Plunged from this into the hubbub of buffet breakfast in the dining hall. Quick bite, bags in car, and off for Izmir airport. Took the back road out of town to foil the scooterized pirates. Three hours drive was highlighted and otherwise lighted by a series of thunder and lightning storms that pursued us. Could it be that those dastardly pirates have set the gods upon us??
Found the Avis crew awake and lively. And here, unlike most of the other rental return sites we've used, the company does not expect you to empty the car of luggage and then drag your bags the several miles to the terminal. The attendant actually drove us back to the departure doors, and amazingly, sent one of his minions to get us a cart with his own lira.
Flew with Pegasus, an airline named after the mythical, Greek winged horse. The horse, methinks, provided more legroom. To say the seat was small would be a disservice to my bruised knees. However, the skies were blue and the flight smooth, and we enjoyed spectacular views of the Aegean all the way north.
Found a driver with Vs name on his sign outside the arrival gate. He ushered us and our baggage over to a corner of the terminal and parked us there while he returned to the gate with a new sign. Felt like we had just been reeled in by a trout fisherman, and, setting in his creel, he headed back to the stream to angle for more dinner. Our greeter anxiously kept a keen eye on us, perhaps fearing we'd escape. He finally scurried back and led us away. We thought we were going to a car, but instead, we were handed off and a different guy in a black suit loaded us into his Mercedes van. Aaaand we were off! Our introduction to Istanbul traffic was exciting, full of twists and U-turns and tiny streets, but in jig time we arrived in the vicinity of our hotel.
Arriving at the Tashkonak
I say "vicinity" because we discovered that the computer printout of our hotel's name taped to a window in a lovely old building did not indicate that this was the hotel, but rather that the hotel was two blocks down and around a corner in a side street. Who knew? Certainly not our driver who spent ten minutes asking everyone the neighbourhood where the Hotel Tashkonak was.
The hotel, a small, family-run affair was delightful. The staff saw to our every need, and did it with a smile. We were settled into a comfortable, brightly decorated room with a view of the garden and the computer station just steps down the corridor.
V getting all the details on the hotel services
Went for stroll and found everything we needed within a couple of blocks. A laundry, a necessity when traveling for six weeks with two small bags was located, a corner store with ample supplies of Efes was nearby, and for good measure, the Blue Mosque was a stone's throw away, if one were so inclined. We were not. The laundry neatly encapsulated Turkish life, to wit, one woman did all the work while three men tackled the demanding task of standing outside the door and smoking for hours. And, here too, we found the ubiquitous Turkish cats. One in particular, pictured below, summed up cat status in Turkish life by claiming a spot in the middle of a very busy sidewalk for the sole purpose, it seemed, of staring at a display case full of pastries.
Pastry perusing cat
We walked to the Blue mosque, and were awed by the majesty of it, even though prayers were in progress and we couldn't enter, and despite one side of it being lined with gaudy, touristy booths. An interesting phenomenon was the flocks of birds which came, and come each night apparently, and circled the turrets. Three days will obviously not be enough to experience this city.
Seagulls circling the Blue Mosque at sundown
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