In a Car Again!

In a Car Again!

 

Whew!  Getting out of Istanbul is truly no joke!  But dealing with a massive case of jetlag this time around isn’t either!  We neither of us got great nights’ sleep last night, probably because of naps during the day.  However, if you can’t keep your eyes open, that’s generally what happens!  I was able to get to sleep around 9:30 pm last night, but was up again around 2 am and pretty much thereafter.  So … we were more than ready for breakfast at 7 am, and again, it was terrific!  Many different things today, including Falafel and some kind of Turkish spinach and cheese pizza as well as some fabulous cheese stuffed mushrooms!  Finished up and ready to leave the hotel to get back out to Sabiha Gokcen airport and pick up our rental car about 7:45, and the hotel arranged for a taxi for us … well … it was quite a ride!

 

To say our driver was a speed demon was an understatement.  Fortunately, there was so much traffic most of the way, that we couldn’t go too fast … but when he could, R clocked him (he could see the speedometer) at 87 mph.  Whew!  And this in a vehicle that sounded like it was falling apart and desperately needed to have its wheels balanced, according to Robert!  It took almost an hour and 45 minutes to get back over to the Asian side of Istanbul and to the airport, and then inside to find the Budget Rental Car desk.

 

Found it with no problem – and only about half-an-hour late! – and then across the street, into a parking garage, and down three levels to pick up the vehicle.  We have a very nice Fiat Egia (I think!) which drives very well and actually has a KEY, which is SO nice after all the fobs we’ve had to deal with lately!  Everything fit nicely into the spacious trunk, and there is plenty of room, with 4 doors and a nice back seat.  R got Emmy (our GPS) hooked up, and in a few minutes, we were heading out of the airport and on our way to Ankara!

 

By now it was a bit after 10 am, a bit later than I had hoped, for the approximately 4½ hour drive.  There was a lot of traffic immediately around the airport, and a fair amount on the roads, but the drivers are really good here, and it was a fairly straight shot out of Istanbul and heading east to the capital city of Turkiye!


Heading out of Istanbul!


So many freighters on the Sea of Marmara!






Getting up on to the Anatolian plateau



Ankara in the far distance

Driving into Ankara

Lovely room; very comfortable!


 

We traveled along both waterways – Izmit Bay, which is a bay at the easternmost edge of the Sea of Marmara, as well as along the huge inland Lake Sapanca.  With its wooded shores and beautiful fall-turning trees, the entire area was lovely – and definitely a step up from the Bay, which was lined with industry and a huge number of freighters!  It seems like there is a truly amazing amount of industry taking place on the outskirts of Istanbul!

 

Eventually, though, we started heading up on to the Turkish plateau and into Ankara.  Kemel Ataturk moved the national capital here in 1923, and what was once a very small community, is now home to almost 6 million residents!  And it continues to grow, as we could see from all the building going on in most directions!

 

Robert and Emmy did a fabulous job getting us here, until we had a slight problem … we had to go through a series of tunnels on our way into town, and at some point, Emmy just decided to lose satellites and not re-find them!  That was truly frustrating, as I was driving in heavy traffic.  So, without directions, I decided to get off the highway to find a place to pull over so that we could either get Emmy turned off and back on again, or use our cell phones to get us to the Ankara Hilton.  I knew we were close – but how close, was the question!

 


Views from our room!




Turns out, we were about 1.9 km from the hotel, which, in a city of almost 6 million people, wasn’t too bad!  Rwas able to get Emmy back on-line and talking to others again, and with our cell phones on as well, he was able to guide me through some very interesting side streets and right to the Hilton!  Now imagine, if you will, Friday afternoon with people crossing the street, cars double parking everywhere – not forgetting the buses and delivery vehicles, as well as bicycles.  It was crazy, but honestly, I think driving in Mazatlan was worse!  

 

Left our car for the valet to deal with, and checked into the hotel.  We’re on the 16th (top!) floor, and the view is terrific!  I had hoped to be able to get here with enough time to get to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations for a short visit.  They close at 5:30 pm.  However, as it was now 3:30 pm (we stopped a couple of times for nature breaks as well as to fill up the car) and according to Apple Maps, a cab would take 28 minutes to get us to the museum, and as it had been a really difficult night, we decided that discretion would be the better part of valor … we’ll hit the Museum at 8:30 am tomorrow morning, come back to the hotel, check out and head to Hattusha, the Hittite capital, and then on to Corum instead!  So there.

 

Heading to the Executive Lounge at 6 for appetizers and drinks, and then downstairs for dinner, after which I propose to go to bed as early as possible … which is why I’m writing now, and not napping!!  

 

So, more later!

Much love,

m

xxx

 

Back from first a walk through the Executive Lounge one floor down, on 15.  Lovely spread of appetizers, and we had excellent glasses of white wine and munched a bit while enjoying the view.  Then downstairs for what we hoped would be a quick dinner!  And it was!  Turns out, the hotel is hosting two celebrity chefs from Korea this week, and the restaurant was full!  We were told, however, that we could get the restaurant menu at the bar, which turned out to be fine…nice and quiet, with excellent service and just what we needed!

 

R's plate of munchies!

Me upstairs in the Executive Lounge

Dinner at the bar; loved the ceiling!


I started out with a bowl of their smokey tomato soup, and then we both had Cesar salads.  I was so tired by this time that I couldn’t even finish mine, although R did a good job on his.  Also, two glasses of excellent Turkish sauvignon blanc.  We ended up bringing basically one glass of wine and a bottle of sparkling water back upstairs.

 



My smoky tomato soup

R's Cesar salad ... which strangely looked just like mine!


Now I’m getting ready to collapse, and R is putting the photos together.  I’ve told him he has literally minutes before I give it up as a bad job!  So, on to tomorrow!

Much love,

m

xxx

 

 

 

 

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