Istanbul, Turkey

We arrived in Istanbul at the start of Kurban Bayramı, the festival of Eid al-Adha, ready for a few days of sunshine, good food and ambling aimlessly. This was my second visit to the city and my partner's first. The first time I came, back in 2018, I had travelled with a large group of friends. We spent our days happily getting lost, eating far too much and falling in love with the city one neighbourhood at a time. Istanbul left a deep impression on me then, and for years afterwards I found myself talking about it so often that my partner was understandably curious to see what all the fuss was about.