Sigh - It's Our Last Day (and it's about forty-eight hours long!)
October 20, 2021
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| View from the end of our hall |
I wake for sunrise, which isn't enough sleep, but it's a beautiful sight and our last one here. Eventually I convince myself to get up and get ready for breakfast. It will be a long time before someone cooks for me again! All my favorite staff members are working and the cute little guy who thought I needed Nutella and cheese sticks thinks I need a double helping of the sweet, fruit-filled oatmeal and three pieces of halvah! I could just put him in my pocket! My omelet lady knows that I want one "all-the-way" and the barista knows I need a latte in a take-away cup!
I'm just finishing up when Ammar texts me to ask when breakfast is over. He has about half an hour and comes down to meet me and have his bread, cheese, and juice.
After breakfast we take a walk down to the horse statues so I can finally get some real pictures, instead of grab shots from a moving cab! The wind is fierce! I actually think I might get blown away during several of the gusts! There's something about the way the hotel is constructed that funnels the wind, I think. It isn't that strong away from the hotel.
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| The spa and indoor pool are on the left and the hotel itself is on the right. |
I've tried to check in to Turkish Air. The good news is that my magic number actually brings up my flight information. The bad news is that I will have to check in at the airport in the middle of the night. At least I'm sure that my rearranging of my belongings has brought my big bag down to under fifty pounds!
In the afternoon we have reception call us a cab to the closest pharmacy. The concierge writes the cabbie a note in that lovely Georgian script to tell him that we need him to wait for us while we shop, and to take us to get a Khatchapuri.
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| I love these little cups and their of-center saucers! |
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| Interesting police station - and they all have "Police" in English, even though they get very few American tourists! |
Sigh. It's already half-past midnight and we really need to go downstairs and check out. There's a group of six Israelis checking in but soon enough it is our turn to confess that we didn't use the mini-bar. (That always surprises people!) and to pay up and check out. Our cab arrives and it is only a ten or fifteen minute trip to the airport. I am able to check in and get rid of my big bag; but it's too early for Ammar's flight.
I can't put it off any longer and I climb on the escalator that will take me to security and away from my love. We're both going to Istanbul but the timing is such that we won't even see each other there. Ammar had tried to change his flight but the Turkish Air lady said it wasn't possible.
Security is easy, no shoes, no laptop; but they want to scan my watch and my glasses! Then there's the challenge of finding my gate. 101 should be so easy! But there's102 and 103 and 201...where the heck?? Finally there's a sign and I'm home free. I have a few minutes to scan the duty free and find the wine that Ammar chose in town the other day. I text him in case he wants a bottle to take home. I wish I had any more room in my luggage!
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| Istanbul |
The flight to Istanbul is only a a two and a half hour trip but Turkish Air managed to serve a full meal! I guess when you fly at 3:50 in the morning you have to do something to keep people happy! And the seat beside me was open, which was good since the space in front of my seat barely accommodated my backpack!
The Istanbul airport is gigantic. Actually I've read that it is the world's largest. Maybe that's why you never know what gate you are assigned to until a couple of hours before your flight. The good news, though, is that transit passengers don't have to go through any rigamarole. All you do is follow the signs that say transit passengers and Bob's your uncle! It's just a matter of walking several miles and then staring at a screen until your gate is announced.
It's a fact that if you see a sign that says Gates 1 - 7 and you need Gate 1, the first gate you come to will be 7! I get to the end, find a seat, and decide that maybe I need some caffeine. There's a little snack bar and I ask if they have Diet Coke. She looks all over and says No. I settle for a large bottle of water. I have three charge cards and a fifty dollar bill. She can't change that and her computer/cash register doesn't seem to remember how to scan items or process cards! She finally goes off for reinforcements and the lady who comes back with her is flummoxed, too! It takes about ten minutes to pay $2.70 for a bottle of water. I'm still transitioning back to reality. A bottle of flavored water was only about forty cents in Georgia! I can't reach Ammar. He'll still be in the air when we take off,.
