Arrived in Istanbul

If it is Tuesday, it must be Istanbul!

It is Tuesday, isn’t it??

Actually, it all started very early on Monday when the van shuttle that was headed for the Nashville airport picked us up at our motel at 3:30 in the morning, and we have not stopped until now. We are finally safely in Istanbul, but suffering from jet lag.

About mid-morning on Monday we arrived in New York with a mere seven hours between flights. We passed the time playing Phase Ten, eating lunch, snacking on ice cream bars, visiting with each other, and meeting and greeting our other tour members. Some members of our group (like Margaret) managed to catch a nap. Some (like Ferrell) did computer work. I imagine Ferrell was working on his blog.

The overseas flight was smooth and easy, but long. I watched the movie, "Dan in Real Life" which had a very simple plot, and therefore was a perfect choice for tired minds. This particular plane had individual TV monitors of the backs of each seat, so we could all watch the movie or program of our choice. I especially liked the maps with the route, travel speeds and calculated time of our arrival in Munich, Germany, the next goal of the trip.

On this long trip, Norm was assigned a seat beside Susan. Susan loves to talk. Norm loves to sleep and rest quietly. We wondered how the long flight would go for them, but apparently they managed very well.

We were on an inside aisle of four seats, and there were two vacant seats beside Olen and me. As soon as they closed the doors to the plane, Olen and I began making plans for those extra seats, which involved spreading out and even stretching out across them for some quality sleeping during the few "overnight" hours on the plane. Unfortunately, just about the time I began to enjoy the space and had my feet up and head comfortably placed on the pillow, two passengers with non-functioning tables and TV sets had to be moved into the vacant seats on our row, so our unexpected good fortune ended abruptly.

It was a very short night. They turned the cabin lights back on at 6 AM (that would be 11 PM Monday night, for those of you at home!) and breakfast…such as it was…was served. After staying awake all night, there was no way they could bring me a cup of tea fast enough!
We landed in Munich, Germany, where we met up with Boyd and Linda, who had to run to make the connection with our plane. We all loaded on to another plane and finally arrived in Istanbul shortly before 3:00 in the afternoon. By this time we were operating on Istanbul time, which is eight hours ahead of our friends and family in north Alabama. We were in Istanbul about the time most of you in north Alabama were getting out of bed to start your day.

The weather in Istanbul was beautiful when we landed. We purchased our visas and went through customs with no problems. Then we claimed our luggage, and every piece of checked luggage arrived on time. (Group cheer in the Istanbul airport.) We met our guide, Orhan, who was our guide last year I central Turkey. He is definitely a crowd-pleaser, and was greeted warmly. He presented each of us with a piece of the Turkish special candy, Turkish Delight, and an "evil eye", which is a Turkish craft item that is supposed to keep away evil spirits. I don’t have much faith in them. They definitely don’t keep Frank away!

We boarded our tour bus and were brought to our lovely hotel near the old town area. Dave, Marge, Glenda, Ashley and Ivy were in the lobby waiting for us, so we finally have our group all together. We have a couple of hours before dinner, then after a good meal and a welcome night’s sleep we will be ready to get busy seeing the sights in Istanbul bright and early tomorrow morning. (Our wake-up call will be at 6 AM, but with jet lag we will all be awake at least by that time anyway.)

Istanbul is a unique city…the only city in the world that spans two continents. Half of the city is in Europe and the other half in Asia. A body of water (called the Bosphorus) links the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and divides the city. The Bosphorus can be crossed by boat or on a vehicle driving over a bridge. For those of you in North Alabama, this is like crossing the railroad track that divides Ardmore, AL from Ardmore, TN…only on a MUCH larger scale.

We are so fortunate to be here. We are thankful for safe and comfortable flights, for all pieces of luggage arriving on time, and for the wonderful group of people to share this time with.

Right now it is time for a nap.