I don’t know what I expected Istanbul to be like before I arrived, but the city is like nothing I have ever experienced before! It is a huge, bustling, noisy city full of people from every part of the world. Parts of Istanbul are as cosmopolitan and modern as New York or Paris and other parts of the city are as backward as any third world country. Istanbul is a city that is full of surprises with something new to experience on every corner!
I will start at the beginning of the trip. My son, Chris, and I arrived at Ataturk Airport on Monday morning, August 1st. The night flights across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe are just awful. It is pure torture to sit upright on a small, hard seat for nine hours, be fed disgusting “food”, and then be catapulted into the bright sunshine of a new city. Ataturk Airport looked like it was still under construction and smelled of hardening cement and wet paint.
It was a long walk following “baggage claim” signs to an area which looked like JFK Airport’s Immigration windows where a long line winded its way to several caged inspectors. As we joined our fellow travellers at the end of the line, I noticed three windows to the left with a big sign that read, “VISA”. I had read that a Visa was necessary for Americans to enter Turkey, so we moved over to that line. After the agent stuck a small sticker in our passports and collected $20.00 from each person, we rejoined the entry line. We received a quick stamp in our passports from the inspector and went on to the baggage claim conveyor belts and finally out to the waiting drivers. Chris immediately spotted my name on a piece of paper and we introduced ourselves to our driver.
We followed him to the garage to a waiting VW bus and got our first glimpse of Istanbul. The first thing we learned was: “do not drive in Istanbul”! Not only are the signs in Turkish, but it’s every driver to himself! There are very few stop signs or traffic lights and no “yield” signs. It was like an amusement park ride with the car moving at a fast speed, cutting off other drivers, and taking over the road. We had finally made it to Istanbul! What a ride! What a welcome!