What to do on a 9hr layover in Istanbul? You rush like no other haha but let me tell you- it is sooooo worth it. What a whirlwind of a city. Absolutely beautiful and I will definitely make it back there very soon, and much more calm!
If and when you ever get the pleasure to take a Turkish Airline flight, make sure you make it one with a really long layover. I chose a 9hr layover because I realized that Turkish Airlines provides all their guests to go on custom, organized tours according to how long your layover is. What service!! Delta, United? You need to seriously step up your game!! You get out of the plane, straight to the “Help Desk” and you give them your boarding pass, they check you in and you wait for them to call you to get on the tour bus. It was amazing.
We took a 3hr bus tour throughout the city to see all its beauty and cathedrals and then left the bus to go out on our own. Our tour was a bit shorter so we decided to branch out on our own to see things that weren’t included in the tour. The must sees!! I felt like I was in the movie Taken 2 haha. There is so much chaos in this city, but good chaos. All these beautiful roads, cathedrals everywhere, shops, apartments and my most favorite thing ever?? Seeing the windows full of Turkish Delights!! It was all so fascinating, especially since the whole city is around this underwater (and the bridge above water) connecting Europe to Asia. It’s crazy that you can be in a city yet be in 2 different continents at the same time. See for yourself what an incredibly beautiful this place is 🙂
Thank you sooo much Turkish Airlines for such great service and this wonderful tour. Buuut it was time to get off the bus and branch out on our own 🙂 We needed to get to our must sees of the city!!! and of course, eat some Turkish Delights haha!! 
Must see #1??
- Hagia Sohpia, the Church of Devine Wisdom (this should be the Church of my Pops, he’s so full of wisdom) and its surrounding. Such a beautiful little town with so many restaurants, hotels and people walking everywhere- so beautiful. The Italian lifestyle♥
What a magical experience Hagia Sohpia was. It was cold and beautiful, we walked and shopped around but after some vigorous sightseeing, it was time for some real shopping!! So that leads me to………
Must see #2? 
- Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Holy moly, what a bazaar. In the middle of some random street lies this humungos shopping area full of 4,500 shops!!! OMG they have everything; food, restaurants, tea shops, shopping of all kind, jewlery and soooo many shops that sell teas and Turkish Delights. I was in absolute heaven, and to think, I didn’t even really want to go since I’m not a huge shopper. Pops was like, seriously, we can’t miss this..and wow was he right!!! I bought so much stuff it was ridiculous haha even a beautiful rose golf bracelet to go with my collection of bracelets around the world <3
Grand Bazaar 
Turkish Delights 
4,500 Shops
Thank you Istanbul and Turkish Airlines for this amazing experience!! It was absolutely incredible and I cannot wait to explore more of that this country/city has to offer. Wow and those Turkish Delights man. HAHA♥
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