Wednesday, March 2, 4 pm: Waiting for the shuttle to O'Hare. Nice day to be traveling. Dad is not excited for the 10-hour flight ahead of us, but said he will 'sweat it out.' I am hoping he falls asleep or reads his book. The long flights don't bother me too much, but this is his first one. 

8:02 pm: At O'Hare, should be boarding soon . Dad is surprised how quiet the airport is. He is bummed the 'people watching' isn't very good. So far everything has been painless. We even had time grab a $10 hamburger.
 
Thursday, March 3, 2 pm: We are just under 1:30 left for flight time. According to the flight map, we are somewhere over Bucharest. Maybe I'm weird, but I always feel a bit better when we are over land, as opposed to, I don't know, a GIGANTIC ocean. We just had breakfast and soon should be making our dissent. I took a sleeping pill with dinner, and dozed on and off pretty well. Of course, the small bottle of red wine I drank didn't hurt, either. 
 
Dad is impressed with this airline. And as I've said before, I haven't had any issues before with in-flight service on Turkish airlines. The food is decent, they are friendly, and give you a hot towel and slippers. 
I've tried to warn dad what a hot mess the Istanbul airport might be, but I don't want to scare him. I want him to just get through this flight, and so far he is doing well. 

8:53 pm: 
The airport was not as nuts as it was for me last time . We got through customs in five minutes, found our driver from Efendi Travel, and within 5 minutes were on the way to the hotel. We checked in at our little boutique place, and for some reason, my two credit cards and debit card did not work. I put travel alerts on them, so it also could've been their machine. So, I ended up paying in US Dollars, which is always handy to have on a trip. As the man said, "money is money." True that. 

Our room is clean and nice. We decided to walk around Sultanahmet Square and check out the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. Dad was marveling at both and reading all the signage. After the first Turkish gentleman bothered us, I told Dad to just ignore them. Don't answer them. 
We had kebaps at Buhara, and both were very good. I had to explain to Dad how we will have to ask for the check, unlike in the U.S., where they practically want you out. Our server was very kind, and even after we paid, offered Dad some Turkish tea. Despite the annoying tourist Turk jerks, everyone has been very kind.

Dad did not sleep well on the plane, so he is already asleep. I will hit the hay soon myself. Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, we will meet up with my sister in Amsterdam, and later in the evening, my brother arrives. So far, so good. 

Thanks for reading,
Jamie