When the matter of holiday trip came up in our dinner discussion, my wife insisted to visit Istanbul. She is a history enthusiastic and according to her, that is the only city that served as the capital for many empires. It was the capital of Roman Empire once. Then it served as the capital of Byzantine Empire, Latin Empire, and Ottoman Empire. Presently it is the capital of Turkey. According to her no other cities in this world has this distinction. She started talking about many things about Istanbul and I too got interested in visiting the city. Being a family trip I did not want to undergo the tensions of catching last minute flights. Hence I started working on our trip from the next day itself. I tried to find out the cheapest airline. Being a hot destination for tourism, there are quite a good number of flights to Istanbul. After a long search and bargaining, I have booked our ticket in one of the cheap flights to Istanbul. Meanwhile I have prepared all other documents too.
Once we reached the city, we went to the hotel that has been reserved for us by our agent. Being a history student, my wife has somewhat good knowledge about the city and the places to visit here. Hence we did not hire a tourist guide there. Galata tower was one such place. It was a part of the Genoese citadel of Galata originally constructed during the period of Ottoman Empire. The citadel has been demolished during 19th century and presently only this tower is left over as a memorial of that citadel.
There are many other historic structures in this city and many foreigners are coming here daily to visit those places. The architecture has a mix of Roman and Ottoman architecture and a perfect blend of this makes the structures beautiful. Most of the tourists are coming here to visit such historic sites and the government has taken special care in keeping them in good condition. Anyway, the historic sites are not the only things that attract crowd in this city. There are many museums which showcase the rich culture and heritage of Istanbul. These museums are functioning as study centers as far as the history of Istanbul is concerned.
The city is also known as the cultural capital of Europe and there are many venues where a number of arts and cultural events are performed. These are also attracting many tourists and after the introduction of cheap tickets to Istanbul by many major airline companies, the rush has increased further.
We really enjoyed that holiday. While my wife enjoyed the historical sites, the arts and cultural show were my favorites. The city provides the facility to enjoy both. Though, there is a heavy rush of visitors, the authorities have provided very good infrastructure facilities to accommodate this rush. Hence there was not a single problem with accommodation and food. Even the local transportation was tension free. We have decided to visit the city once again in the near future as we could not see all the places.
Once we reached the city, we went to the hotel that has been reserved for us by our agent. Being a history student, my wife has somewhat good knowledge about the city and the places to visit here. Hence we did not hire a tourist guide there. Galata tower was one such place. It was a part of the Genoese citadel of Galata originally constructed during the period of Ottoman Empire. The citadel has been demolished during 19th century and presently only this tower is left over as a memorial of that citadel.
There are many other historic structures in this city and many foreigners are coming here daily to visit those places. The architecture has a mix of Roman and Ottoman architecture and a perfect blend of this makes the structures beautiful. Most of the tourists are coming here to visit such historic sites and the government has taken special care in keeping them in good condition. Anyway, the historic sites are not the only things that attract crowd in this city. There are many museums which showcase the rich culture and heritage of Istanbul. These museums are functioning as study centers as far as the history of Istanbul is concerned.
The city is also known as the cultural capital of Europe and there are many venues where a number of arts and cultural events are performed. These are also attracting many tourists and after the introduction of cheap tickets to Istanbul by many major airline companies, the rush has increased further.
We really enjoyed that holiday. While my wife enjoyed the historical sites, the arts and cultural show were my favorites. The city provides the facility to enjoy both. Though, there is a heavy rush of visitors, the authorities have provided very good infrastructure facilities to accommodate this rush. Hence there was not a single problem with accommodation and food. Even the local transportation was tension free. We have decided to visit the city once again in the near future as we could not see all the places.
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