Welcome to my blog! It is actually Day 2 here now for me, but I really have a desire to capture my thoughts and experiences on our trip to Turkey this summer.
Friday 3 July 7:00 a.m. - family is finally out the door heading to the Abu Dhabi bus terminal, where we are awaiting for a bus to take us to Dubai and then a taxi from Dubai to Sharjah. We are trying to save on costs as much as possible, so instead of spending 400 Dirhams for a taxi (approx 150 Canadian dollars) from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, we spent 60 Dirhams for all 4 of us from Abu Dhabi to Dubai bus station (on really comfortable and clean buses!) and then took a taxi for another 80 dirhams to Sharjah. Munir dropped me and the boys off at the bus station with our luggage and then drove to the College (his work) to take our car. He had to do some last minute office desk cleaning up and turning his computer off! before leaving on our trip. He came back to the bus station and we managed to catch the 8 a.m. bus. It was so humid outside while waiting for the bus! Sweat was dripping down my forehead and thankfully I had kleenex or tissues to wipe it off but it was definitely uncomfortable in the humidity and the temperature was around 35 degrees at 8 a.m . in the morning!! Eventhough I've been living in the UAE for 5 years, I guess I never wait for taxis and buses that much so was still in shock that 3 strange men in the line up (plus the security guard!) asked me to go in front of the line up since I am a woman! There must have been at least 50 men in the line up! Finally once Munir arrived, I decided to use my womanhood to its advantage and take them up on their offer and shift our kids and luggage and husband to the front of the line up and we managed to get four seats on the bus together.
Arrival at Dubai bus station. we were really thirsty so stopped quickly at the store for drinks and then found a taxi to take us to Sharjah airport. Nesta kept nagging us to stop at Costa (it is a British coffee shop franchise with branches all over UAE they have hot/cold drinks plus yummy sandwiches and pastries) once we get to Sharjah airport, so that's what we did upon arrival. We exchanged some more money and I had to buy some UAE mobile phone cards to charge my phone up. We then went into customs and security and then checked in our luggage with Air Arabia and then boarded our plane at 12:15 p.m.
On the plane: Whilst going up the steps to the plane, Munir and I kind of looked at each other saying "its an Airbus! acck" due to the recent plane crashes but then said nothing will happen thousands of planes fly every day and nothing happens. So we were okay. The plane was probably 3/4 full so Nesta had the three seats to himself. Taking off from Sharjah we obviously flew past Dubai and actually managed to see the Burj Dubai sticking high into the sky (its the tallest building in the world) and also saw "The World". Pretty neat. Munir has been so interested in flying that we bought a flight stimulator last year and he has been practicing and knows all of the routes and so he was familiar with which route we would be flying to Istanbul and I have to say he was pretty right on the dot about the locations and timings. On the plane we were doing the usual things, trying to keep ourselves occupied and Munir had an hour nap. He woke up and it must have been 2 1/2 hours into the flight and we figured out we were flying right over Syria because we looked into the distance and saw the mountains bordering Lebanon and then later on we flew over the Mediterranean and then the north eastern tip of Cyprus. I've seen maps of Cyprus before and know that the north eastern tip of Cyprus is long and pointy.
From there on Munir and I were discussing with a map of Turkey about where exactly we were, having seen the odd huge lake here and there. Approaching Istanbul is absolutely beautiful, I had goosebumps ( I was sitting by the window seat at this point). We flew over the Sea of Marmaris and approached the Bosphorus. There were hundreds of ships laying out in the Sea of Marmaris like little lego bricks. The Princes Islands are magificent, I didn't realize they were so far off the coast, had this picture in my head they were closer to the shores of Istanbul. The city is huge! 18 million people living in Istanbul is not a joke. I saw rolling hills and small little specks (house roofs) scattered all over.
When we finally landed at the airport, it was stuffy in the plane and I just wanted to get out. Our experience at the airport was interesting. Me and the boys had to wait in a separate line (we are Canadian passport holders) while Munir was easy and went to another lineup and got out before we did. Apparently, there was a mix up because most nationalities in Europe and the west only pay 15 Euros per visa, but thanks to our Government of Canada, we had to pay 50 Euros per visa. Basically I didn't have any small change on me, so had to hand money to Munir through Security to ask him to change it for me so I could get our visas! I had to say the Turkish men are so flirty as the security guards were teasing Munir and I and telling Munir that I was his haha.
We reached our flat near the Galata Tower area - it is a 1 bedroom flat with a sofa bed in the living room. Cute area of town - really artsy and there is a police station not to far away so I am feeling safe in this area!
We went for a walk outside last night and had dinner. The Turks are quite tricky with their money and try to charge you for everything extra. For example we had dinner at this place and the guy suggested a mixed kofta platter for us and when we saw the bill it had these extra additions on it. Obviously they try to make as much as they can!
There are stray cats and dogs everywhere here it is really cute. The dogs are all tagged and I guess they are not harmful? Aadil is going nuts over the cats and trying to play with them all so you can imagine it isn't the easiest going for walks and trying to speed walk!
Anyways, that is about all for now. Will write on a daily basis while the memories are still fresh in my mind.
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