Izzie2006

Fantastic city, really vibrant. Am living in London now, but if I were to move back to NZ it would be the only place I’d live in.

...it’s Paris! Beautiful and exciting. Believe the hype, everything you’ve heard is true. One of the greatest cities in the world.

I guess there are places that you go to and you just click with them. Then there are places you go to where you can admire something about them – the architecture or the culture or whatever. I didn’t click with Munich at all and felt that it didn’t really offer much, apart from beer halls, pork and lederhosen. Not really my cup of tea.

After the heat, noise and hustle and bustle of Istanbul, the basilica cistern, an underground cavern filled with hundreds of columns, is an oasis of calm. Here you can see two carvings of the heads of medusa.

What I love about Istanbul is that on the one hand it’s a hugely historic city, on the other it’s vibrant, hip and young. We stayed in Sultanhamet, the old town, and were right near the Blue Mosque. We spent our days looking around the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market and the mosques and our nights sipping cocktails at the vertiginous Nu Teras bar on the other side of the river in Beyoglu. If we were to go to Istabul again, I’d stay in Beyoglu rather than Sultanhamet. And do take a Turkish bath. We stayed in Istanbul for a week and what we should have done was to take one at the beginning and one at the end rather than one at the end as it’s a really lovely experience.

A couple of words of caution – Beware of cab drivers taking you on the (very) scenic route and then telling you that you only gave them TL 1 million note when you actually gave them 20 million. Try not to get persuaded into having your shoes shined for you. And carpet sellers are very persuasive – however, the carpets are beautiful, so if you want one, do some research and be prepared to haggle. You might just come away with a bargain.

Been here twice. Absolutely beautiful, fascinating, gorgeous city. Part of its allure is the fact that it slowly seems to be slowly disintegrating into the sea. It’s a great city to get lost in, almost everything you see is beautiful and historic. Yes, there’s loads of tourists (and let’s face it, if you’re not from Venice, that’s what you are) and yes, it’s expensive but don’t let that put you off. It’s unique and glorious, completely breathtaking.

I went to the famous Harry’s Bar for a bellini and was quite disappointed – the bellini itself was nice but the bar very unprepossessing