Wednesday 12 June 2024

What an amazing two weeks we have had in London. But the next half of our adventure is about to begin. After cold and cloudy England, we are now headed for the Mediterranean Sea where the sun shines brightly every day!

This morning we made an early start and took an Uber to Gatwick at 07:00 arriving an hour later. We checked in and then went to have breakfast. Our plane was delayed by half an hour so we had a long wait. It finally took off closer to 12 than 11. We landed at 17:30 Turkish time. We flew from Gatwick but Lollz’s friend Sasha flew from Heathrow and his plane was also delayed. By the time we had all gone through passport control and collected our baggage, it was almost 18:30. I messaged our hotel which was providing a shuttle and they were very accommodating. Finally, we made our way to Exit 8 and waited another few minutes for the shuttle to arrive, then it was about a 20-minute drive to Airport Hotel Melanj!

Istanbul reminded us of home. The vegetation is very similar and it was a welcome 30 degrees C. We left London’s 13 degrees C far behind us!

The hotel is in Arnavutkoy which is about 32 km from the city center. Our room is very small but clean and comfortable and we have aircon and free wi-fi. A cat has already made friends with us. The hotel has a few pet cats and a lovely dog.

At eight o’clock we went in search of a local Turkish restaurant and were delighted to find one a short walk away. The area is not elite. There are shops, motor mechanic workshops and other businesses in the area and they were all still open. A lot of the buildings were shabby and in need of maintenance.

We loved the restaurant we found. The photos will show exactly what it was like. The locals eat here and the food is excellent.

I had a lamb and aubergine kebab. The others all had the same – lamb but not with aubergine. Our meals were served with rice and a salad and they were very spicy. No alcohol was served at this restaurant so we just had mineral water.

The Turks are lovely, friendly people and it is clear that they want you to enjoy yourself. Considering that rice and vegetables were included the meal was not expensive.

We are only spending one night here and what a great experience it has been.

Tomorrow we board the MSC Splendida! I will not have internet at sea so my blogging might not happen until I return to Struisbaai.