DAYS 1 & 2 Blast-Off & 1st Couch Surfing Nite

MARCH 20 & 21 - Istanbul, Turkey

Our “Trip of a Lifetime” began at 2:00 p.m. flying from Idaho Falls into Denver on March 19th and then on to Washington DC.

Ready for take-off  at Idaho Falls with our 22 lb. backpacks

 We followed a HUGE river along the way, which I assume was the Mississippi River. The sunset was beautiful! Then we had a 3 hour layover, leaving for Istanbul at midnight. We had the most amazing experience on the Turkish Airlines. We were greeted by a hostess who gave us a red zipper case with a toothbrush and paste, eye cover-ups, ear plugs, bootie-type socks, and lip balm. A chef all decked out in white with a chef hat also welcomed us. Rich had understood that there would be no meals served, so during our time at Dulles Airport, we had two passes to the United Club for gold card members. They had an assortment of fruit, crackers, cheeses, and snack items, so we loaded up! :) Back to the airplane experience! Here's what we encountered:

1. 8 seats across and a football-length of rows (well, not quite, but this AirBus 340 plane was HUGE! Dave Couillard – Rich's dad who flew in WWII would have enjoyed flying this one!
2. Greetings by a half dozen beautiful Turkish airline hostesses...slim, hair in buns, uniforms and with smiles and twinkling eyes.
3. On our seats was a beautiful Turkish blanket, a pillow, and earphones. We sat next to a sweet girl from Iran with her hair covered by the most beautiful lavendar scarf.
   
   
   
   
   
4. No longer had we sat down when a stewardess passed out a type of square chewy candy with almonds and powdered sugar...very tasty!
5. A large platter was brought by with hot washcloths wrapped up in a roll to wash our faces. It felt so good after having traveled for 11 hours.
6. The hostesses carried a cart of newspapers in both Turkish and English for passengers to read.
7. We were then presented with menus and drink items to order from for the 10 hour flight. We were sure it would cost, but everything was free including alcoholic beverages – crazy! (Of course we didn't order any of those!)
8. Then the plane took off which felt like we were gliding along the runway – so smooth!
   Dinner – at 2 a.m.;( look at the picture); so very good. The cheese was very mild. The main dish was grilled chicken with sauteed eggplant and zucchini and potatoes with a little tube of olive oil and spices to drizzle on top. Black forest cake was dessert. 

   

   TYLER - the chef of the family....these food photos are for YOU!

   
   

Lights out! We tried to catch some shut-eye until 8 a.m. When the lights came up and breakfast began to be served. As I walked the aisles around 5 a.m., they offered me some juice and sandwiches which were in the back of the plane. They were very fancy, but I was definitely not hungry.

Breakfast – egg omelet with potatoes, fruit, and more. Each seat had an individual TV with so many different channels: Turkish music, movies (all kinds in both English and Turkish)., news of the day, documentaries, and everything was complimentary.

We landed about 5 p.m. Turkish time and we breezed through customs, paying our $20 each to get a visa.  

We saw posters and signs everywhere about the 2020 Istanbul Olympics.  They have been nominated and will be voted on soon, so everyone is very excited!  It reminded me of the Salt Lake Olympic bid that Utah eventually received. 

We met our CS host at TurkCell and we drove to the Asian side of Istanbul during rush hour, so it took nearly 2 hours (50 milometers) to drive to his apartment, meeting his wife and 8 yr. old daughter.

They spoke very little English, but Kemal did pretty well, so excited to be learning more English from us. We had a delightful meal of chicken & pasta soup, and purslane & rice soup, with baklava and other pastries. She fed us cashews, pistachios, and dried fruits beforehand. They offered us Chai Tea (very popular here) afterwards. Ela and I enjoyed playing piano together (they had a keyboard). I tried to help her with her studies as she didn't really like to practice. She giggled as I played “Alley Cat” to her 9 month old kitten. They have a very clean and sophisticated 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment. Our sheets and towels smelled so clean – Mine (pronounced "mee-nay") uses “Ariel” detergent. I wish we could buy it in the states. Bedtime at 11 p.m. 

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Day 2 began with needing to go to Greece (I know we just barely had gotten into Turkey), but there is a law here that says you cannot visit more than 90 days in the European Union countries (26 of them) within a 180 day period.  Since we are going to be in Europe for 204 days, we needed to get our passport stamped right away to start our clock ticking.  What adventures we had trying to do that on our own with the language barrier.  Luckily Kemal had written down some phrases we could show the border patrols and with the help of him via telephone, (remember his english is very limited), some pantomiming, some praying, and some luck, we were able to get it done.  It took 13 hours to finish the process - between bus and taxi rides and two hitch-hiking experiences.  (no worries...they were safe).  :)  Rich took most of the pictures today on his camera, and he's in bed, so more pix tomorrow from our adventures today.

Baklava (yum) and a bread that is VERY popular here.

ok - everyone has to go to the bathroom...right?  Just thought you might want to see how the Turkish bathrooms are.  there is a hole in the ground with a porcelain covering over it.  So everyone stands up while using it.  You can see the gridded area for your feet and the little pitcher of water for pouring in after using it.  There is no toilet paper and you must pay a Turkish Lira after you use the bathroom.  (about 80 cents).  It's an experience!

While we were in a little town in Greece after having received our stamp on our passports, we were quite the spectacle!  There were no other tourists around, so we attracted children (they wanted to practice their English on us - picture later), babies staring at us, and generally the "eye" from everyone with our lighter skin and hair.  

Kemal, Mine, and Ela were happy to have us get back safely and we sat down to a 10 p.m. light meal of

Su Borek, Kuru Dolma, Biber Patlican, Tavuk Sote, and Yogurt.  I had Mine tell me the Turkish words.

Goodnight everyone!  Stay tuned for more adventures in our blog!