We put together a trip to two places that have been on our to-do list for awhile: Istanbul and Crete. Then we added a four-night stop in Rome (our third visit there) on our way home to Porto. Istanbul and Crete were both very different from our expectations, although we enjoyed both.  

The direct flight to Istanbul on Turkish Air was not painful at all. Istanbul was much bigger and more chaotic than we envisioned. With (officially) 18 million people (unofficially 20 million), the city is more than double the size of NYC. The popular mosques and other tourist attractions are mostly concentrated in one walkable area, but that area is also crazy-busy with businesses, car traffic, pedestrians, and metros to dodge. The mosques and architecture in general, were fascinating. The food was fabulous. We didn’t get the best weather so photos are meh. The mosques and palaces are much more beautiful in person. We saw and did a lot during our brief visit. Since the city is spread across two continents, we made sure to ferry across to the the Asian side. We hope to return to Turkey to see other cities some day when tension with their neighbors lessens.

Crete, being the largest of the Greek islands, would be difficult to cover completely in one visit. We spent nine nights there split between places on the east and west ends of the island, but still felt like we spread ourselves thin. Our group consensus at the end of our visit was that Crete is a great place for travelers who like to spend most of their time on or in the water. Since that is not really what we do at our current age, we would rank the smaller Greek islands we visited last year much higher than Crete. Still, we are glad we went. We especially enjoyed our drive into the White Mountains and visiting small wineries.

Rome. Can you ever visit Rome too many times? We feel like it is a place unlike any other on the planet. A living museum of indescribable proportions. We had seen a lot of the major sites on our two previous visits, so this visit was more laid-back for us. It was the first visit for our traveling companions, so they did many tours while we mostly chilled. This year is the Rome Jubilee, a Holy Year for Catholics, so it was busier than ever with pilgrims flocking to the city and the Vatican.  Although it was jam-packed with tourists, we found the crowds to be mostly well-behaved and manageable. We were still able to enjoy wandering back streets as well as the incredible food at many charming restaurants.