The flight from Istanbul to New York is ten and a half hours, but the process of being admitted to the gate is even more grueling! Everyone is queued up at the entrance to the gate and a staffer is going down the line checking everyone's passport and PCR test results. Then you get to the actual passport check. Then there's another. And another. and another. Then everything in your carry-on is inspected. And then you are allowed to go sit down! And, of course, when actual boarding begins there's one last check.
During the flight Turkish Air serves two full meals. Usually I fly at night so the first meal is dinner; but today it's breakfast. Of course I've been awake long enough that it feels like dinner so I ask if it's too early for wine! She laughs and says she can bring me some later! And she does!
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| Breakfast Number 2 |
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| Turkish dinner!! |
And the movie marathon begins: I watch "Luca", (delightful) "Chaos Walking" (don't!); "French Exit" (Interesting!); "The Personal History of David Copperfield" (Dev Patel!); and almost all of "Aladdin". (I have to admit that I slept through parts of some of them!) The lady next to me (Ammar could tell you where she's from but I can't) seems to have an unlimited number o water bottles in her bag and gives me one! I thought she just wanted to use my tray table and didn't understand for a while. I also didn't think she spoke English since she only spoke Arabic to all her friends around us!
The landing is so good that people applauded! Istanbul may be the largest airport; but JFK is certainly a close second! We've landed at Terminal 5 and passport control is the first stop. I've got Global Entry and that goes very quickly. I actually manage to get three of four fingerprints to register and that seems to be good enough to gain approval. The guard points me toward a red line on the floor and it leads me to baggage claim. I get there ahead of those people in the passport control line; but it doesn't really matter since they haven't off-loaded the bags yet. The nice young man who helped me get my little bag down offers to also help me snag my bag from the carousel when it shows up. It's in a tangle of other bags and it actually takes three of us to extract it!
The next job is to turn the bag back in! Everyone's bags go here regardless of airline or location. It's a good thing they are so careful about checking the way they are labeled! Now I have to find a Jet Blue ticket counter. I don't have a boarding pass for my last leg because Turkish Air couldn't issue it in Tbilisi. Of course, even if you get the third one, it usually has to be changed anyway!
It takes asking three different people, and a ride on the planetrain, so get to Terminal 5 and the counter. While I'm there, I ask the lady to be sure that my TKN is on it. Luckily I always carry my Global Entry card with me and she takes care of it so that security is easier.
Jet Blue is using a self-check in system. You wait till the little door are closed, step into the blue box on the floor, and scan your boarding pass. When the screen turns green the doors open and you can board. The last flight is three hours and all we get is a can of soda (at least it's the whole can!) and after your drink is gone, a tiny packaged snack.
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| Sunset over TPA |
We go to Betsy's and I pick up my car and head home. Roddy reminded me that I'm pointing the other way so I need to be sure I can get out of their neighborhood! And Betsy assured me that the car will start!
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| Welcome home!!! |
The traffic is light and I make it home in one piece. After checking in I crash like a meteorite! It isn't until the next morning that I hear about Ammar's troubles in Ankara! They confiscated his delicious (and expensive) cologne and deodorant, and then locked him in a room and strip-searched him! He demanded to be put in contact with the Jordanian embassy and they said "Why? This is standard procedure. Then they told him that the government in Ankara is different from Istanbul!! Like they aren't both in Turkey! ? He never found out what they were looking for or why they singled him out and they never apologized when they turned him loose! At least he didn't miss his flight! He might never want to meet me again! And to top it off, the woman who was watching his cat has lost her, Damn Damn Damn!
But we're both home safe and sound with, mostly, spectacular memories and plans for the future.
What a marvelous adventure! I’m looking forward to seeing you next Thursday.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful sunrise! I can see by the horses' manes how windy it is. Oh, and your hair too.
ReplyDeleteHugs and safe travels!