Written in Holiday Inn Hotel, at 10a on Sat, May 25th, posted from Finland, en route to Jyvaskulya..
It is a
rare opportunity to have an extended layover in a city that you’ll be coming
back to later. Since I was planning on going to Turkey
and had my airline ticket booked long before I had even heard about the Finland trip we decided it would be most
practical if I just changed the date of my current ticket and then book a round
trip flight out of Istanbul to Turkey . I have
enjoyed getting a small taste of what Turkey is like, as I am now very
excited to comeback and explore in 3 weeks.
I have had
less than 24 hours in the country so far, but I have been able to make some
observations that I will be interested to see if they remain true once I come
back. First of all the Turkish people seem very connected with one another.
When I’ve watched people having conversations everyone one leans in close to
one another, close enough to make an American feel a little bit uncomfortable.
I also noticed that over half of the people on the road were either talking on
cell phones or texting as they were driving. See California – it can be done. My taxi driver
had two phones out, one in each hand and he switched them on and off the
chargers and to his ears as he was driving. I still do not know how he was able
to operate the steering wheel.
That leads
me into Turkish driving. Yikes!! After spending time in India last
summer and learning to simply relax instead of being nervous through that
driving, it wasn’t as scary, but it was pretty close. Rules seem to be more of
suggestions when it comes to the road. We were driving on a two lane freeway
and I counted 3 cars across the whole way. It seemed like the road was a challenge.
The drivers were not traveling at any sort of consistent speed, but rather rapidly
speeding up and slowing down as they saw available spots in other lanes. I just
sate back and decided that he knew what he was doing and there was nothing to
be concerned about.
As I was
sitting in the taxi I focused on my surroundings instead of the driving. That
appeared to be safer. All I saw was the city, which someone on the bus to the airport
claimed was extremely different than the country of Turkey . The houses had red brackish
roofs and had a small amount of space between them. We passed buildings that
looked brand new as well as buildings that looked like they were about ready to
fall over. I noticed that there were security officers, usually 2-3 at many of
the buildings not permitting vehicles to enter without being cleared. Even when
I walked into my hotel I had to go through a metal detector. It seems like
security is something Istanbul
is aware of.
I’m excited
be able to explore the city more in a couple weeks to figure out if my first
impressions hold up!
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