I have always wanted to go to Istanbul but due to the current situation of the city / country in the media, I was a bit reluctant and unsure. Especially when you tell your friends about your plan and the only answer what you will receive is “yeah, it’s a beautiful city but if I am you, I would wait till the situation there comes down a bit”. But when is the right time?
Luckily, the answer came sooner than I expected. C had his birthday coming up and decided to spend his birthday weekend in Istanbul. So, here we go 😀 
I flew with Turkish Airlines from Berlin (TXL) to Istanbul. The flight duration is about 3hish and the time on the plane went away very quickly, especially when you got served with food and free Wi-Fi. I seriously love the concept of free Wi-Fi on board. It really makes the time goes even quicker. 
After we landed at Istanbul Atatürk Airport, we had to wait with many others for the passport and security control. It’s surely one of the longest airport queue that I have ever waited (after Siem Reap International Airport last year – but that’s only because I needed to get a visa). 
It took at least one hour, and some people were even trying to push forward by lying about “missing a transfer flight” (there is a separate queue for that since you are supposed to stay within the airport and not using the exit queue), or their “families were at the front” or they needed to go “to the toilet urgently” (so weird especially, when there are toilets inside the airport as well). Anyway, you will hear the weirdest excuse just for them to do queue jumping.
Nevertheless, we finally also made our way outside the airport and were picked-up by our driver, who drove us to our hotel FER, where we stayed for the upcoming days. 
Even though our hotel is in the quiet area of Istanbul, but within walking distance, you will find yourself in the centre of all the main POIs and surrounded by many restaurants and shops.
The room that they gave us is spacious and clean. 
After getting ourselves fresh from the “long” journey, it was also time to head for dinner at Nicole 😉 
Location Details:
Where we stayed:
FER Hotel
Mollafenari Mahallesi, Türbedar Sk. No: 12, 34120 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey
Phone: +90 212 522 50 80
Website: www.ferhotel.com
* they provide a one-way free transfer (by private car) from İstanbul Atatürk Airport
** breakfast is incl. in the hotel price
