April 5, 2010 by donnalisa
Today, Friday, March 12, my parents pick me up at 7am to take me to O’Hare for my 9:30am flight on Jet Blue. I would definitely fly on Jet Blue again, they serve Dunkin Donuts coffee and have satellite TV….how great is that, DD coffee first thing in the morning!
I arrive in New York at JFK 20 minutes ahead of schedule, I’m anxious, nervous, scared, and excited. I finally stop thinking of work and begin to focus on what is ahead. This is so different from any other trip I have ever been on, I have absolutely no expectations. Though I was provided the itinerary ahead of time (click here to view), today is the first day I read through it, there is so much planned for each day. In two days I’ll be on a camel and looking at the oldest pyramids in the world. I can hardly believe it. I’m enjoying every minute of today.
I’m now in the International terminal at JFK and see the famous orange hat, Dr. Dave! I see Dr. Dave and Margie waiting at the ticket counter at Turkish airlines. They show me where to go and then I go through security. When I get to the terminal, I meet some fellow tour members, we grab some lunch and wait for other members.
As we board, I notice how roomy this flight is and think…10 hours, not too bad. Didn’t know I was walking through business class, don’t even want to know what first class looked like. I get to my seat and think, I’m booking business class next time….I did have a hard time sleeping on the plane but I think it had more to do with being anxious and excited for arriving at our destination. Finally made it to Istanbul:
Waiting for tickets for our free tour in Istanbul.
Passports are checked, we’ve gone through security, we have our Visas stamped (paid $20) and now we’re off to the free tour offered by Turkish Airlines of Istanbul. All we need is some serious caffeine to wake us:
As we are sipping on our coffees, we lost two people from the tour…but they were found! Now it’s time to wait until the tour begins, it’s Noon (4am CST).
Larry and Agnes Dixon (friends from the Park of the Palms)
Aunt Liz and Larry Dixon
Almost 2pm (6am CST) and to our first destination, lunch at Tamara:
- Front of the restaurant
Inside the restaurant, we ate on the 3rd floor
Lunch (rice was part of every meal), there was steak, lamb, and ?
Tour guide
Outside of the restaurant
Street restaurant is on
Now it’s off to some of the sights – the green columns in the temple/church were “rescued” from the Temple of Diana(Ephesians) – see pic below (thx Aunt Liz). There is a total of 15M people in Istanbul. Here are some of the pictures I took:
Hagia Sophia
Blue Mosque - The cascading domes and six slender minarets of the Blue Mosque dominate the skyline of Istanbul. The 17th-century mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet I to rival the Hagia Sophia
This is the church where the pillars are located
ceiling in the church (pics don't get the real beauty)
-
can't erase this pic but it's the top of the pillar
vendors had great shoes!
vendor selling roasted nuts
Now off to the airport, to wait 5 hours before we take off for Cairo, Egypt. We should get there around 1:30am (no idea at this point what time that is in CST). So, what to eat at the airport while waiting:
$6 for a cheeseburger! Or….other places, $7 for a slice of pizza (nah, from Chicago, not going to even try it) or a sandwich for $19. Hmmmm…I decided to save my money for souvenirs rather than spend on food…good thing I brought my power bar and Cheerio mix. Until Day Two!
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