Istanbul bound?

Well, last night I officially heard from my manager that they are relocating R&D for Serbia (with our HUGE team of manager + me) to Istanbul.  I had heard rumors about this for a few weeks.  What it means for me is that for the duration of this short assignment, I will stay in Belgrade.  If, by chance, the assignment is extended, then they might want me to relocate to Istanbul. 

Hmm.  I just got settled here, but I guess you could say that I'm not that settled.  But for now, the thought of more apartment hunting, finding another new bank, etc. makes me feel so tired.  I'm just barely set up here.  So hopefully I can stay in Belgrade for a while.

The upside is that I will get to travel to Istanbul frequently to get acquainted with the Turkish R&D team (my new team).  I was in Istanbul for 9 days in Aug/Sept, and it is an amazing city.  There are about 18 million people in Istanbul (vs. 2 million in Belgrade and 5 million in DFW).   The city has an energy.  And it is much more exotic than Belgrade.  Istanbul is not clouded from recent wars and economic sanctions. either.  And Istanbul is where East meets West (literally the city is in Europe and Asia).

Here is a picture that I took in Istanbul of the Hagia Sofia.  It is a beautiful city.

So the million dollar question; would I move to Istanbul?  I think I would. Of course, that isn't the intent of this assignment/rotation. But as many people advised me I will keep an open mind.  If the opportunity arises, I think I would have to take it!  Luckily, even if I don't move there, I will have lots of travel to and from Istanbul and many opportunities to explore this city.

One more Istanbul picture for the road:

Here is a view of the Galata Bridge from the Tower.  The water way is called the Golden Horn, and it empties into the Bosporus which separates Europe from Asia.  Amazing!