“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
The beginning of our Istanbul trip would mark the end of our Ireland adventure – however, it was difficult to know where one ended and the other began. Was it all the Guiness you ask? Perhaps. However, I think it was more of the blurry night (or early morning) we spent at the London Luton airport. Trying our best to take advantage of the cheap airfare throughout Europe, we thought we were smart, or maybe even ‘ingenious’ by booking a late flight out of Dublin into London Luton, followed by a flight the following morning to Istanbul. We landed in London around midnight, with our flight departing to Istanbul at 6am. I’m sure we aren’t the first people to spend the night at an airport, but I think it was quite a unique experience at this airport in particular. We might not have empirical evidence to support us, but I’m pretty sure we were the only passengers that didn’t know there would be an urgent scramble, in order to procure comfortable overnight accommodations within the lonely halls of the airport. As soon as we exited the plane, the dash began and the passengers flooded into the main concourse, where the cafes and restaurants were located. We didn’t understand what sparked the hullabaloo.
As we lazily strolled (or as slowly as I am allowed to stroll alongside Nancy “fast-walking” Perzel) into the concourse we realized the airport had turned into a make-shift hotel, with hints of a refugee camp. People were sleeping everywhere! We were immediately at a disadvantage as the better spots had already been claimed. Some people created a cot of sorts, by sitting in a chair and resting their feet on their luggage. The ‘lucky ones’ had managed an entire metal bench at a closed sushi restaurant, while others had forgone any sense of comfortable and were simply sprawled out on the floor of the airport. No way we would do this … we have … standards.
Apparently, standards can quickly change at 2:30am at the airport.
Fortunately, we were able to snag a love seat at a coffee shop (thank you Costa Café) that must have been overlooked during the pillage of the airport. However, we were disappointed to learn that the café would close at 2:30am. How dare they close a café, at an airport, at 2:30am…
We were in quite a dilemma, and only the type of dilemma you can find yourself in while traveling internationally, at a foreign airport, with overnight layovers. We have such a tough life. What shall we do? We scoured the airport for possible sleeping areas, we even sent two separate unsuccessful search parties (first Todd, then Nancy, and then Nancy again), but the more we looked, the closer it came to the dreaded ‘closing time’ where we would be kicked out into “the streets”. Our standards decreased with every 15 minutes that passed. Soon, the people sleeping on the floor, whom we previously labeled as ‘outcasts’ where now part of a club that we wanted to be a part of, if we could only find a spot. I’m pretty sure at 3:00am the appearance the cold, white tiled floor had visually transformed into fluffy, white pillow squares, at least that’s how it felt when we finally accepted the fact that we were destined for the tile (er, pillowed) floor.
Dare we say we’ve never slept better at an airport? I know you are dying to see our sleeping arrangement, fortunately it was documented.
As the time for our flight arrived, we grumpily gave up our palatial Tempur-Pedic mattress on the airport floor and boarded our flight. Sidenote – I think we must have found a good spot, since our spot was immediately confiscated by another set of squatters, as soon as we vacated the premises.
The boarding, flight and landing were very much a blur. However, we had finally arrived in Istanbul!
We read that almost everything is negotiable in Istanbul – you really are supposed to negotiate prices for everything from beers, to taxi rides, to souvenirs. However, one suggestion for future travelers, would be that the Istanbul Visa Control apparently do NOT appreciate attempts in negotiating the $20 visa entry fee. Our attempts to ‘buy one, get one free” (visa entry) and “two for thirty dollars) proved utterly unsuccessful. Fortunately, we were still allowed to enter the country, we just had to pay full price. I think I found the one thing in Istanbul that isn’t negotiable (that and the McDonald’s menu, but that is another story).
After a beautiful one hour shuttle ride into Istanbul (I’m assuming it was beautiful) since Nancy and I slept the entire trip, we arrived at Pasha Hotel -- our hotel for our first two nights.
We both went straight to bed, only to be awoken later that afternoon by the Islamic ‘call to prayer’. This was going to take some time to get used to.
No comments:
Post a Comment