Greatest Hits of the
day: Easy Metro ride to the
Airport - Simple visa - Cool having a driver - Marmara Guest House is neat -
Good stuff at Doy Doy.
We Braved It: We rolled our four-wheel-drive luggage through
busy sidewalks and across cobbled streets from the Athens Center Square Hotel
to the Metro Station at Monastriaki in time to catch the train to the Athens
airport. It worked out well. The flight to Istanbul was only an hour and a half
long but we still got a hot meal.
Paperwork Was Done: In Sacramento we filled out the necessary visa
application forms we downloaded from the Turkish Embassy and made sure we had
the passport-style photos needed so there would be no hassles at the Visa
counter in Turkey. Guess what? The Immigration agent was amused. All we really
needed was $20 to get in - with a stamp to our passports we were good to go.
Times change even before the Internet can keep up.
Ms. Deason &
Stackpole: A driver named Muse
(Moos not Mewz) waited for us at the exit gate. Off we went to the car and the
next thing we know, we are at the Marmara Guest House. We negotiated for the
top room closest to the rooftop terrace and the breakfast room. Yay. Sometime
in the recent past they invested in double paned windows with tight seals. Why?
We are just a stone’s throw from the Blue Mosque. Calls to prayer begin at 4:00
in the morning and take place five times a day. That may not seem like a big
deal to you, but the calls to prayer are broadcast far and wide. LOUD is the
word here.
Local Food: We were directed to a place called Doy Doy, a
few blocks past the nearby bazaar, for dinner. Rooftop again. We can’t seem to
get enough of the great views on the rooftops of the cities we are visiting. It
was decent Kebab at a decent price!
