Today was moving day. We were picked up by Suleyman at noon. Our flight to Istanbul wasn't until 7pm so we had some time to kill.
First stop an old hill top village named Sirinçe that because of tourists has become a hill top bazaar. We poked around for a bit and had lunch. Lisa bought some jewelry. I saw a few ducks scurry behind an old building. Ducks still don't trust me. (If you don't know what my relationship is with ducks, you'll have to read my Croatia-France blog and my Greece blog.)
After that it was on to Izmir city. Izmir is turkey's 3rd largest city after Istanbul and Ankara (the capital). 3 million people live here. It is a seaside city sitting like a horseshoe around a very wide and today a very choppy harbor or bay. We stopped at the base of a large cliff, no more than 300 meters from the water. Here there was a tower containing an old Ottoman elevator (which is why the neighbourhood is called Acensor) to take us up to the top for a magnificent view. After a few photos and a lemon ice-cream we descended and headed for the airport.
At the airport, squeezed into a smallish pub for a beer. When it was time to board, we realized we were at gate 1 as we were instructed but needed to be at gate 5 as indicated on the boarding pass. They were not necessarily handy each other so a mini amazing race took place. No biggy.
The flight to Istanbul, 55 minutes. We were mid-ship and just as we were served our meal - yes meal, take note Air Canada - we started our descent and tray tables up message came over the PA. Being a very relaxed flight, we finished our meal and tray tabled up. Turkish Air is quickly becoming a favorite airline for me, friendly, reliable, large fleet of modern planes, and everything else an airline should be. As an aside, when we cancelled our Egypt 2 weeks and replaced it with Turkey, we cancelled to and fro flights from Istanbul to Cairo. Guess what, full refund in cash. If they would have treated us like Air Canada, we'd have credits for flights that would expire in a year.
We then hung out in the lounge, refreshed ourselves in all ways including a clothing change. We were a bit hot, the weather has been great, the temperatures just keep rising. Forecast for Cape Town is 16C. Cooler.
The plane ride to Cape Town via Johannesburg is 9 hours. With the one hour time difference (clocks go back an hour), we should arrive in Cape Town at 8 am. There we land, refuel and head for Johannesburg which I think is another 2 hours or so away.
I am writing this entry as they are turning on the lights for breakfast. I had a bit of a sleep. It is very hot on the plane, to us anyway. The plane is nice, up front we have 2-2-2 for 22 seats vs the 1-2-1 for 8 seats on Swiss Air. That said, we have 4-6 attendants taking care of us, there is a bar up front, there is a pastry chef (dressed as a French pastry chef in his white garb) making hors d'oeuvres, and people fussing over us in other ways. I'm happy, got my kit, my slippers, no pj's on this flight. Lisa reminds me that this really isn't first class on this plane but business class. Nevertheless, quite comfortable.
As I smell and wait for my eggs and turkey meat (there is no bacon in Turkey), I have fond memories and thoughts about Turkey. But I like bacon.
Turkey. I love the people, they are very friendly, good natured, they remind me of people from other European countries we have visited. Actually, Turkey feels like Europe to me. Except for the bacon.
Turkey has an almost infinite wealth in history. Everywhere you turn, every hole you dig, you will find something about the past. The landscape varies from place to place. Cappadocia was amazing. Those of you who still do not believe man landed on the moon in '69 can work on a theory that it was faked here.
Istanbul. We loved it. And for sure we will be back. Whether as a jumping off point to somewhere else, or as a start or end to a Mediterranean cruise (which would include Dubrovnik as well, we want to see it again). Istanbul ranks second or third as our favorite city. For Lisa, London is still number one, for me, not sure about London.
Now on to the other things of European life (including Turkey and England) I have ranted about in the past.
Electricity. 220 or whatever I don't care. The shape and size of the plugs, ridiculous. I know we are in old villages etc and to convert a country or continent to a sensible size/shape plug/receptacle is impossible. And having new construction go that way creates dual systems. So I guess they can suffer with the monster sized plugs for another 20 years or so until electricity will flow through the air from source to device.
