“Ladies and gentlemen, Air Arabia G9321 welcomes you to Istanbul. The local time is 2:40pm. and for your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle(s) clear until we are parked at the gate. The Captain will then turn off the “Fasten Seat Belt” sign, indicating it is safe to stand. Please use caution when opening the overhead compartments and removing items, since articles may have shifted during flight. Thank you for choosing Air Arabia. We hope you have had a pleasant flight and wish you a wonderful time in Istanbul. Eid Mubarak!”
44 hours after I received my ironed wardrobe, I am in Istanbul, Turkey, the land of amazing history, fingerlicking delicacies & delights, and breathtaking experiences! I sit still, savoring the moment and thank my Almighty Father for bringing me this far. It's quite overwhelming considering the (for the lack of a better word) stress I had, for this journey. A smooth flight via a 3 hour stop over at Sharjah with clear, bright skies to swim through!
The sheer joy & sense of achievement till this point overtakes the faint sense of weariness and I smile looking outside at the Istanbul Airport. The past 12 hours were nothing short of dread for me, Immigration, security checks, boarding the right flights (Yes, you read that right!) and the wait to see my dear monkeys who I have been planning this whole trip with!
One thing I have ALWAYS experienced through different phases of life was "I am NEVER left alone." Be it a new job, a new location, a new venture, God always provides the right support or signals to let me know that He has my back. Through my journey from home till I boarded my flight, I was privileged to have the company of my family and my trusted friend who reminded me to pee before I got onto the plane! 😂😂
I make my way through the immigration check smoothly and onto baggage claim. All this while, I am trying to get connected and my data roaming ditches me effectively on day 1! I look for help to get access to the airport WiFi and all I get are signals to move further into the airport. As I wait for my luggage by the belt, I look around for a trolley and I spot a trolley station. I try to get one and it is stuck! I try from both sides of the line and I can see where it is stuck on the rail below but I cannot unhinge it. At this point, a guy walks up and says, "you need to pay for those here", pointing me to a booth right next to the carts. I smile sheepishly and thanking him I silently make my way to the exit rolling my luggage out. I could feel my ears flush out and didn't pause to think what he may have thought of me to be!
The Istanbul airport is well built and spaced out. Well organized and smartly done into space efficient sections, a good amount of footfall is allowed to commute, making Istanbul an important travel hub.
WiFi WiFi WiFi, where art thou! All the directions that point me to you lead me to the exit! Where and when will I meet up with monkey #1? Maybe I should start with our game plan to find each other. "Sadhanam kayyil undo???" For there is not a single place in this planet where you will not get the reply to that question!
FINALLY there's the Wifi kiosk, conveniently placed bang in the middle of the walkway after the exit from the airport huddle. The login is fairly sophisticated and is limited to once per passport! 😳😳 I try not to bungle it (again #nopressure) and I am thankfully successful! Open Whatsapp and yep, I have close to 15 messages from the woman. The smile that spread on my face was literally from ear to ear! Before I could respond she calls me and the second I pick the call I hear "HILDA SIMON! Where are you?!"
Fast forward the corrdination talk over phone and she spies me first. I hear my name being yelled from across the walkway and I look up eagerly! I run to her with such a sense of relief and nothing short of childish glee! I havent seen this beautiful face in person, since the past 8 years and my heart already feels full. She is the kind who will warm your heart in an instant and leaves no time or room for formalities! Always the one to crack everyone up, she is cheerful, optimistic, eager to extend a helping hand and sincerely encouraging, she will also not pass a chance to whack you if you are foolish enough to receive one! (No, no, this is NOT from experience!) and if you are reading this, Woman, I hope this amount of lather gets me the next set of läderach!
We then take a cab to our hotel, which is a good 1 hour from the airport. The city is beautiful & bustling during mid day, people running about with their business. Our ride takes us by the Bosphorous strait, and the waters are full of small and big boats, flaunting all that Istanbul has to offer to the the toursists onboard. The stoned pavements are equally fiesty, couples hand in hand, ladies in flashy coats & heels, kids eager with balloons, ice creams in hand and enthusiastic parents right behind them. The elderly who have cute scarves and move around with walking canes are also in sight, basking in the warm sunlight of a chilly evening. The paved street is packed with shops of all kinds, lined in an array tightly packed to one another with the vendors busy clicking their cash registers to close the day on a good note. The roads are narrow and winding through the old city, all made up to be shiny and alluring in every way possible. Every winding turn eventually leads us to a sea view - yep, the vast expanse of the Black or the Mediterranean sea. Which one you ask? I really have no clue and howwwww does it matter! It is a gorgeous blue at the end of almost every alleyway and I am already in love!
Settling into our room, we now await our third monkey, who has been the backbone of our trip! Drafting out our entire itinerary, coordinating the tour, stay and the commute for our stay close to 10 days, she has been the one patiently (with a 'P"!!!) ironing out the all creases, small or big, ensuring we have a ball all the way through our beautiful vacation. A powerhouse of energy, beauty and knowledge! (More on that to come later!)
While we wait for her, we decide to stroll out for our dinner, which turns out to be an uphill effort due to the beautiful winding streets in Istanbul. We spot the tram on our walk and make a mental note to try it out and eventually find our way to this beautiful venue - Old Ottoman Cafe & Restaurant, cosily tucked away into an alley. Here, we were introduced to the glorious apple tea (sigh!), served with olives on the side (another signature trademark of Turkey), the infamous Testi Kebab and a gorgeous chicken dish, whose name I sadly cannot recollect! If you ever chance upon a Testi Kabab in Turkey, I would urge you to try it. The whole experience is quite entertaining, with the dish being unravelled hot, at your table. The quantity is more than we can ask for and we eagerly dig in to savour the warm deliciousness set before us.
Our appetite well satiated, we make our way back to the hotel, immersed in the beauty around us. As dusk settles, Istanbul lights up and she just gets prettier and I do not know what makes me happier. That I have flown in to be in this gorgeous country or I am blessed with the opportunity to relive some of the best parts of my childhood with these girls.
Day 1 winds up in a big bang (quite literally! hahaha!) after we have our third stooge with us. 💞
We shut down for the remainder of the night, europhic like little school girls, all 3 under one roof, excited to begin our adventure in this exotic land, full of gorgeous faces (and places!) together, after a span of close to 24 years! It can't get any better than this can it? Will it? DOES IT?!
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