To Sabiha Gokken!

Well! Up this morning about 5-ish, and down to breakfast about 7. Truly, not a noteworthy breakfast at all, but we made do, as R says. As it was still too dark to leave – as I’ve never driven these roads before, and we didn’t want to get to the hotel too early, we decided to wait until 8 am to get on the road. So … that’s what we did! It’s not nearly as cold today as it was yesterday – in fact, the Weather Channel said it was 40, but it was still chilly for me!

Headed north out of town heading to Istanbul and Sabiha Gokcen Airport, to drop off the rental car. As per usual, there were new freeways that weren’t on our map, as well as yet another new bridge for us to cross over! The government here has been really busy since the last time we were here, that’s definitely for sure!

Sunset from our window!

Lovely starters

R's penne arribiata

My beef casserole in cast iron container -- hot!

All proceeded smoothly until about the time we were 2½ hours in, with about 2 hours to go, and once again, the low tire pressure lights went off. Oh boy…so, again we stopped, but truly didn’t get the brightest penny in the slot to assist us this time! Not sure what he did, but I couldn’t manage to get the tire sensor to reset, although I tried several times. Again, visual inspection of the tires seemed that they were fine, although Rsuspects there is probably a slow leak, as this was a repeat occurrence. However, my job was to get us to Istanbul, and that was what I proceeded to do!

Snow in the mountains north of Bursa!

New bridge over the sea

Excellent roads all the way, and we were fortunate to be able to come upon a nice gas station/rest area still part of the freeway, just about 2 km before my exit for Sabiha Gokcen! How convenient! We willed the little Fiat up with gas at that point, and then headed into the airport to look for Rental Car Return signs.

Let me tell you that companies do NOT make it easy for renters to figure out how or where to return the cars, but this time it was MUCH easier than most! I took it REALLY slowly going around, and we were able, on the first pass, to find the right place! It was amazing! Never was Paris and Charles de Gaulle so easy! And we won’t even mention Rome!! Down into the bowels of the parking garage (-3 level) – and seriously, if we had had a larger car, not sure how we would have gotten down (or up, for that matter!) those narrow ramps! But in just a couple of minutes we were in the rental car rabbit warren, and there was Budget! Yay!! Pulled in right where we had picked the car up, and out we popped! Gathered all of our things (I thought …) and in a few minutes, we were heading back to the surface to get a cab to get us to our hotel!

It was then, as we were walking toward the elevator, that I asked R if he had gotten everything out of the center console of the Fiat, and he said yes. Then I asked about the Atlas … at which point, he stopped cold. Turns out, that was still in the comfy spot he had found for it, between the seat and the console – and by now the car had been whisked off to somewhere else! So! Back to the Budget desk for the guy who-spoke-no-English to figure out where our Atlas was! Fortunately, they found it quickly, and in about 10 minutes, the guy came speeding back down the ramp and around the corners and – voila – or however you say it in Turkish – there was the Atlas!! Many, many thanks!

Then back up to the surface and to the taxi line, and into a convenient cab. And, within 10 minutes, we were at the Hampton Inn awaiting check-in!

Unfortunately no upgrades here, but we’re in a nice “normal” (but warm!) room on the 4^th floor (1416) for the night. We did get a nice fruit plate delivered to us after we got here, which was nice. So, all unpacked and settled in, and R did a couple of hours work for Caltech.

Heading out soon to find some early dinner, and then back in for the night. We’re checked in for our Pegasusflight tomorrow morning, and will be heading to the airport early, as soon as we finish breakfast. So! More later!

xxx

We actually just headed a very short distance down the street from the hotel to find a really lovely dinner! Nothing fancy – and seriously, no wine whatsoever, but that was fine – the food was excellent! We each started with bowls of really good lentil soup, which was great considering that the entire day had been very gloomy and overcast! One of those: Doesn’t the sun ever shine? kind of days. It actually made my driving job easier, as I didn’t have to worry about driving into or out of the sun at all – it simply wasn’t there! But still gloomy, nonetheless. After that, we got mixed salads with some sort of appetizer of uncertain origin, but which looked like a grain filling. R’s main was an entrecote (yes, again!) with both rice pilaf and French fries, and I had tavuk sis – translated into, chicken shish – yes, again again! Truly, the chicken in Turkiye – and the French fries, are the best in the world! We’ve never, ever had better! So our last meal here -- for the startling amount of around $43, was excellent and plentiful!