Scandinavian Trip - Day 1 - Istanbul

As we were landing in Istanbul around 6am, we were treated to the beautiful view of the Black Sea to the right, Sea of Marmara to the left and the Bhosporous Strait splitting across the beautiful city of Istanbul, which also demarcates Europe from Asia. The 3 bridges and 2 undersea tunnels connecting the two continents reflect the tenuous link between the two, however the Turkish people embody the blend of Asia and Europe beautifully. While the country is technically secular, it has 99.8% Muslims. Their appearance is more European, while the way they behave with their family-first values is distinctly Asian. They had mosques everywhere (even one inside the airport) and even a prayer guide on the airplane, which reflects their strong belief.
			Formerly known as Constantinopolis, the famed capital of Eastern Rome, it was later taken over by he Ottoman empire who ruled for 500 years and left the current imprint. Istanbul is a wonderful blend of 3 continents, with the strong trade links with Africa (mainly Egypt and Morocco) blending into their cuisine and way of life as well. The Turks seemed to be very social people, as we could see people chatting for a long time on the flight with what appeared to be strangers.
The landing was smooth, but following that was a bit of a funny incident. Firstly, the passengers started speontaneously clapping which grew pretty loud, the likes of which I have only seen in Air Crash investigation when the pilots have just saved plenty of lives. Secondly, the airport is so huge that the pilot seemed to get lost a few times and he was undecided as we approached taxi junctions, and ended up swerving left and right. A bit like driving in a new area and not knowing which right to take because Google maps has them so close to each other.
			After breezing through Immigration (which was the case almost everywhere in this trip, given the Schengen visa zone), we stopped by a local cafe at the airport for a nice breakfast of sandwiches with feta cheese, pastries and Turkish tea. The quantity was quite filling. We had signed up for a 3.5 hour tour of Istanbul organised by Turkish Airlines, but since the airport is 40km away from the city, travel took up 2 hours of that. We went to the heart of the old city Sultanahmet, visiting the Egyptian Bazzar overlooking the famed peninsula from where the old empires ruled from.
			The guide took us to a 300 year old coffee shop for what he described as the best Turkish coffee, which was an unique blend of coffee with a dash of milk and a tangy juice and a sweet that we had to have it with. The waiter was surprised that my 12 year son drinks coffee! It was an unique experience but the taste is not for everyone - my son did not enjoy it but the rest did. There were a few cats and cute little kittens there as well, including a ferocious mother whom I couldn't convince to let me touch her kids.
			We had only 10 mins left for the Egyptian bazaar, so we hurriedly got a couple of must-get souvenirs - Egyptian sweets and Turkish Eye. However, we did make a mental list of things to browse through when we are back here in 2 weeks, and my eyes were firmly on the amazing variety of sweets, nuts, spices and cuisine.
			We crossed over to the other side of the road with a tramway to get to the peninsula photospot, which was a beautiful place to take in the merger of Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorous Strait, eyeing Asia on one side and Europe on the other. Within 5 mins we were ushered into the bus but not before we got swamped by street peddlers trying to sell cheap branded perfume knockoffs to the ladies.
			We had plenty of time to kill at the airport before our flight to Copenhagen, so we explored the biggest airport in Europe and the largest privately owned airport in the world with 6 active runways and 2 more being added. We were amazed to find buttermilk and huge crossaints along with plenty of Turkish delights.
We went to the Terrace thinking of a viewing area, but it turned out to be a smoking area. We went to the food court and had a hearty lunch at Sbarro, with pizza, pasta and soup. My son was starting to get the jet lag feeling then, so we didnt push the kids too much given we still had half a day left of our first day, thanks to the vagaries of time zone differences. The flight to Copenhagen was uneventful except for the nice Turkish food (again). We were stuck in the last row which isn't great but we tried to distract ourselves with movies and games. Thankfully the entertainment system worked in this flight!
On landing in Copenhagen, we immediately felt a difference, with the focus on children's artwork in the airport. It was almost as if we had waded into a kindergarten and immediately felt at ease. We had to deal with meticulous immigration officers who were even questioning my daughter (first in our queue) on the reason for travelling to Denmark, whether she has a return flight ticket etc. To her credit she answered all the questions confidently and breezed by the immigration, with myself following sheepishly saying I am her father and we are here as a family. However, I did get asked a few more questions before they were convinced enough to let me through. I also realised that they were using this opportunity to train a new officer so I waited patiently for the step by step instruction to be provided by the supervisor and executed by that officer.
			Our original plan in Copenhagen was to travel to the city and enjoy a nice dinner but with the flight being delayed, my son dozing off due to jet lag, the comfort of the hotel bed after a long journey, the constant drizzling rain at freezing temperatures and the early morning flight out meant we decided to call it an early night after a quick raid of the hotel cafe for some yoghurt and famed danish pastries. We stayed at the Comfort Hotel within the airport as our flight out was at 6am and it was the right call as we had to wake up at 2.30am to get ready and catch the flight.