Day One: Arrival in Istanbul

Ancient Mediterranean Treasures · Day One | December 19, 2025

© Richard Huang

My last experience with Viking was its“Romantic Danube” itineraryand it left a lasting impression. Unlike the large cruise ships built around nonstop entertainment, Viking places greater emphasis on quiet, comfort, and depth. There are no raucous shows and few crowded entertainment venues. In their place are spacious, comfortable public areas, art collections, cultural lectures, and a library—all of which restore a leisurely rhythm designed for adult travelers. This time, I chose the seven-day “Ancient Mediterranean Treasures” itinerary, a voyage centered on cultural exploration and linking cities and ports along the Mediterranean that carry the weight of history.

© Richard Huang

The voyage begins in Istanbul, Türkiye, then follows the routes of ancient civilizations westward. Along the way, the ship calls at Troy, Ephesus, Rhodes, and the Greek island of Crete before the journey ends in Athens. This is not simply a vacation; it feels more like a history course unfolding at sea.

© Richard Huang

On December 19, 2025, the chill of winter hung over Toronto airport. Artificial light flooded the vast terminal, while aircraft stood quietly in the distance, as though making their final preparations for the long flight ahead. Inside, the terminal was brightly lit and filled with a sea of people—bustling, yet orderly. The journey had not yet begun, but my thoughts had already flown far away.

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After seven hours over the Atlantic, I changed planes at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Completed in the 1970s, the distinctive Terminal 1 is known for its circular central structure and external transparent tube-like passageways. It is regarded as a notable example of French modernist and high-tech architecture.

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The terminals built later are defined by clean metal lines. This is a quintessential European aviation hub: crowded, yet impeccably organized. The layover was brief, but it was long enough to leave body and mind momentarily displaced in time and space. The Americas, Europe, and Asia were being linked one after another.

© Richard Huang

After another three-hour flight, we landed at the new Istanbul Airport. By then, it was already night locally. A bright, direct sign proclaimed, “Istanbul Welcomes You.” The airport’s vast, highly modern interior contrasted sharply with my image of an “ancient city.” This meeting point of Europe and Asia was also the true starting point of our voyage.

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After leaving the airport, we took the shuttle bus arranged by Viking to the port. This star and crescent also appears on the Turkish flag. Its origins lie in the urban symbols of pre-Islamic Anatolia and Byzantium; it was later adopted by the Ottoman Empire for military and naval flags, then inherited by the Republic and standardized in 1936. Through Ottoman influence, the star and crescent subsequently spread across the Muslim world and is often mistaken for an exclusively Islamic symbol.

© Richard Huang

The drive from the airport to the pier takes about an hour. Outside the window, dense traffic and an endless succession of red and green lights filled one side of the view;

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on the other were little shops and restaurants still open, where people lingered over meals and conversation. Together, these passing scenes formed a true portrait of Istanbul.

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Our drive took us mainly through the newer part of the city. Istanbul can broadly be divided into three areas: the historic city, dense with mosques and old buildings, at the heart of its religious and imperial memory; the new city, where the port is located and where commerce, residential neighborhoods, and modern life mingle to form the everyday Istanbul of the present; and the Asian side, more understated and residential, a world that belongs more fully to local life. At night, these areas did not seem sharply divided but overlapped with one another naturally.

© Richard Huang

Istanbul is one of the few cities in the world to straddle two continents. The Bosphorus divides Europe from Asia, while layering different civilizations, religions, and histories within a single city. Byzantium, Constantinople, and Istanbul are three incarnations of one place—a city that has endured and transformed through ancient Greek, Eastern Roman, and modern Turkish civilizations. In the night, the mosque’s silhouette appeared crisp and solemn beneath the lights, its golden dome and slender minarets striking against the dark sky.

© Richard Huang

This was more than the starting point of our journey. It felt like a gateway, leading us slowly into the Mediterranean’s long and intricate history. Over the days ahead, a panorama of millennia of change would gradually unfold as we walked ashore and sailed from port to port.

By the time we reached the ship, its restaurants had already closed. Thoughtfully, the crew had left a simple dinner and snacks in our cabin. Room service was available around the clock, so we called and ordered a piping-hot late-night meal as well. Fed and content, I stood on our small balcony looking out at the Galata Tower in the night, and little by little, body and mind settled into the rhythm of the journey. The real itinerary would begin tomorrow, but Istanbul had already left its clear, quiet silhouette upon the darkness.

© Richard Huang

Good night, Istanbul.