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7:55 a.m. Sitting in the
Ambassador Lounge (I'm the only one so far) awaiting 8:15 transfer to
the hotel. Suitcase carried away during the night. Closed my cabin
door for the last time, and here I am. Got my passport back. Had a
minimal breakfast (yogurt and two bites of a muffin) with three of
the Englishmen I've come to know. They're heading for home this
morning. No sign of Tom or Mike yet.
And so it (or this part of
it) ends. Always dislike endings. They leave me with an odd sense
of...loss?
Since our hotel rooms won't
be available until at least noon, we'll be taking a bus tour of
Istanbul, which will be nice, though I do wish trying to take photos
through a bus window were easier, and that I could move from one side
to the other without problem or having to try to shoot past someone
across the aisle. More people coming in, now. Here's Mike, so I'll
close for the moment.
10:09 a.m. Sitting in the
garden of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. Within 200 feet of me are
gold and jewels which, cashed in, could easily buy Texas with perhaps
Oklahoma tossed in. No photos allowed, of course, in the display
rooms.
Afternoon. Checked into the
hotel—the Hyatt Regency--around 1:30. By far the nicest hotel I've
stayed at. Was absolutely delighted to find that it is located one
block from the Istanbul Hilton...the same place from which I had
stolen a liqueur glass in 1956. Full circle, anyone? I walked down
later to get a photo of it, but the street on which the Hyatt Regency
fronts is the back of the Hilton, and I was too tired to walk around
the long block in the heat to get a photo of the front.
Had lunch—well, they had a
limited menu which did not include any appetizer-type items, so I
just had a beer—by the beautiful pool, and wished I had the body to
be able to take advantage of it. I do not, and even if I had a
bathing suit along, would not want to frighten the children or
startle the horses. We were accompanied by a very sweet cat, who
could not get enough attention.
Mike was on a tour of the
Grand Bazaar, which I passed on in favor of having the opportunity to
just relax for a bit. I remember it from 1956 as being a gigantic ant
farm with side alleys leading to other side alleys endlessly. I would
not be surprised to read a story of someone who had finally found
their way out of the place after several years.
Went to dinner alone,
ordered a bowl of cream of asparagus soup and an appetizer of
marinated local seafood, which was enough for three meals. Most
interesting, and including a number of pieces of an unidentified
species which was really delicious. There were also four skewers of
three olives wrapped in small strips of fish, and several strips of
one unidentified fish a large piece of yet another. The bill,
including a beer and bottle of water, was 50+ Turkish lira...about
$25-plus. (Entrees ran between 50 and 80 lira.)
2 comments:
The meals sound incredible. The descriptions sound incredible. I'll be curious to read if you stay in touch with any of the folks you met during the trip. And have you decided where you're going next year?
The food...what little I ate of it...was great and I'd give anything to have been able to eat in far greater volume. I have corresponded with Adrian, one of the Englishmen I met, but no one else.
My friend Gary and I are thinking of taking a round-trip Northen-route round trip train ride to Portland. 4 days on the train (we'd each get a sleeper compartment) plus a couple of days in Portland. We'll see. Was also thinking of a cruise on the Great Lakes, but they are almost as expensive as the Med cruise.
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