Susan Corbin

May 3, 2024 Friday

Quiet morning

We had a quiet morning in the hotel room, reading and writing. I showered and repacked our suitcases. We had a few snacks left from S’s lovely gift for breakfast. Again, we appreciated the late check-out the desk clerk granted us the night before. It was nice not to hurry out of the room. The car we hired to take us to the airport would arrive at 1:45 p.m.

Around noon, S brought Becky, the boys, and all their luggage by the hotel. We went downstairs to greet her and thank her for everything she and her family had done for us. We weren’t sure what to do about lunch, so she suggested the restaurant across the street. Once again, we gave S all the hugs and thanks for the fantastic tour of their adopted city and for driving us back and forth from the hotel to her apartment.

Lunch

Taking S’s suggestion about lunch, we put all the luggage into the hotel baggage room. The five of us had 11 bags, counting the backpacks. This is important later on. Then we went across the street. The restaurant was a modern, light-filled place with large windows at each end. There were many white tables and chairs and a garden out back with green plants inside and out. The food was okay. They had pictures of the meals on the wall, which helped. I don’t remember being crazy about anything I ate. Then, we headed back across the street to wait for our van.

We headed to the airport at 1:45 from the Byotell using our favorite night desk clerk’s nephew’s van. I don’t know if it was his nephew; it felt like a family or friend deal. I’m sure it was the same van we took to the hotel from the airport. Luckily, it took only 30 minutes to get to the airport instead of the three hours it took when we arrived.

Istanbul airport

As I said, the airport in Istanbul is huge and beautiful. Turkish airports scan your luggage as you go in. I guess they worry someone will blow up the airport. We tried to check in at a kiosk, but it didn’t like John’s ticket number. We would have to stand in line anyway to get the luggage checked, so we got in line, got boarding passes, and checked the bags. John and I checked our two 22-inch bags. We took one of Becky’s 22” bags on the flight because it held her SLR camera.

The clerk at the Turkish Airlines check-in changed our seats so that John and I sat together. Yay! I still don’t understand why the woman in Dallas couldn’t/wouldn’t do that. I was so pleased I didn’t have to beg the gate people or the flight attendants to change our seats. John and I had two seats in one row, and Becky and the boys were in the row in front of us. Becky did have to ask one man to swap seats with Micah so he could sit with them, but it wasn’t a big swap. He graciously said yes. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Great discovery

I found John’s windbreaker! I was so pleased. I’d stuck it in the front pocket of Becky’s suitcase instead of ours. I intended to put my coat in there and put my hand in the front pocket to be sure nothing would be in the way. Lo and behold, my hand hit John’s windbreaker. Yay! John and I were so pleased to have found it. Now we didn’t have to try to buy a new one when we got home.

This is a photo of John in his windbreaker in Pompeii in 2022. It is a world traveler.

 

We had boarding passes but no gate information because we were very early. The flight didn’t leave until 6, and we were there around 3. There were many shops in the concourse and no place to sit, so we headed for the gates. We came to an intersection of four hallways with a sign for three gates to the right and one to the left. John suggested we go towards the three gates at the intersection. He said the odds were slightly better that way. We sat at C. In about 45 minutes, we got a gate assignment, and John had been right. I think we were boarding at gate B18B. (Why there was an 18A and 18B, instead of 18 and 19. Well, now that I think of it, they probably already had a 19 and didn’t want to mess up their numbers.) We walked down there and sat for a while.

Flight

The flight was uneventful to Addis Ababa. I tried to watch the HBO MAX show The Gilded Age. I decided after about half an hour it wasn’t for me. Then, I watched two movies: Wonka and Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out. (Yes, that was the actual title of the movie. I looked it up to be sure.) The Aliens Abducted movie reminded me of Stargirl, which focused on teenagers who are out of the norm. I enjoyed both films. I love watching a good movie on a flight as it helps the time pass. So, time well spent.

When the flight was taxiing on the ground, the plane paused momentarily on the taxiway, and many people jumped up to leave. What is it with people? They know you’re not supposed to get up until the pilot turns off the seatbelt sigh. The flight attendants had to get them to sit back down. One guy raced down the aisle. I didn’t see him return, so I don’t know where he sat back down. The window seat next to me never got filled. Too bad I didn’t want to go to sleep. Nevertheless, it was marvelous to have that much room. John said the distance between the rows was more generous than some planes, making it more comfortable.

Addis Ababa airport

We finally got to Addis Ababa at 11:45 pm. Oh, my God, it was late. My body was trying to figure out why we were not in bed. After we got off the plane, we had to gather all the luggage. We had ten pieces of luggage, and Becky remembered we needed 11. Everyone looked for it while I stood guard over the ones we’d collected. They found it. We were complete. Finally, they scanned the luggage on our way out. I’m not sure what they were looking for scanning it when we were leaving.

In the passport check, the security guy in the booth asked me for the address where we were staying. I had no idea. I don’t remember these things. At this point, my brain was done with thinking. He asked for the hotel’s name. I didn’t know that either. I tried to find it on my phone in the email but couldn’t find anything. The security guy took my phone and looked at the emails that I’d pulled up. Finally, he just gave my phone and passport back to me without my answering the questions. I saw Becky and called because she’d know. John’s guy didn’t ask him anything. Becky’s guy asked her, and she told him the Jupiter Hotel, which was the correct answer. Oh, my, did I feel stupid? Yes. In my defense, I was tired.

Ah, the hotel with no name

I felt relieved to see a man with a sign with the Overseas Adventure Travels logo. What a difference from our search for our ride when we arrived in Istanbul. Three other people who had been on the same flight were sitting in some airport seats waiting for the last people on the flight, who turned out to be us. The man with the sign took us to a van and drove us to the Jupiter Hotel.

This is a photo I got off the web from Trip Advisor. The entrance to the hotel doesn’t look like this anymore. They’ve walled off the front with white opaque plastic for perhaps security reasons. I didn’t ask. I was just glad to be there.

We got checked in with John and I in a room instead of the way O.A.T. had us arranged with me with Micah and Sam with Becky together and John on his own. As we rearranged it, the boys stayed together, and Becky was alone in a room. It worked out as long as the boys didn’t do anything stupid and break anything. I didn’t think they would. Becky said later that they were enjoying a room on their own. We got to bed about 2:30 in the morning. Woof.

Sleeping

I tried to listen to my audiobook on my phone through the pillow like at home, but the sound was so muffled I couldn’t understand it. Fat, dense pillow, what a bother. I finally got up and found my wireless earbuds, which I threw in the carry-on bag “just in case,” as it turned out, “just in case” happened. I put one in my right ear and listened to the book. Sometime during the night, I took it out and put it on the nightstand where it was in the morning. All that matters is that it worked, and I got a good night’s sleep. Yay.

Next week’s post is about our first day in Addis Ababa. I’ll have our photos instead of the ones I borrowed online. Sometimes, when traveling, I forget to take pictures, and I’m disappointed in myself when writing about the trip. Oh, well. Maybe I’ll do better on the next trip.