Two weeks ago it was carnival time in Germany again and so it was a pleasant opportunity for us to do a short trip again. We came up with a great flight deal to Istanbul and Athens.

On Saturday morning we took the ICE via Cologne to Dusseldorf. From there we were supposed to fly to Istanbul with AtlasGlobal. Everything went fine and a few minutes behind schedule we left Germany.

The flight itself was good. The cabin of the A321 looked a bit old fashioned and battered but the crew and service were very nice. We arrived at Istanbul well on time.

After we had cleared immigration as well as collected our luggage, we took the shuttle bus to our hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Istanbul Airport. Upon arrival the agent at the reception informed us that we got upgraded to a suite due to my dad’s Hilton Hhonors Gold status.

The next morning we woke up quite early to enjoy the fabulous breakfast buffet before the shuttle bus transfered us back to the airport. After checking in we proceeded through security and passport control and headed to the lounge. In fact, it is the World´s best Business Class lounge.

We spent our waiting time there and enjoyed a second breakfast.

A few minutes before boarding time we went to the gate. Our aircraft was parked on an outside parking position, so a bus brought us there. The flight was only half booked with roughly 30 pax.

The departure out of Istanbul was smooth and scenic. The flight itself took about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

After arrival we got picked up by a very good friend and together we went to our hotel in the city centre. Its location was perfect as it was within walking distance of the Acropolis.

It was my first time in Athens so it was on my bucket list to visit the Acropolis. Walking up there can be a bit exhausting but once you are on top, it is definitely worth it.

Afterwards I went back down and met my parents and our friend again. Together we went to the old town to enjoy some very good food!

The plan for the afternoon and evening was ‘climbing up’ another hill: Lykavittos! It offers the best view of Athens and you can take some gorgeous pictures of the Acropolis. On our way we passed by the Greek Parliament.

The short trip ended with a pleasant and scenic flight with Aegean to Munich. From there we took the ICE high speed train back to Aachen via Frankfurt.