Police (Polis in Turkish) – our Polis-man was very friendly – so not the norm for customs officers. Our host picked us up from the airport and settled us into the apartment. He speaks 4 languages and his English is excellent. We were a bit worried about our lack of anything other than English, but so far, everyone we’ve interacted with speaks English really well. Hamish crawled into his bed fully clothed. Rod was tempted to unpack, but I suggested tomorrow might be a better time for that.

Today we planned to take it easy, due to being tired and Hamish being sick yesterday. We kinda did take it easy (step count of 13 000) but we’re staying in tonight and will have a ‘breakfast for dinner’ type of arrangement – quick and easy.

What did we do today?

Breakfast at the cafe next door (Turkish breakfast with croissants for Rod, cheese omelette for me, sausage croissant and scrambled eggs for Hamish)

Go to the Carrefour supermarket for a little bit of shopping (always fun in a new country!)

Walk to the Bosphorus – admire the HUGE cruise ships, discuss how we’d not enjoy being 3 of 1000 people on a cruise. Walk along the docks and get some Turkish ice cream – Mara’s Dondurma. It’s sweet, very sticky and stretchy. We’re not sure if we liked it or not!

Get an Istanbul Card for public transport.

Walk across the Galata bridge. Go to the Spice Markets. Get some lunch (Lamb kebab wrap for Rod, Beef doner wrap for Hamish, Chicken doner with rice for me) Work out how to get back to our apartment using a (very fast, driver on the horn constantly) tram and a furnicular. Navigate our way back home on foot from Taksim square.

Nap.

One more trip to the supermarket for some cordial or lime juice or something to add to the water. The water is fine, but tastes dreadful. EVERYONE drinks bottled water and I don’t use that term lightly. The bottled water we had with lunch cost less than 50c for 500ml. So at the moment we are using our filtered water bottles and decanting into other bottles. I’ve added the only cordial (syrup) we could find and I have a flat, non-alcoholic mojito on my hands. I’m going to say that’s a win.

Admire the cats of Istanbul – more so Rod and Hamish. There are 15 million people in Istanbul and I would say the cat to human ratio I’ve seen today is 1:10. It’s insane. People leave food out for them, they go wherever they like, we’ve seen them sitting on moped seats, restaurant chairs, cars, trees, gardens. I’ve seen 3 dogs today and probably 50 cats.

Our first impressions of Istanbul are ‘big, busy and beautiful’ (well put Hamish). It’s also super hilly. People are very friendly, the mosques are gorgeous, the views are to die for and the food is fab. I did note the lack of females working in cafes and shops – just an observation. When we had lunch today, the owner shook hands with Rod and then said ‘Hello Lady’ to me. He showed us to a couple of tables and said we could decide which one to sit at. Rod said, ‘this one will do’ pointing to one of three identical tables. The owner then said, “ahh, the best table” – Turkish hospitality at its best.