Sunnyvale to Istanbul

March 9th we jumped up at 2:30am to get ready for our 2010 adventure. The airport shuttle picked us up at 3:30am to go to SFO to catch our 6am flight. All went well with the trip to the airport and checking in. Our Delta flight took off as scheduled and we had a nice trip to JFK. Our flight was only about 20% full, so we had lots of room. The airplane was one of those nice ones that have the individual screens so we were able to select the movies we wanted to see and when we wanted to see them. I watched The Blind Side, which was good; a real tear-jerker. I also watched The Informant which was very interesting, but I fell asleep in the middle and missed some of the important parts, so I will plan to watch it again sometime. At the end I watched some of Michael Jackson, This Is It.

We had plenty of time to make it to our connecting flight at JFK. The flight was very full and we had a cranky toddler across the aisle, so sleeping was hit and miss, depending on when the baby was screaming. We got a late start because some unmatched baggage had to be located and removed from the plane. It was a very long flight, but we made it ok and our Gate1 contact was waiting for us after we went through the very slow passport control.
As we pulled up to the Mosaic Hotel, there was Cheryl, just returning from one of her adventurous outings. So we talked a bit and then went to our room to drop our luggage and Cheryl took us out exploring to visit some mosques and to look for a bank so we could get some money. We saw the huge Sulemaniye Mosque, but sadly the interior was closed for renovations. After a good hike around town, through the shopping area, up and down irregular and dangerous tiled sidewalks we returned to our hotel for a shower and rest before orientation meeting and dinner.

At the orientation meeting we met Salih, our guide, who is well seasoned and pragmatic about his country and job. He gave us a brief talk about the travel plans and rules and we went upstairs to dinner.
Dinner was a buffet of delicious Turkish salads and hot dishes, with sweet, honeyed desserts. I especially enjoyed the bulgar wheat salad. It was nicely seasoned and looked very interesting. Don and I both took away an orange and a piece of baklava to enjoy later.
I slept pretty well, waking at 1:30 and 4:30 before getting up to sort through my knapsack to get ready for our explorations today. Cheryl will take us to the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. I am going to look for some nice leather luggage tags, and hopefully find some hairspray and a bottle of wine.
The weather is chilly and very windy so gloves and jackets and ear covers are on the dress plan for today.