We knew, when buying tickets on Turkish Air for this winter, that we'd stopover in Istanbul on our way back. The city is not unknown to us as we have been there a number of times in the past. Turkey was a cheap, close trip during our years in the Persian Gulf. The trips from Bahrain and the UAE were breaks in the academic year; meaning, they would have always been during winter.
Now, we are really looking forward to our next, six-night stop-over in the fascinating city. We made hotel reservations today, although we'll be staying in the city which bridges Europe and Asia at the end of March 2022. After our stay there, our flight back to Vancouver will fly directly from Istanbul.
This scanned photo is over 30 years old. (That's why I forced it into b&w!)