Amira Azzouz 
Let me walk you through my latest trip to Istanbul, but first, I'll tell about what happened a few days just before it. I was on the phone with a close friend of mine, who was trying to convince me to go with her to Turkey, but I thought it was best to stay at the office and finish some of the work load I had. A few minutes later, I received an email from Turkish Airlines and guess what...they wanted to invite me over the weekend to go to Istanbul, which happened to be the exact same weekend my friend was going to be there. I thought to myself, what a great surprise and coincidence! I was very excited to see what Turkish Airlines had planned for us during that trip, and started to prepare for my travel.
I arrived on a Thursday very early in the morning, and the weather was just perfect, not too cold, just the right amount of chilly. I checked into my room, and then met the other wonderful ladies who joined from around the Middle East for this trip, that was courtesy of Turkish Airlines. We started off the day by going to the Turkish Do&Co., basically a place where food magic happens, it's where they prepare the food for different airlines, including Turkish Airlines. We got treated to first class dishes, which were super delicious (you can tell I'm a food lover). Next, it was time for some sightseeing and shopping, where we went to the Grand Bazaar. See, what I love about shopping in different countries is not necessarily the big and well-known shops, but rather the small ones that truly reflect the culture of the country I'm in, where you can get very unique and timeless pieces. I managed to buy a few gifts, and of course got myself some lovely jewelry. The weather started getting a bit colder, but that didn't stop us from going up one of the tallest buildings in Istanbul to witness a beautiful view at night, then we went to a simulator which gave us a fun view of Istanbul's most amazing places. Dinner time came shortly after, which only meant more delicious food at a restaurant in the Bosphorus.
My second day started off with a social media presentation at the Turkish Airlines headquarters, showing us some of their creative videos and online activities. Following that, we made a stop at the Turkish Flight Academy, where all the flight attendants get their training. It gave me a new perspective on how much training they have to go through and that it's certainly not as easy as it looks, seeing that they have to be ready for basically anything. Turkish Technic was our next stop, a super confidential area, where all the work on the airplanes takes place. Lunch at Develi was next on the schedule, which is one of the top restaurants in Istanbul and the go-to destination for Turkish celebrities. The day continued where I went with the ladies to Nisantasi, a great area with tons of shops and boutiques, then we headed to Istiklal street to enjoy the delicious Donau they offer there.
The last day of the trip came, and we couldn't leave without doing some sight-seeing. That's why we made it over to the Blue Mosque and the amazing Topkapi palace. I loved every single thing about the Topkapi palace and although I had visited it before, this time I looked at it from a completely new perspective and had much more appreciation to the beauty of the pieces displayed there.
I have to admit my trip with Turkish Airlines was certainly different and very interesting, as these activities aren't usually the ones I do during work trips, I also got the chance to enjoy the little parts about the city, and I met an amazing bunch of new people.
Below is the video of the Turkish Airlines trip to Istanbul and some pictures from the trip.
