Who is Vito Gomes?

I don't know who Vito is, but his shuttle bus driver was waiting for him at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. Vito never came, just like my shuttle bus driver, so I would have been more than happy to snag his...

I didn't sleep well Saturday night anticipating the busy travel day I would have Sunday! Nicole and I stepped out of Gothic Point hostel into heavy rain and booked it for the metro. I have no idea how I did it, but I hoisted both bags and ran down the stairs for cover. We walked for AGES to get to the train platform, up and down stairs over and over, and I was thrilled when we were finally on our way and seated on the train.

After Nicole got checked in for her 2pm flight, I staked out one of the few chairs and read for 3 hours straight -- finally finished a book I've been working on! And then I easily checked in on Lufthansa and found my gate. Of course the flight ended up being delayed 30 minutes, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ample leg room and *really* good food on the plane. Lufthansa rules.

When I landed in Istanbul, purchasing my visa and getting through immigration and customs couldn't have been any easier. As I have already mentioned, however, I waited an hour and a half for my shuttle bus driver before giving up and talking to one of the shuttle companies at the airport. I ended up paying more than I wanted, but at 3:30am I just wanted to get to the hostel.

I'm on a really confusing street which I'm hoping to navigate in a couple of hours after breakfast. I spent the night on the terrace as I don't have a room until check in today...curled up on a tiny bench with a blanket, feeling the breeze around me, listening to LOUD seagulls, and appreciating the sounds of the morning call to prayer that sounded from every mosque in town for a good 30 minutes. The sun was really bright by 6am, and by 7am I found Maggie on the other side of the terrace -- a nice woman from Melbourne.

I hear it is time for food, so until next time!