ON THE ROAD AGAIN...I forget the next line of that song

So I mentioned last time that I bought my ticket to London from Turkish Air before the two bomb attacks, right?  When I mentioned to some friends that I had a stop-over in Istanbul Amalia said, “Why don’t you go by way of China?”

This is how goofy I am about geography, most of which I learned from traveling: I had no idea that Istanbul was so far to the right (East) of England until I flew there.

ATLANTA AIRPORT

Things start getting exotic in the International Terminal.  Lines at Turkish Air are divided by sex.  I get in the “girls” line. 

 There is one other person in line for security examination.  Standing in front of the x-ray machine, one of the TSA agents sees my hiking boots.  

“Are you 75 years old or older?” She asks this to be sure I am entitled to keep my shoes on.  When I agree enthusiastically, she asks, “Do you have any implants?”  That is the third time I've been asked those two questions back-to-back.  

TURKISH AIR

About 9 PM at our gate, three men face Mecca to pray; two of them wear long brown African garb.   Some women wear saris, a Sikh gentleman has a white suit like a Nehru jacket, several women are in colorful African dresses and 20 or 30 children run all around.  We fill the plane and take off at 10:40 PM.  I find the on-board magazine cover enticing (which people?) but am not in the mood to read.

 One little girl in front of me played so much with her father before boarding that she sleeps in the plane’s bassinet most of the ten hour trip. 

A noisy Turkish baby slightly to the left of me sleeps only two hours.  He is precisely half the height of his thin, well-toned mother, who carries him up and down the aisle.  No fitness club needed for her.  

My eyes get very dry and I want to be lulled to sleep by a soothing voice.  Most flights offer an array of audio books and podcasts.  This flight has one offering:  the Qur’an.  I would listen to it but it is in Turkish only.  Fortunately I had downloaded 25 podcasts onto my iPhone.  I do watch one entertaining movie [but forget its title and subject matter].  Altogether I sleep two hours Saturday night.

 Dinner is excellent.  Menu is below.  I try two of the beverages:   "homemade" lemonade and marvelous sour cherry juice.  They serve an excellent breakfast right before landing.  It would be my real breakfast time back home but it is now 2:00 PM in Istanbul.

ISTANBUL

I am finally in the airport I have been dreading.  I know the chance of another bomb hitting while I am there is extremely slim.  But...  I did some research on the Ataturk Airport beforehand and was relieved to learn there are eight mosques.  So people are praying in droves, which is consoling.   The open area is like a noisy bazaar with masses of people talking multitudes of languages, walking quickly every which way.  

Some of the destinations listed on the departures board:  Munich, Baku, Karachi, Entebbe, Budapest, Zagreb, New York, Bishkek, Cairo, Tashkent, Zurich.  There is some sort of pilgrimage going on because a great many people are dressed in white robes and there are signs advertising Pilgrim Changing Rooms.  It is somewhat intimidating until I eventually locate my own gate. 

Once I sit down I see the people around me as individuals and unwind.  All the little girls racing around wear leggings and most of the women wear both fashionable and dowdy Muslim outfits.  One woman wears a burkha with a tiny slit for her eyes, which are covered with sunglasses.  But most people are chatting and laughing.  It is very cozy.  Near me are nine women and one man dressed all in white robes with neon green ribbons around their necks.  After 30 minutes a similarly dressed short, round woman enters our area, claps her hands and speaks with authority.  All nine women and the man follow her out of our waiting area.  But one of those nine gives really big and long hugs to other Muslim women sitting nearby as she speaks quietly in their ears.  They all smile.  I want a hug, too!  

We are 3 1/2 hours away from Heathrow by air.  I watch the names of unfamiliar cities on the screen map of our trip as the little plane heads to the left (West).  Goodness!  Why did I buy such a meshugena ticket?  Amalia was right!  It is like making a detour to China.   Is this worth saving $250 and getting nicer food?  Speaking of food, they serve a full dinner for this 3 1/2 hour flight.  In the U.S. I’d get a bag of peanuts and a glass of water.  There is a greater choice of audio books but even though I select English as my language the eight Qu’ran selections plus Virginia Woolf are in Turkish.

Above Istanbul

Where am I?  I've never heard of these places!

Sunset above the clouds.

Last bit of sun above the clouds on our way to London

ENGLAND

My beautiful marvelous sisters are waiting at Heathrow’s Terminal Two for me.  It is so wonderful to see them again.  Our last time together was April 2015 when we spent a glorious week in Corfu together.  Sally drives us to Twickenham where they both live.  It is Sunday night, 11:00 PM Brit time.  I had only two hours’ sleep Saturday night.   I pull out my nightgown from the suitcase and go upstairs in Judy's house to “my” bed and fall asleep. 

I wake up at 10 AM fully refreshed.  We tend to Judy’s sweet cat Minerva, who has been very ill.  Judy decides it is time for her to be relieved of her suffering so we go to the after-hours vet because it is a Bank Holiday.  It is sad but consoling, thanks to the marvelous woman vet who comprehends how fatally sick Minerva is and how brave Judy is.  It was a peaceful ending to sweet Minerva’s life.

Afterwards we go to downtown Twickenham.  Here’s a funeral business whose name cracks me up every time I see it. 

Wake and Paine Funeral Directors on Church Street

Here are a few more things I never see at home:

What's with the BABY wild salmon?  Baby spinach or kale but who could eat a baby fish?

Prices are very high in most of England but the London area is extremely high.  One English pound equals about $1.30.

Here is a realtor's ad for a 2 BR, 1 Bath row house for 525,000 pounds

Cost is therefore about $33

Tomorrow morning Sally will drive us to Windermere and the Lake District.

I am happy to read your comments (below).  If this doesn't work for you, please email me at rwoodel.woodel@gmail.com.  It is lovely hearing from you when I am away from home.