travel blog, minus the bull$hit

I spent a 20 hour layover in Istanbul (IST) last spring with my family (7 senior citizens + my sister) on our way to Rome for a mini Catholic pilgrimage in honor of the Jubilee year and despite the physical struggles of trying to get 7 senior citizens (3 in wheelchairs) through the Istanbul airport and to our hotel to let the oldies rest, my sister and I still did our best to make the most if it! It may have been just enough to secure our tickets to heaven the moment our bodies decide to kick it!! For my Filipinos out there, #IYKYK.

First question is: where should I stay if I want to do a tour of the city? You should stay in the city center for convenience, especially if you have an overnight layover. Your transportation options would be:

• Taxi or Uber which could be about 40-50 minutes — for taxis, make sure they use a meter or you agree on a set price or do not get in. You will get scammed.
• Public transportation which could be over 1 hour
• Hotels that offer shuttle service (we opted for this option)

For shorter Istanbul layovers, you can make use of the layover tours from the airport. On our layover back, we did consider taking the Turkish Airlines Istanbul city tour from the airport since it is a complimentary service for those traveling via Turkish Airlines but had a bit of a fiasco so we weren’t able to do one. Another option is booking a private guided tour inclusive of airport pickup/drop off.

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We had done the usual free, tip-based walking tour with Sandeman (which you can book here) and our tour guide taught us about the beautiful and rich culture of the city. From the gorgeous Hagia Sophia to the Grand Bazaar, my favorite little piece of knowledge I had taken back was the reason why Istanbul has such an insane amount of cats around the city. They aren’t just normal street cats– they’re beautifully bred and well groomed cats too! Apparently, cats are cherished members of the community as they are a combination of cultural acceptance and historical necessity. Since Islam is prevalent in Turkey, cats play a large role in the religion as the Prophet Muhammad is said to have once had a cat named Muezza which in turn had spun into cats being clean, useful, and worthy of respect. As a historical necessity, cats are great when it comes to controlling pests! Would be nice if my sister wasn’t allergic to them.

Since our time was fairly limited and the travel exhaustion had us not insanely hungry, we still did our best to squeeze in some kebabs and lahmacun! And…McDonald’s. But to be fair, this might have been the best McDonald’s patty I’ve ever had and my oldies wanted burgers at the airport.

I would love to go back to Istanbul for more than just a layover. I’ve already saved a few tours I would be interested in exploring and signing up for when I get a chance to go back. Check out my Viator shop!

Some of the links on this page are affiliated links wherein I may receive a commission when items are purchased through my affiliate links. #CommissionsEarned

The cherry on top of the trip for me was finally getting to rest for the night with this fun-feeling hyper collagen from Mediheal that I slept with overnight. Can’t seem to find this on YesStyle where I usually purchase my skincare (use my code MAYBEKRYS1), but here are some alternative options that I also adore:

• The viral Biodance bio collagen mask
• medicube PDRN pink collagen mask
• VT reedle shot all in one 3 step mask
• APLB retinol + vitamin C + vitamin E mask
• The Face Shop masks

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