Minneapolis to Istanbul — this encore life

After our obligatory double G/T at MSP, Jane and I found our way to our Delta flight and I basked in the bulkhead-seat legroom. We connected with “tour director” Ann Marie and enjoyed the smoothest 8 hour transatlantic flight I can remember. My first choice in movies was The Favorite, but after a disappointing 30 minutes, decided to watch Can You Ever Forgive Me instead. Better choice.

After transferring in Amsterdam, the flight to Istanbul took us over the Alps and the skies cleared, giving us a great view of the majesty of those peaks. Then over the water—Black Sea? Mediterranean?—and suddenly Istanbul appeared. From horizon to horizon all I could see was an expanse of buildings—many of them tall apartments. I was astounded by the size of the metropolis—nearly 18 million live here in this gateway to Asia. Amazing.

Istanbul from horizon to horizon.  15-18 million live here — Istanbul from horizon to horizon. 15-18 million live here

We landed at the “new” airport, which became operational April 5 of this year. Though we’d heard horror stories about the lack of completion (no moving walkways, etc.), we found and got through passport control with no issues. Baggage however took nearly an hour to arrive, though somehow my bag popped onto the belt after a mere 15 minutes or so. Rumor has it this massive new airport will not be completed for a few years. It’s touted to be the largest terminal under one roof when finished.

After hitting the duty free shop for wine, we found our Istanbul tour guide, met a few others who’d flown in from other parts of the globe, and finally our group of 10 piled into a van for a rush-hour trek into Istanbul proper.

Traffic is crazy worldwide during rush hour. Many smaller vans joined ours on the freeway. One reason for this may be that all businesses with more than 50 employees are required to provide transportation to/from work for their workers. The pick-up point must be within walking distance to the employee’s’ home, and businesses must also provide a noon meal for employees as well. Interesting!

An odd visual for me was vendors standing in the middle of a clogged freeway selling everything from flowers to bread. Granted, cars were traveling at a snail’s pace, but still—to set up a table with wares in the middle of 4-5 lanes of traffic seemed pretty bizarre! Drivers simply slowed down, rolled down a window, and did business. Hmmm!

Bad photo, but the guy on the left wanders through traffic, his goods balanced on his head.  He sells to drivers as they creep by in rush hour traffic — Bad photo, but the guy on the left wanders through traffic, his goods balanced on his head. He sells to drivers as they creep by in rush hour traffic

We found our cute hotel and after sipping some of our red wine, decided to stay in the hotel for dinner. My spinach pita was delicious! Now it’s time to plop myself into bed, though I’m afraid the iced Americano I had at the airport around 5 pm may keep me up. Uffdah.