Oct 6 - Batumi airport is blissfully small. There are three flights taking off at this time of the morning: Arkia Israeli Airlines (to Tel Aviv), Royal Jordanian (to Amman), and our flight, Turkish Airlines (to İstanbul).
Eventually get out of the dark rainclouds and land for the second time at the vast complex of IST. It seems like half the passengers are Russian. This time, we know exactly where our arranged minibus to Fatih is, so head there are suffer the endless traffic snarl that is downtown İstanbul. Because I am following on my mapping app, I can how circuitous our routes are. Drivers make decisions on the spot about when to bail on the main roads and wind their way through single lane streets. Sometimes it is difficult to tell what the logic was, sitting in some tiny alley while some problem is resolved at the upcoming intersection. I can only guess that past experience determines what will ultimately take less time.
It is not often that we arrive somewhere that we’ve already been. This is a big relief, as the local layout is already known, and we know our hotel is a nice place. It feels like all the homework has already been done and we can focus on other things. The owner, Rifat, is outside waiting for our shuttle. There is a certain sense of hospitality that I feel in Turkiye, one that is more prevalent in the Middle East than in Europe.
We start taking care of things, as we have two days before the next destination, and there is already a list of pending tasks. I get a haircut down the street, and make the guy cut more than he wants to (he thinks I should have short sides and top long). Janet gets a sewing modification done on a piece of clothing she bought, from an old woman in a tiny store. I sort out where we can get a PCR test, as we will need that for the next country, and organize our next airport transport in a few days.
Other than all this, nothing much more, today was definitely just a logistics day without any touring.
GeorgiaTürkiye II