On the Way - 9.8.23

 With all the travel delays this summer, we decided that driving to Dallas and taking a direct flight to Istanbul on Turkish Air might save us some headaches.  Turns out it was a great decision.  We actually had time to have a little ‘cultural’ experience, stopping for lunch at Reba’s (Reba McEntire) Place in Atoka. Good down home cookin’.



Turkish Airlines is affiliated with the Capital One lounge in DFW.  If there were more of them, currently only 2, I would seriously consider getting one of their cards.  The food was fantastic!  But, alas, this was not really the purpose of our trip.

We had not flown Turkish Air before but we’ll keep them in mind if they are flying anywhere we happen to be going.  A chef appears in the aisles to take your dinner order and the food quality showed it.  The attendants were attentive and the seats comfortable.

Istanbul’s Ataturk airport is very modern and efficient.  It was easy to navigate to our waiting transport.  The inner city is closed to taxi’s during daytime hours so we had arranged through our hotel for a van to take us into the city.  Orientbank Hotel, a Marriott hotel, is actually in an old bank building that was recently converted to its present use.  Vestiges of the bank remain, even including a doorless vault in the basement.  



We were tired from our travels so we hit the sack early after eating a quick bite.

Tomorrow: Starting the Workshop

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