Wednesday, September 24, Day 106
This morning arrived bright and clear. We have finally picked this day before we pack up and leave to ascend to the highest point in Istanbul, the Sapphire building across from our hotel. We ride up 54 floors for a fabulous 360 degree view of the city. One cannot appreciate the building density until it is seen from this height..
By 11:30, we are checked out of the hotel and in a taxi heading for the airport to pick up our rental car. The city streets are incredibly jammed and the drivers are gutsy zigzzagging in and out. We don't want to drive in the city, so we have rented our car at the airport and will ultimately drive away from Istanbul down the coast to Kilitbahir where we will ferry over to Canakkale ( near the ancient city of Troy) across the Dardanelles (the tight western strait from the Aegean to the Marmara Sea that leads to the Bosporus and the Black Sea).
Our driver drops us off at departures rather than arrivals as we had asked. With the Syrians fleeing to Turkey, and the coalition bombing of terrorists in Syria, there is heightened security at the airport. One cannot even enter the building without going through baggage scans and security screening. Our fellow travelers had to leave an hour earlier than they had planned to get through this. We thought we could avoid this by going to arrivals on the bottom level, but no. So we go through the long lineup and screening at the door, descend down the elevator to the Avis agency.
While Russ is taking care of the rental paperwork, I extract some Tl from the ATM, and we are on our way out to the shuttle point. There is another family of six, Dad, Mom, and 4 children, one older son of 11 or 12, daughter 9-10, and two littler girls under three. Mom is wearing a hajib. Dad and kids look very western in their dress. Turns out they are a Saudi Arabian family living in Foster City in California. They all speak Arabic and English. No one understands Turkish or the heavy quick speaking Turkish accents of the English speaking Avis representatives, so we work together to figure out how to get out of the Rental Car parking lot. Finally, we figure out how to exit and wave to each other as we reach the freeway and drive off in different directions.
The roads away from Istanbul are excellent and not nearly as crowded. After a nice late lunch we arrive at our AirBnB destination. It is a quiet coastal cottage, that the family said was their summer villa. Guess our expectations of a villa were way too high. Bora is a young man who greets us. He is very nice and helpful. The garden looks nice and the inside is tidy, but quite shabby and in disrepair. The kitchen faucet leaks with a bowl underneath, there is no hot water, toilet paper, towels or wifi. The dishwasher, television, and washing machine are broken. I flush the toilet and fresh water gushes out the back onto the floor. Our bedroom is on thee second floor, with a nice sunny balcony. We have clean sheets that cover over hard lumpy mattresses, and the pillow on my bed is as hard as a rock. Russ thought this would be a nice little get away after so many nights and days with a tour group, and it was the only AirBnB in the area.
We had better conditions on our boat. Neither of us were mentally prepared for the rustic and basic nature of this little adventure, but we are determined as ever to make the best of it. Bora's parents are on some business further down the coast and will be picking him up in their car to head back to Istanbul later this evening. They are bringing fresh fish back to grill and want to prepare dinner for us. While the sun drops toward the horizon, Russ and I head to the the village market for some eggs, yogurt, laundry soap, and toilet paper. Then we sit with Bora and play cards. He teaches us a game, and we teach him how to play Oh Hell, that Angela and Otavia from Brazil taught us while sailing down the Danube.
Hosan and Mauzzez, arrive about 8:00 pm and get busy in the kitchen and in back with the grill. We are eating a wonderful meal with fresh bread, salad of tomato, cucumber, onions, and mild fresh green chili peppers, and grilled fish (tuna like) by 9:00. We enjoy our time with this family, all trying to understand one another. Bora is our interpreter. We learn that Hosan is a criminal defense attorney, that the family is not happy about Turkey introducing new laws that tie religion more closely to the government, and that they also have a younger daughter who is in high school. The family cleans up and leave Russ and I in the cottage around 10:00 p.m.
We get ready to tackle the lumpy beds for the night. The community dogs kick up a chorus and the mosquitoes buzz around our heads. I finally get up for ear plugs and we share some repellant and a late night swat at some of the blood suckers, before a restless night.
Thursday, September 25, Day 107
Well, we survived the night! One more to go. Today, we are enjoying a clear sunny day over looking the Marmara Sea and we are catching up, doing laundry boat style in buckets, downloading pictures, editing pictures, and writing blogs. Later this afternoon we will head into the village to check our mail and post the blogs. In the meantime, we are enjoying the peace and quiet of the garden.
All is well with the Worrall Travel R's at 41.032264 N, 28.003713 E in Turkey.
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