WC. Toilets. Call them what you want. Here they score 50%. The individual stalls over here are often floor to ceiling rooms. Very private the way they should be. In North America, we think partitions from the knees up with gaps I can squeeze a tennis ball through is called private. It isn't. It is cheap. Where they lose is in often charging to pee or poop. We stopped that ridiculous concept 40 years ago. And what's with the holes. A hole with a foot print on each side is not a toilet. I get it for the ladies with long dresses and the perceived cleanliness and the religious reasons for it; but, really?
I would not want to drive to an large town or city in Turkey. Crazy crazy crazy. Imagine this. You want to turn left, you get into the intersection, but you must wait for oncoming traffic. Next thing you know, you have a car on your left, also turning left, and possibly one on your right. And they are squeezing you like a good basketball defense. Because the first one to move and gain access from this now 3 lanes of traffic into the 1 and sometimes 2 lanes we are heading for - wins. And lane changes. I think they are a requirement every 100 meters. And the lines on the pavement are not the lane indicators. It's how many cars can you fit abreast. Abreast, now that's a funny word.
Turkey. We loved it and we will be back. If you come to Turkey, the balloon ride is a no-brainer, a must. It is safer than flying in the plane that gets you here.
Anyway, had my breakfast, we land in Johannesburg in an hour, time for a tuppa tup.
We land. People get off. We refuel. And up in the air we go. Better than landing in Canada ie Newfoundland, where the make work project herds all passengers including those going to Halifax off the plane, with all cabin luggage. Then you go to the carousel and get your checked luggage which was removed from the plane. Then you go through customs and immigration. Then you put your luggage back on the belt to be reloaded. Then you all get back on the same plane, same seat, same bat channel, all 183 of you, except of course the 7 that got off in St. John's because they live there. Then you fly to Halifax. And that is on a good day.
On a bad day, the customs staff are still on their way to the airport, getting called in and paid double time. So you wait in line. Or, the computers were shut down and now we wait for the reboot while standing in line. I'm talking from experience. We write this all off as government regulations. Maybe. But common sense needs to enter our life as well. Here today it was done right, and I applaud common sense.
Anyway, we set our TVs to cockpit camera. So cool seeing the plane land on the runway. Neat also to see that the captain did not land or take off in the dead centre of the runway. I guess close is good enough.
The flight to Cape Town under 2 hours. Surprises me. 9 hours to do the continent. And then 2 more to move across South Africa. Didn't know SA was that large.
Well I've got some time to kill and I'd be remiss if I didn't continue sharing my insights. Back to Turkey. The food was fantastic. I don't know how many times I said, this tastes like my mother's cooking. The meat dishes, the salads, the desserts, the tea. Cheese strudel. Palačenke. There is much in common with the Turkish people and the people of the former Jugoslavia, ie Croatia (ie Hrvatska), Bosnia, etc. BTW, mom your cooking is still #1 in my book!
Then there are the doners and kebabs. I like our donairs better. And I can live without the kabobs. It's just meat on a stick.
Depending on where you are in the country, they grow oranges, peaches, apricots, strawberries, olives, pomegranates... They grow most of the vegetables as well. I didn't see and missed eating broccoli, celery and cauliflower. We were told Turkey is one of 8 entirely self sufficient countries in the world. Impressive.
They are not milk drinkers here. Instead, they like yogurt drinks called ayran. And they add a touch of salt to it.
I've already mentioned the nuts, fruits and berries that they snack on rather than junk food. Good on them. But they do eat an awful lot of bread. For breakfast, for lunch, for dinner. And they use it to dip in their hot or cold mezes eg. humus, tomato and eggplant. Eggplant. Very big here. Cooked. Cold. Warm. Fried. Stewed. They eat eggplant every which way is possible.
Well, that's it for now. Talk soon. And yes we know we still owe you the Ephesus day blog. Lisa still working on the redo. She did such a great job on the original. The second writing will be even that much better. So the prequel is yet to come...
Cheers.
