Istanbul, Airports, and Dead Batteries

Merhaba! Hosgeldiniz!
Hello! welcome!

Where is Istanbul you ask? Turkey. Not the kind that we Americans enjoy during Thanksgiving either, but the middle eastern country that connects Europe and Asia south of the Black Sea. I'll add a map farther down so you wont have to do any extra googling =] (You're Welcome) Well after a 12 hour flight and half a dozen things to keep me entertained I made it from America to Istanbul.

In America, my flight with Turkish airlines was fantastic. That wonder service carried over into Istanbul. My flight was complete with 2 decent meals, a T.V. screen with a great selection of entertainment like: movies, music, games, news articles, and a flight map. Not to mention, I managed to get an open seat next to me so I could stretch out!! WHOO HOO!

Once I landed I had a slight problem, my e-visa (electronic visa) APPARENTLY couldn't be electronic and had to be printed. I had to make a few at least a dozen trips round the airport looking for a working printer and an employee who was willing to take 10 seconds to print it off for me... I smooth talked (with a Turkish, English translator app) a very helpful young boy working for the airlines to get one of the office officials to print it for me finally. On the bright side by the time I went through customs there was no line and I walked straight through. From there I went to the hotel desk and they booked me a free nights stay due to my 16hr layover.

When I arrived at my hotel I had a difficult time. Here is a list of a few things that are different in Turkey then in the USA.. Light switch's, door knobs, draw handles, and my favorite, drum roll please, power outlets!!!! Thankfully I was gifted a wonderful converter/adapter before I left the USA. Unfortunately I failed to read the instructions about it, or anything else regarding charging my electronics while abroad. I frantically sent my sister a detailed SOS imessage with the free wifi at my hotel (she is currently abroad). I had only 6% battery on my laptop and my phone had already died, and managed to get a "sure" and a "USE YOUR CONVERTER/ADAPTOR" but I personally wasn't 100% convinced I wasn't going to fry my things. I was terribly worried that if I didn't figure this out I would forever be out of touch with the world!!(a bit dramatic, but hey now don't be critical) Regardless, I held my breath and plugged it in bit by bit with one eye closed hoping nothing started to smoke. Nothing smoked immediately but after about 30 minutes my phone cord got hot and started to smell toxic so I unplugged it. Not trying to burn down a Turkish hotel, or poison myself with hazardous toxins. Later that night I decided I wanted to wash my pants in the hotel sink because I spilled some tea on them. ( I made tea in my hotel room) I thought it would be fairly easy. Well, getting my pants soaking wet and soapy was simple. Rinsing them wasn't that bad. The trouble didn't even start until I woke up the next morning at 4:45am and they were STILL soaking..

Never doubt the ingenuity of a slightly desperate young adult. I found a wonderful solution, I call it The Hotel Hair Dryer! and boy oh boy. That hair dryer was going nonstop for at least 40 minutes until my pants were dry, and they did eventually dry.

Over all my stay with Turkish airlines was pretty great. I left the my hotel that morning and caught a shuttle back to the airport and got my last flight to Hamburg (where I am currently writing this blog entry) =]