Istanbul

It needs no introduction, and even on my second visit here, in and out, four times, it is and remains a fascinating city. Because of the greed of the local guesthouse owners it has become a little uglier in one respect, but the rest of the city is as ever, a great place to visit, eat and walk around in. This time when I arrived it was really unseasonably cold and also raining. Coming from the still quite warm Middle East, it was a little tough on me, and I ended up buying a sweater, that really came in handy on top of frigid Mt. Nemrut. The city was packed, the first time I got in, and the reason was the marathon, and I thought, when I get back a week later, it should be wide open. I was wrong. It was maybe even more crowded. I had left my large backpack in the first guesthouse, one I would not stay at again, and found one infinitely nicer and lucked out with a single room. The reason it was so packed the second time was that the international women's tennis tournament took place there. Next time!