Today I departed from Kazan and arrived in Istanbul. During the day, I had the opportunity to explore the city through the Touristanbul program
My vacation honestly couldn’t have started better. I already managed to explore the city a bit and now I’m mentally ready for my next destination—Tokyo. I’ll write about Tokyo tomorrow though. For now, I just want to capture how fascinating and surprisingly smooth today turned out. When I booked my flight, Turkish Airlines included a free Istanbul tour program, so from 4 pm until 9:30 pm I joined this really well-organized excursion—with dinner included. And not just any dinner, but proper Turkish cuisine. What made it even more interesting was the company: I ended up at a table with a family from California, so I got to hear real, natural American English in conversation.
The excursion itself was also great. Our guide was a friendly young guy who spoke clear, easy-to-follow English and shared a lot of detailed insights about Istanbul’s main attractions. We didn’t actually walk around much—instead, we saw most places from the bus while driving, with the guide explaining everything along the way. It was actually my first time experiencing a bus tour like that, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I genuinely don’t have anything negative to say about the experience. I even left a tip of 200 Turkish liras at the end.
During the excursion, I realized I learned a lot of new things about the city that I hadn’t known before. Earlier, I was a bit worried about my English—whether I’d be able to understand everything. But in the end, everything went perfectly. I understood everything without any problems, which honestly felt like a small personal victory. All that consistent English practice over the past year definitely paid off.
Now I’m at the new Istanbul Airport, waiting for my next flight to Tokyo. So far everything is on schedule—my flight is supposed to depart tomorrow at 2 am. I still don’t know my gate, so I just found a quiet spot where I can charge my laptop and write this post. As for the internet, no issues there either. The airport offers two hours of free high-speed Wi-Fi per ID, and since I have two passports, I can actually use up to four hours. Not a bad deal at all.
Today I left Kazan and arrived in Istanbul. During the day I explored the city with the touristambul program.
Honestly, my vacation started very well. I already explored Istanbul and am ready to go to my next destination, Tokyo. By the way, about Tokyo, I'll write tomorrow. Now, about my day, because it was fascinating and useful. First, I need to explain that when I bought flight tickets, Turkish Airlines included a free Istanbul tour program, so today from 4 pm until 9:30 pm I had a free and smoothly organized excursion with free dinner. Even though my dinner wasn't simple, there was prepared main Turkish cuisine, and the dinner was realized around strange people. In this situation I was especially lucky, because at my table sat a family from California, and I heard real American speech.
My excursion program also was interesting, our guide was a nice, friendly young man that spoke in clear and understandable English. During the excursion he described detailed information about the main attractions in Istanbul. However, we didn't look at each attraction by walking, we just looked through the bus windows during the drive, and the guide explained. Also, I never had experience with bus excursions, so I can say I liked it. I can't say anything bad about it. I even left a tip of 200 Turkish liras.
During our excursion I also realized many new things about the city that I didn't know before. But before the excursion I had some doubts about my confidence in English, and I thought, could I understand their English? Fortunately, everything went smoothly. I understood everything without any issues. Therefore, my year of hard English practice each day wasn't superfluous.
Now I'm at the new Istanbul airport and waiting for my next flight to Tokyo. While everything is on time, my flight should depart tomorrow at 2 am. I also don't know my gate number, so I just found a calm place where I can plug in my laptop and write my daily post. About the internet, I also don't see any issues here. The airport provides free high-speed internet for two hours, including for a per ID. Right now I have two IDs (passports), so I can use four hours of free internet.