Out of India and already feeling better. A long layover in Abu Dhabi. I was tempted to head into town but didn’t want to deal with Passport control and Security Screening in a Middle East country. It was a nice airport but as I expected for priced towards the Sheik class rather than the $9 a night hostel class.
Next stop was Istanbul. I have never met anyone who didn’t rate it as one of the best places they have ever visited. If you have been a loyal reader over the years, you know that I am not easily impressed. I took it as a challenge to find something wrong with it.
I reserved a room in a hotel from the airport and caught the shuttle bus into town. It was an hour ride to the stop I figured was closest to the metro stop that would carry me to within a block from the hotel.
The shuttle dropped me off in the rain. And I set off to find the metro. You would think that I would have gotten taxi. Well I would think you have never tried to get a cab in a big city at rush hour when its raining. And I still only had Rupees in my wallet. So I marched on for a nice tour of the business section of Istanbul. About a soaking hour later, I found the metro, changed some money and bought a ticket. They sell multi trip tickets but I only needed a one way at this point. Got on the metro and it Whisked me across the river and just kept going. It overshot my stop by longer than I was willing to walk. I bought another ticket and ended up in the original stop. I was obviously missing something. I left the metro, found a restaurant to get some much needed food and an ATM to get some much needed euros. I climbed back down into the metro system and tried it again. This time I got closer. A few commuters even helped me with the ticket machine. I think mostly out of impatience with my futile attempts.
I was starting to feel like Charlie from the M.T.A. song. I thought I would never get off the train. I bounced all over the European side of Istanbul trying to get to the right metro stop. Each time I got off the train, I had to buy another ticket. No transfers in Istanbul. Finally, I came close enough to where I got out and started walking again. It stopped raining mostly so it wasn’t too bad. I was even liking the walk around my hotel neighborhood as I zeroed in on the hotel. Brightly lit, lots of cafes and restaurants, It looked fun.
Finally got to the hotel and checked in. I don’t know what it is but I always seem to get sent to the annex (OK, I kind of know why). Efen so, for $30 it was pretty nice. Having a hot shower in the room was sweet. No bare electric wires and a hot breakfast to boot. Luxury.
So I have just written 422 words and I just got to the hotel. I’ll end the day here with a Gyro and a Coke. Tomorrow will be a busy day.
