Somewhere in Between

Turkish Pie Delight
19th October 2010

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Waking up this morning was bordering on painful. The alarm was such a shock to our slumbering heads ripping us out of our bed. We dived into the mad rush to get ourselves packed and ready to leave. It was all go go go as we shoved all our belongings into our suitcase and then went down stairs where we shoved in as much breakfast as we could as quick as we could.

We needn't have been so frantic. Our urgency had given us an hour to spare before our taxi to the airport was due.

With time on our hands we normally would have relaxed in our room or the hotel lobby but as neither were pleasant we headed out for a short walk. The hotel manager was too busy updating his facebook account to notice that we were going out.

It's remarkable how quickly 60 minutes can pass you by. It was barely enough time to walk up to Divanyolu Caddessi and down to the corner with Sultanahmet Park for a final glimpse of the Blue Mosque.

By the time we returned to the hotel we only had a few minutes to wait for our taxi arrived. It was an akward few minutes in the company of the hotel manager. We sat by our luggage whilst he tried his best to avoid eye contact.

Finally the taxi arrived and he was transformed as if had just taken his happy pills. He was eager to help us off the premises, big smiles and joyful laughter, he even personally carried our luggage to the taxi. He couldn't get rid of us quick enough! The feeling was mutual.

It took us an hour to get to the airport and cost 100 lira or about £42. It was money well spent as the hassle of trying to get across the city by tram and bus would have been too much to bare this morning.

Before long we were sitting in the departures lounge having an early lunch. I had what they described in English as a "Turkish Pie", layers of stodgy pastry with a hint of goats cheese and a few flecks of spinach.

It tasted absolutely delicious and so comforting. How strange to find the holiday's favourite food at the airport on the way home. That doesn't happen that often, it's usually the exact opposite.

Julie appeared quite relaxed about the flight home especially as good omens were occuring. No rushing, no problems, good food, smooth boarding. The best was that we got to sit in the same seats as we flew in on Saturday.

When the bizarre coincidence of the same person who sat next to us on that flight sat down next to us again on this flight then she was happy that everything was in its place and we were going to be alright.

Which of course we were.

 

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