My Cruise to Greece and Turkey: Part 5: Istanbul and Frankfurt Airport

Mon. July 17--Istanbul

The elegant lobby of the Intercontinental
Hotel in Istanbul

We regretfully checked out of the Sirena cruise ship this morning--though ten days is about enough for a cruise--and after a loooong walk through passport control, got on our transfer bus to the Intercontinental Hotel in Istanbul. The cruise was wonderful and I highly recommend Oceania Cruise Lines which organized everything with helpful staff pointing us in the right direction otherwise we would have been totally lost. The Intercontinental is a gorgeous, elegant, modern hotel with a spacious lobby out of a science fiction movie. The stairway alone is worth the high price of a room. It looks like Mame or Dolly should be walking down its steps for the big production number.

We had one full day in the Turkish capital and decided to take a cruise of the bosphorus (where Vickie Edyie gets preposterous, if recall that bit from Bette Midler's Live album). Our guide Mehmet was fun and informative. We stopped at the Spice Market, sampling Turkish taffy and candy. This crowded bazaar was not as chaotic and overwhelming as the

Spice Market

Grand Bazaar we had been to on our last visit. It was remarkable for its colorful displays and non-aggressive salesmen. Then we took our cruise on the bosphorus with Mehmet providing commentary. At one point, I had a picture taken as we approached a bridge to show we were between Europe and Asia. 

Back at the hotel, we got a dinner recommendation from the concierge for a local place that had authentic food. The cuisine was adequate, but the views of the river were spectacular with seagulls hovering nearby. We went to bed after watching CNN International and EuroNews. It was so refreshing not to be bombarded with internal US political news and the ongoing Trump shit show. The main story was the heat wave engulfing Europe and the United States. Pavements and streets were actually burning people and forest fires continued to blaze. Heat domes and pizza ovens were used to describe the effect. This staggering heat is becoming the new normal and will continue to create crises as parts of the world become uninhabitable.

Tues. July 18--Istanbul, Frankfurt Airports

Half in Europe and half in Asia
on our cruise of the bosphorus

Breakfast in the lovely Brassiere Restaurant was included in the hotel stay. After checking out and paying the bill for two sandwiches in the lobby the day before and a candy bar from the mini-fridge (800 Turkish lire or about $40 US), we got on the bus to the airport, accompanied by a guide who would help us negotiate the enormous Istanbul airport. Without him we wouldn't have figured out the double security screening and the Lufthasna check-in desk. There was no signage. The short flight to Frankfurt was fine and I started reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Less, having finished Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts (see Book Review blog post). Once we got to Frankfurt, things took a turn for the worse. Our flight was not listed on any of the callboards and we only had an hour to get to the gate. Following some panicked searching like chickens with their heads cut off, we finally found an airport employee who looked up the flight on his phone. We were at Gate Z-69, miles away and of course, the last gate in the terminal. We had to go through another security check point and have our laptops checked out, through the glittering, endless Duty-Free mall, down several escalators and moving walk-ways to reach the gate in time for the flight. Fortunately, it was not full and we could stretch out. 

The plethora of entertainment choices was too much at first, so I did crossword puzzles and read Less to pass the 8-hour flight. Finally, I succumbed to the small-screen video and watched EO, a Polish Best International Film Oscar nominee to continue my viewing of as many 2022 Oscar contenders as possible. (Moving fable about a donkey and all the humans, good and bad, he encounters.) I started to watch the Avatar sequel on the flight to Athens but it bored the shit out of me. Also watched the second episode of The Handmaid's Tale Season 5 which has re-hooked me and began Episode 2 of The White Lotus for which the entire cast is Emmy nominated, but I don't see what all the fuss is about. (also The Patrick Star Show, just for funsies.) 

So the flight itself was not so bad, but the aftermath was a problem. We made the plane, but our luggage did not. It was a pain in the neck to retrieve the two missing suitcases. We had to fill out a delayed baggage form on a website that did not work at first. Finally we were able to submit the form and were given email updates on the status of the bags. They eventually arrived at JFK airport at 8PM EST but were not delivered to us until 1AM, even though the website said if they could not be delivered before 11PM, they would be given to us the next morning. So in the middle of the night, I'm awakened by my cell phone with a call informing me the bags were blocks away, did I want them now? I was furious but accepted the bags. The courier did not even have the grace to bring the bags up to our apartment. I had to go down in the street after throwing some clothes on to identify them and he refused to help bring them up. This was the only negative about the whole trip, so I guess I should be grateful. But don't lose your bags on Lufthasna if you can avoid it.

Addendum: Updated List of 2022 Oscar/Other Award Nominated Pictures Seen:

All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
The Banshees of Inisherin (Amazon)
Elvis (HBO Max)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (Amazon)
The Fablemans (Amazon)

Tar (an actual movie theater--Kaufman Astoria Studios)

Triangle of Sadness (Hulu)
Women Talking (Amazon)

Till (Amazon)
To Leslie (Amazon)--surprisingly moving little indie film with a great lead performance by Andrea Riseborough as an alcoholic ex-Lottery winner (also loved Allison Janney as usual)

Aftersun (Amazon)

Living (Amazon)
The Whale (Amazon)

Causeway (Apple TV+)

EO (Lufthansa Flight 0404--Frankfurt to JFK)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
All the Beauty and Bloodshed (Amazon)
Navalny (HBO Max)

Pinocchio (Netflix)

Nominated Short Films:
The Flying Sailor (YouTube)
The Ice Merchants (YouTube)
My Year of D**ks (Hulu)
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It (Vimeo)--I liked this one best. Very funny satire on stop-motion animation.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (Apple TV+)
The Elephant Whisperers (Netflix)
Haulout (YouTube)
The Martha Mitchell Effect (Netflix)
Stranger at the Gate (YouTube)--Very moving story about a former Marine who plans to bomb a mosque, but ends up converting to Islam after meeting the people there.
Nightride (YouTube)