First Stop - Turkey

It’s a really long way from Minnesota to Turkey. A 90 minute flight to Chicago, then an 11 hour flight to Istanbul. Some people ask me how I can stand 11 hours on the plane when they think a 3 hour flight is long. Truthfully, I also think 3 hour flights are long, but 11 hours aren’t that bad.

The first adventure was exploring our jam-packed personal entertainment systems. They also gave us a pillow, blanket, headphones to fit their funny plugs, a pouch of travel goodies, and a really delicious dinner and breakfast. Who says the airlines don’t take care of you anymore? 

Picking up the e car and driving through rush hour traffic was just as slow as any big city. I got a big kick out of driving UNDER the Bosporus, even though it looked like just another tunnel. Google maps was amazing. Between downloaded map layers and some international data, we got turn-by-turn instructions in English, even when the signs were in Turkish. It may have been slow but we didn’t get lost!

This is morning we were woken up by the call to prayers, which is broadcast from each mosque on big public speakers. I love it. I recorded it - or thought I did. When it was over, I realized I dreamed that part. No wonder - it was 3:38 am! I closed the window, drew the blinds, and turned on the air. We slept though the next round - and breakfast. 

Next step - find lunch. Then off to visit IMC Robotics