Wednesday, May 26, 1999

Off to Istanbul

On the road again…. Newark to Amsterdam. A North “Worst” experience. We’d been so spoiled by Singapore Airlines and the attention to detail (champagne, individual in-seat movies) that getting standard U.S. service with a bad American movie was disappointing. Since we couldn’t sleep, we watched “Enemy of the State” and got off the plane feeling like paste.
Amsterdam has the most consumer un-friendly airport in the world. There were no places to sit and nothing to do while you waited for your transit flight. We were lucky enough to meet a charming Turkish woman who was living in Atlanta. She offered suggestions and warnings about travel in Turkey. She said that when she talks to people in Atlanta, they don’t know where Turkey is!
Once we landed in Istanbul, it was an easy transfer from baggage claim to car rental. We got a brand new Ford Escort and headed off for Edirna. The drive was on a deserted superhighway and we made our way into Edirne and found a hotel (Sultan Otel) for $45 a night. We were so beat- and had dinner on their terrace restaurant (kofta with cheese)

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