In any case, we departed our Campo apartment for the last time to catch a group bus to the airport. We discovered that rolling luggage on cobblestones is a challenging endeavor. Everyone made it by our 8:30 scheduled departure time, but the bus was about 20 minutes late. We stood around chatting sleepily while waiting for the bus. When it finally arrived, we loaded up quickly and headed for Fiumicino airport.
At the airport we checked in with Blue Express Airlines, passed through security, and congregated around our gate. Many of us were rather hungry at this point, and ordered assorted airport food of a vast range of quality. I had a sandwich which had WAY too much mayonnaise on it. Yuck.
It took a while to board our flight, ostensibly because passengers had to be shuttled to the plane out on the airfield. We finished boarding, and then took off about 45 minutes behind schedule. The plane ride was fine, though. Lots of people used the three hour flight to catch a bit more sleep (myself included).
Three hours later, we arrived at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport on the Asian side of Istanbul. The airport seems quite large and modern, with lots of glass and stainless steel in its design. We immediately purchased Turkish visas for €15, then passed through passport control. Most of our baggage arrived promptly, but Rebecca's bag was nowhere to be found. Prof. Kasaba filed a claim with the airport, and they'll be keeping him updated in the coming days. Hopefully her bag shows up soon.
More immediately troubling, though, was the discovery that a number of our bags had been opened and rummaged through. Two students and one professor reported missing hard drives, jewelry, and a PSP. All of the items are replaceable, but one of the hard drives contained irrecoverable personal files (namely, pictures from the past five years). It is deeply frustrating and saddening to know that people would steal like this, and take invaluable memories for a quick profit. We hypothesize that the baggage handlers must've performed the rummaging while we were waiting to board the plane at the airport in Rome. Regardless, the people in the group who had items stolen are handling themselves admirably, keeping positive spirits as we explore Istanbul. I tip my cap to them, and am thankful that my luggage was unharmed. The lock on it was noticeably scuffed, though...
We met up with our tour guide, Mal, just outside the airport. She led us to our bus (the same bus we'll be using for the duration of our stay in Istanbul - it's a Mercedes Benz). We bussed to Boğaziçi University, where we'll be staying for the next four nights.
The dorm "suites" we'll be staying in are by far the nicest dorms I've ever seen. We have two rooms with six beds in each connected to a common area/kitchenette. It has air conditioning in both bedrooms, a large, modern refrigerator, a nice tile bathroom, and WiFi access. These suites must be the finest the university has to offer. Apparently this particular university is quite prestigious, accepting only the top 0.1% of students in Istanbul.
Here are a few quick reactions to the city:
- There are trees here. Many more than in Rome.
- The buildings are much more modern than those in Rome. They are tightly packed and span for miles in all directions.
- Istanbul has skyscrapers.
- Mosques and minarets are seen pretty regularly throughout the city.
- The tap water is not potable (apparently it has harmful bacteria). Bottled water is offered everywhere. Prices range from quite reasonable (one Turkish Lira, about 70 cents for 1.5 liters) to ridiculous (4 lira for 0.5 liters) depending on your location.
After everyone had settled in, we walked about 10 minutes to a restaurant called Günaydin. It is a very nice establishment, complete with patio dining area. I brought out the one pair of slacks I'd packed for this trip, but unfortunately had sent home my dress shoes. I must've looked a bit strange with black slacks and athletic shoes. The dinner, however, was quite literally the finest meal I remember ever having.
We began with an assortment of appetizers including hummus, a yogurt-based sauce, sauteed onions, peppers, and tomatoes, and a spicy morsel of what I think was falafel. We then moved on to main courses consisting of a miniature pizza, stuffed eggplant, two types of meat (shaved kebap meat and a seasoned sausage-like roll) wrapped in flatbread, and two additional types of meat (chicken and beef). To close, we had a dessert of fresh fruit followed by a delicious pistachio pastry.
The meal was absolutely stunning. Every dish was very carefully prepared, and the mix of flavors presented was a diverse adventure which was (amazingly) never overbearing. My favorites were the chicken, which was grilled in spices to perfection - crisp on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside - and the pistachio dessert (seriously, it was really good, and not too sweet).
The service at the restaurant was equally impressive. Our glasses were always full, and all of the main courses were served with precision directly on individual, freshly-washed plates. We had a constantly-fresh supply of flatbread all across the table. I dropped my sunglasses at one point, and a waiter had picked them up before I could even reach my hand down to retrieve them. There were even little Turkish and American flags placed around the table, just for our group. Everyone was blown away by the entire dining experience. I don't even want to ask what the bill was for this stupendous meal for thirty...
The funny thing was, we'd had that excellent meal at Pierluigi in Rome the day before. It was nothing compared to this one. And even more ironic were the terrible sandwiches we'd had at the airport in Rome.
I think I'm quite taken by Turkish food. And I think I'm going to need to work out when I get back!
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