Istanbul Arrival

We were driven to the airport leaving our peaceful, beautiful, clean hotel through the fairy chimney countryside as the sun set.  It was one of those massive orange suns that seem to pickup speed as they near the horizon.  If I had given more thought to where we were headed I would have savoured these moments and focused on the peace.  I now love Istabul, but holy smoke the first night and day were overwhelming.  Our Pegasus flight was delayed by 90 minutes ( I know, shocking ) so by the time we were picked up at the airport it was 1am.  I was blown away by how busy it was.  Our driver was hmmm… efficient !?  He drove as if his house was on fire and the kids were all alone!  Finally at 2 am we crossed the bridge taking us from Asia to Europe,  all the way we saw endless high-rises and endless density.  After weaving in and out of traffic ( both motorized and pedestrian ) for about an hour and a half we arrived at the apartment.  The poor woman (Nahide) who was letting us the place, looked exhausted yet she still graciously took time with us.  She liked us I think, so she explained where we are, where to go, the nearest grocery store, great breakfast places etc. with a map she’s laid out on the table.  As helpful as she was I was happy to see her go.  We still needed to go out to buy some water and I was completely out of gas.  I needed to crash ASAP.  At 3 am the city was busy, noisey, and vibrant.  By the time we returned home and went to bed I could have slept through cannon fire ( which about sums up the ambient decibel level ).  Today we woke up early and eager.