We have arrived!!!

Even in business class, travel is exhausting. After a long, not especially luxurious, but reasonably comfortable flight from Seattle to Frankfurt on Lufthansa, we had a three-and-half hour layover before the final leg to Istanbul.

The airport in Frankfurt is sprawling. We landed at Gate B16, the business class lounge was at Gate B28, and we took off from Gate B61. The walk between them could be measured in kilometers and we had to clear security three times. Note to the TSA: We didn't have to take off our shoes once and there were no incidents of terrorism.
Actually, we walked out of the terminal at Gate B61, boarded a bus on the tarmac and drove forever, alongside taxiing 747s to get to our plane. We landed in Istanbul at about 4:30 PM local time.

We cleared passport control with no issues, got our bags, and exited the terminal where we were met by a driver from the hotel. He escorted us to his waiting S-Class Mercedes, a marvel in comfort and technology, and we were off.

It was dark by the time we left the airport and traffic was thick with locals out to enjoy a nice evening after several days of rain. Driving along the waterfront there were groups of people huddled around cooking fires having picnics in the park. We passed in and out of the old city walls of Constantinople, some of the most secure in Europe. Istanbul is lovely at night, with mosques and palaces bathed in the glow of the city lights, all majesty and no reality.

At one point as we were flying by traffic stopped in the three lanes to our right, we craned our necks to look out the windshield and noticed that we were no longer in the street, but driving along the tracks of the light rail system. When we came to a station occupied by a train, we darted back into the street and the traffic. The car and driver we had been assigned by the hotel are typically dedicated to transporting government ministers. With police lights in the front grill and an emergency horn, the driver has "papers" that allow him to take "shortcuts."

Police were on guard at the entrance to the driveway as we arrived at the Ritz-Carlton in the "new" part of Istanbul along the European side of the Bosphorus. We were greeted by the head concierge, Tarik, and provided with a Turkish Delight (like an aplet) and apple tea. We went up to the room for a brief rest and a change of clothes, then back down to the dining room for dinner.

Yes, I know, eating at the hotel is not very adventurous, but it was easy. And expensive. And not very good. We started with pita bread (small, about the size of a sand dollar) served with olives, olive spread, and a mix of dry spices. Then we both had a bowl of red lentil soup. The soup was excellent, a puree, but the garnish of sauteed lamb was a little gamy. I had seafood linguine. The pasta was good, with a tarragon alfredo sauce, but the seafood (grilled head-on prawn, grilled scallop, and muscles) was just OK. Tres had medallions of beef and lamb meatballs with a sauce of smoked paprika and haystack potatoes. Again, the lamb was gamy, and the beef was overcooked, but the sauce was great.

We made our way back up to the room and finally to bed, more than 24 hours after we left home. We slept well until about 4:00 in the morning, at which point we were wide awake. I read my book and Tres worked on planning our site-seeing. I was back to sleep shortly, but Tres was still awake to hear the call to prayer at 5:30. With a little more rest, we will be ready to explore...