We just returned home from a 2-1/2 week trip to Eastern Europe. We spent a couple of days in Istanbul, a few days in Budapest, then on to a Danube River cruise – our first ever.

Lots to unpack.

I will share my travelogues and photos over the next few weeks. As usual, I will post my drinks culture reports and photo essays. And, I’m working on a wrap-up post with my thoughts on Eastern Europe and river cruising. And I have many, many thoughts.

So, diving in . . .

Day 1: Istanbul, Türkiye

On our way to Budapest, but taking advantage of Turkish Airlines’ stopover program and spending a couple of days in Istanbul in advance of our river cruise. We flew business class, so we were eligible for 2 nights at a 5-star hotel free of charge. I mean – kind of an offer we couldn’t refuse.

My Apple Watch says I got 2 hours and 8 minutes of sleep on the plane. There’s no way. My Apple Watch lies.

Of note: Turkey does not want to be called Turkey anymore. In 2022, the country formally requested that the rest of the world recognize its name as Türkiye (pronounced Tur-kee-yeh). In a nutshell, the Turks got tired of being associated with poultry. True story.

Türkiye is not on the Euro, so we needed to get some Türkiye bucks at the airport for tipping and such. Ken doesn’t want to brag, but there is almost $90 in that photo (see below).

Meeting up with our driver at the airport was a bit of a gaggle – there was a lot of “please follow my colleague”, (who is now being suuuper helpful and wheeling my carry-on away from me, so yeah, I’m gonna follow him), but we made it to our hotel. Turkish Airlines put us up at the Sofitel Taksim Istanbul, and it was a wonderful stay.

Set out for a short walkabout before dinner:

First Impressions

Cats. A shit-ton of street cats. Even our hotel has a resident cat (Sofi – see last photo). We were told Turkish people adore cats, and everyone cares for the cats communally. Have seen as many bowls of water and food as cats. They all appear well fed. Note to my daughter: I have not touched any of the cats.

2-hour cat count: 27

The street food of choice seems to be corn on the cob. Huh? Along with roasted chestnuts. Did not expect this. These little carts (see photo) were everywhere. Later learned that misir (corn) and kestane (chestnuts) are absolute icons of Turkish street food. I’m a Nebraska Cornhusker by birth (Go Big Red!), so needed to try this. Delicious. We should have more street corn in the US.

Türkiye is a smoking country. Everyone smokes. Well, I should say, all of the *men* smoke. Far more so than women. Women seem to favor vaping. Ugh. cigarette smoke is my kryptonite. I’m nauseous. It smells like a Camel factory outside.

Perfume stores – they are everywhere. Every third store sells perfume. Probably related to all of the smoke. If I wasn’t so tired, I would send Ken off to climb something, and I’d go scent shopping. But that’s a tomorrow activity.

Not entirely sure what we ordered for dinner. The word kebab was in there somewhere. Delicious, though. Asked for our check and got Turkish tea, which is some kind of black tea, but floral, too. It comes in a beautiful little handle-less tulip shaped glass. Which is great until you pick it up – and burn off all your fingerprints. Loved the tea, though.

Jet lag is catching up to us in a hurry now. Big day tomorrow – lots to see.

Have learned one Turkish word: Şerefe (cheers) !

Travel date: October 9, 2025