Surreal. I am now sitting at the Four Seasons overlooking the Bosphorus, the Kempinski Palace next door in the distance, over the water the “asian side” of Istanbul looks like the inside of a colourful sardine can. Meanwhile a huge tanker passes by, the size splitting the Bosphorus in 2; and I’m eating 2 sunny side up eggs with Turkish “Pastrami”. I was just taught the intricacies and layering of Turkish Coffee… god forbid I STIR it! But Turkish Tea and Turkish coffee… my new favourite!
What an AMAZING 2 days. I can’t really believe that I am about to embark on 18 hr journey back to HK. I do feel like I have been here for a week, but I am dreading sitting down for so long. After this day, I will have been on 6 different planes in 3 days.
Day 1: arriving at the airport I was picked up by VIP Services as I exited the plane, onto a cart and taken through the airport right to the front. ROCKSTAR!!! Oh and its cold…. 2 degrees.
Checked into the beautiful and new Four Seasons at Bosphorus, a bath and straight to the Kempinski Palace next door, an amazing restored venue and the site of our main plenary sessions in April.
A visit to the even more amazing underground Cistern, another restored venue, multiple columns and an atmosphere that you can only find in this part of the world.
Onto a visit to the “Asian Side” and a meeting at the Adile Sultan place, a great view of the waterfront, and another unique venue.
Day 2: Up at the crack of dawn to catch an hour flight to Kayseri, a main crossroad of the Silk Road, and another hour drive to Cappadocia. Now it’s really cold, snow covered plains and mountains. This place is AMZAING. These thousands of year old caves, one used to collect bird droppings to make gun powder; now made into these beautiful hotel rooms. My first Turkish meal on top of the mountain, St Nicolas church, and the old Cappadocia town. Sun sets and its -12C.
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Now on the plane back to Dubai. I hope the 2 seats beside me remain empty. Looking forward to my return visit in February.
Benson