I looked up from my newspaper in down-town Şişli. I shrugged into my jacket to keep the worst of the cold wind at bay as I prepared myself. It’s not everyday you find yourself crossing continents after all. A bus had just stopped in front of me, avoiding a grumpy looking man on a motorbike, so I boarded.

I found an empty uncomfortable seat and settled in for the ride. The bus snorted along impatient traffic on Barbaros Boulevard, named after an admiral of the Ottoman fleet. We joined the D1 motorway and struck a south-south-east bearing.

I was on a tour of Istanbul on a chilly but sunny December day. I usually avoid pre-designed tours as getting lost is a far better way of exploring unexpected jewels in any city.

This time was different.

This time I wanted to make sure I cross the Bosphorus Bridge. The bridge is an unmissable landmark from most of the coastal area of Istanbul. Towering 64m above the sea, it was the 5th longest suspension bridge in the world when it was completed in 1988. Still magnificent, its attraction is undimmed by the 150,000 vehicles it supports every day.

The crucial part of the bridge is what it does: it joins two continents together – Europe and Asia.

I stared out of the window as we chugged on to the bridge.

Below me and to my right, I could see the palaces and mosques I had been walking past not 30 minutes before. The steep incline leading up to Taksim Square cuts a swathe through the built-up areas. The old part of the city leans towards the Golden Horn that curls around southern Istanbul.

Opposite, the tip of another peninsula is just about visible with the Hagia Sophia punctuating the skyline. Just about visible, if you knew where to look, is the Maiden’s Tower in the middle of the Bosphorus.

To my left, in Asia, sleek skyscrapers silently boast about this 20-million strong metropolis. In their shadows stands Beylerbeyi Palace, a remnant of empire, the home of Sultans who now exist in paintings.

The bus groaned as it took the first exit, looped around and got back on to the bridge for the return journey.

Coming from Malta, being able to drive to another country is a luxury that still has me grinning like a six-year old. Today I was being driven to another continent.

How often do you get to say that?

As I caught a glimpse of the Black Sea on the horizon, I couldn’t help but wonder at the serendipity of this trip. By making this short journey, I ended 2015 by crossing continents

Which is exactly how I started 2015 too.