Let's start with a confession, I have never wanted to visit Turkey, no interest whatsoever! I cannot explain why that is and I have no plausible reason to discount Turkey as a potential place to visit........ so why the heck did we go?
Well it pretty much came down to the fact that we wanted to go to a city that wasn't too far away and offered something a bit different. So the missus threw Istanbul in the mix and the next thing you know it was booked.
We had 5 nights in this mega city of over 16m people, so if we hated it then it wouldn't be the end of the world as we would soon be home via a few nights in Manchester. Well my negative mindset about Turkey was flipped on its head, I absolutely loved the place!
The people, the food, the architecture, the food, the faces, the friendliness, did I mention the food...... THE BLOODY FOOD!!!!........ no wonder my cholesterol levels have reached new highs! What an absolutely cracking city this is and the people are wonderful. I'm so pleased we did this trip and, as an added bonus, the super friendly people were more than happy for me to take photos of them via my smiley hand waving gestures whilst pointing at my camera......... well it is better than my attempts at 'Del Trotter' Turkish.
So here are my shots and, for me at least, they provide fond memories of this magical place.