Over the past few years we have accumulated a stash of Lufthansa miles but using them on an award ticket can be expensive due to fuel surcharges ($600-$800 per ticket!). Booking with their...
Blog posts from Istanbul 2015
Istanbul 2015: 20 hours in Chicago
Chicago's blue line makes it relatively straightforward to get from the airport to downtown, and after one transfer and a few blocks walk we were at the Park Hyatt an hour or so after we had landed....
Istanbul 2015: Friday at the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque
Our pre-trip research indicated that a museum pass would be our best bet, so despite the touts out front trying to guide us in around the line, we waited for the box office at the Hagia Sophia. The...
Istanbul 2015: Cooking class
Several weeks before we left, I emailed the Istanbul Cooking School to see if there were any openings during our trip. Although Oguz couldn't confirm anything until about a month before, everything...
Istanbul 2015: The Topkapi Palace Museum
The Topkapi Palace grounds are immense, so we prepared to spend several hours exploring. Photos are not allowed inside many of the buildings, though rule enforcement varied from not at all to loud...
Istanbul 2015: Asian side
After spending several hours at the Topkapi palace we decided to take the ferry across the Bosphorous and explore Kadıköy, a neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul. As soon as we exited the...
Istanbul 2015: Bosphorus
Istanbul is famously split into a European and an Asian side by the Bosphorus strait. Somehow I convinced Leandra to take a 2 hour tour up the Bosphorus, and the views were great! After pulling away...
Istanbul 2015: exploring & shopping in Istanbul
Besides the big mosques and museums we also visited several other spots around Istanbul in the course of our explorations. Galata Bridge is a key connector between Galata and the famous tourist...
Istanbul 2015: Food!
Perhaps the most memorable part of Istanbul was the food, with lots of nuts, honey, olives, etc, and much of it grown or produced domestically. Breakfast Eric found two great breakfast options near...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Valencia, Spain (Mar)
Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Bari, Italy (Sept)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)