Emilija Raguz, Croatia, happy in Istanbul

We returned home safely from our inspection trip, but with a bit of sadness for leaving Istanbul, because we loved it so much there and had a fantastic time in Turkey.

I can't say that we have seen too many of Istanbul's attractions and landmarks, but that wasn't the plan anyway, I'll have enough time for that over years - and I can't wait.

For our first Istanbul visit I wanted to 'feel' the city, to get a sense of what would it be like to spend a part of my life here. For this reason, we have not been tourists, instead, we were doing things we would probably be doing on weekends if we were living here, such as: visiting restaurants, cruising the Bosporus, meeting people, having endless walks... just being silly and having fun all day long.

In fact, I can tell you that both of us, me and Matej, were crying over yesterday's breakfast at the hotel (in front of all the other guests, which was quite embarrassing for us, but funny for them) because we had to leave the city - this might tell you just how much we liked it.

Now, after these few days, I am absolutely positive that buying apartment in Istanbul was a good decision. I am also happy that the buying process was very easy, fast and pleasant thanks to Musa at Property Turkey, who organised it all and was truly fantastic and helpful; he spent so much time just driving us around the city, not to mention everything else he did, I am very thankful to him. I also have to mention his colleague, Engin, my future neighbour, who was so wonderful and friendly with us, it was pleasure meeting him.

But... I must say, one person I will always connect with the most about this Istanbul apartment 'project', is you, Mert. You were the first and only person (apart from my son) that I discussed this apartment search with.

I realise that this is strange because I don't even know you, but for some reason I felt that I could trust you, so everything you said, every suggestion you made, meant so much to me. There were moments when I thought it would be much easier to give up on this dream and just live life as it comes, but after every phone conversation or email correspondence we had, this Istanbul apartment plan seemed so easy and right.

I know you were just doing your job, but for me that meant a lot, so with all my heart I want to thank you for that. Thank you for helping me make one of my dreams come true.

I will never forget that... and I do hope that one day we'll meet so I'll be able to tell you in person how much it means to me.

Thank you Mert... so much.