We got up early, showered, ate and got ready to leave. Our driver came a 9 AM and we headed to the Airport. We had spent the last few days packing, doing wash and cleaning up the AirBnB. It had turned cold and the wind picked up occasionally dropping rain. Soo it was easy to focus on trip prep. We said a sad goodbye to Stumpy, Mustache Man, Ktaily, and Mudface, the local cats that have been regulars at Cafe Leip. It was an emotional parting. We are continuously amazed by the attachments we make to the places we stay. Demetrious drove us to the airport just like he first drove us to the AirBnB in Athens. He was the first smile we saw in Greece and the last one we saw before leaving. Dropping off the two big bags was super easy at the bag storage place. We will get them back when we return in a week. The flight was fast but we could see rain in the area. The rain did give us some nice rainbows to see out of the window. We had pre-booked our van and there was an agent who met us at the departure door and walked us down to meet the van. He was delightful and as we talked he told us that he is one of 24 children that his dad has with three different women. He said that Kurdish people love kids. He is the youngest and calls all of them his siblings and he said that he has three mothers. We got to the AirBnB after an hour plus of driving in rainy traffic. It was good that we had a spacious van to ride in as rainy car travel tends to give me motion sickness. The driver stopped in front of a hotel that was three doors down from our place. A man from the hotel came out to help us but I said no, we were not staying at the hotel. Instead we said that we had to go to #23. I showed him the picture and he pointed down the street. It was raining pretty hard at this point so we just hustled our stuff over to the building and got in the front door. The man followed us to see if we needed help. I tried to tell him all was well and headed up the stairs with two bags and left him with Leslie. The keys were easy to find and I was in the door quickly. I called down the stairs that I was in and the man from the hotel was right there me with two of our bags! He was fast and so very helpful. I tried to tip him but he said no thanks and was on his way. So hospitable and friendly.
As we leave Greece we say goodbye
Our first view of Turkey
We are descending
The small blip bottom right is a full sized ship
The Istanbul airport is built on a grand scale
Towering ceilings
Traffic and rain!
It took an hour and 15 to get to our place
The host did not want much drinking so we had to have a GnT in tiny glasses
The rain continued through the night
We did hear the call to prayer through the windows
Lightning flashed and water came into the glassed in porch
