We arrived in Turkey safe and sound on Tuesday afternoon, after nearly missing the plane overseas! It was quite an adventure getting us all to Turkey, and the adventures continued as soon as we stepped off the plane. My mom and sister were coming from France, and my dad, Dave (Suzy’s boyfriend) and I were coming from the US. The plan was for my dad and I to fly from Rochester to NYC and meet Dave, and then for the 3 of us to fly from JFK to Istanbul together, where we would meet up with mom and Suzy.
However, 4 hours before our Rochester flight was about to take off, my dad and I got a call from the airline telling us that the flight was cancelled! We freaked out, called the airline, got ourselves seats on the Syracuse flight that was leaving at 6:50, finished packing, and jumped in the car with Mrs. Pontillo (Dave’s mom) who so kindly drove us to Syracuse.
When we got to Syracuse a little after 5pm, we did the self check-in but as soon as we were finished they informed us that the Syracuse flight to JFK was cancelled too! We had no idea what to do, since missing the flight from JFK to Istanbul at 11:00pm was out of the question. If we missed our flight, we would not only throw off the travel plans completely, but we would lose a lot of money. So, we quickly got our tickets refunded, jumped in a rental car, and headed for NYC!
I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen my dad drive that fast, but luckily we made it there safely and without any speeding tickets or traffic. We made it from Syracuse to NYC in less than four hours, and pulled up outside the Turkish Air entrance to terminal 1 just after 10pm. My Uncle Phil who lives out on Long Island met us at the entrance to the terminal, and we threw him the car keys as we ran into the airport. He was nice enough to return our rental car for us, a job that would have taken us about 45 minutes and would have made us miss our flight.
In less than 45 minutes we got through the ticket line, checked our bags, made it through security, found our gate, ate the dinner Dave bought us (we hadn’t eaten since lunch and it was almost 11pm), and got in line to board the plane. We couldn’t believe that we had made it! The whole car ride my dad was sure that we would miss the flight, and although I was trying to be optimistic I wasn’t so sure myself.
However, 4 hours before our Rochester flight was about to take off, my dad and I got a call from the airline telling us that the flight was cancelled! We freaked out, called the airline, got ourselves seats on the Syracuse flight that was leaving at 6:50, finished packing, and jumped in the car with Mrs. Pontillo (Dave’s mom) who so kindly drove us to Syracuse.
When we got to Syracuse a little after 5pm, we did the self check-in but as soon as we were finished they informed us that the Syracuse flight to JFK was cancelled too! We had no idea what to do, since missing the flight from JFK to Istanbul at 11:00pm was out of the question. If we missed our flight, we would not only throw off the travel plans completely, but we would lose a lot of money. So, we quickly got our tickets refunded, jumped in a rental car, and headed for NYC!
I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen my dad drive that fast, but luckily we made it there safely and without any speeding tickets or traffic. We made it from Syracuse to NYC in less than four hours, and pulled up outside the Turkish Air entrance to terminal 1 just after 10pm. My Uncle Phil who lives out on Long Island met us at the entrance to the terminal, and we threw him the car keys as we ran into the airport. He was nice enough to return our rental car for us, a job that would have taken us about 45 minutes and would have made us miss our flight.
In less than 45 minutes we got through the ticket line, checked our bags, made it through security, found our gate, ate the dinner Dave bought us (we hadn’t eaten since lunch and it was almost 11pm), and got in line to board the plane. We couldn’t believe that we had made it! The whole car ride my dad was sure that we would miss the flight, and although I was trying to be optimistic I wasn’t so sure myself.
The plane ride was not so bad. We each had our own TV screen with on demand movies and TV shows, and the airline gave us a travel kit with a pajmina to keep warm and lots of other useful traveling items. Dave, my dad, and I all sat in the same row, and we went back and forth between eating, watching movies, and sleeping. Approximately 9.5 hours later, we were landing in Istanbul! We couldn’t believe it!
We were a little late getting in, and once we got off the plane we had no idea where to go. All the signs were in Turkish, and my extremely basic Turkish vocabulary wasn’t helping us at all. We had 1 hour before our next flight was taking off, so we got in line to pay our visa fee and then rushed through customs. We met mom and Suzy in line at customs, but somehow we made it through faster than they did, so we got to the gate for the plane to Izmir before they did. They got there right as they were calling for final boarding, and it was such a relief to see them safe and sound after many days of traveling!
Somehow we were all in the same row on the short 1-hour plane ride to Izmir, so we were able to catch up with each other and tell all our crazy traveling stories. It seemed like as soon as the plane took off it was landing again! In Izmir we all found our luggage pretty quickly with no problems, and Irmak’s family and Semo were waiting at the exit for us!
We were all really happy to see Irmak, her brother, and her parents, as we hadn’t seen them in a while, but it was especially exciting for me to see Semo, since I hadn’t seen her in 10 years! She had changed a bit since the last time I had seen her; last time I saw her she was 17, and now she is married! However, I’m sure it was more of a shock for her to see me, as the last time I saw her I was 10 years old and a lot shorter.
We all hugged and cried, and once we had all said our hello’s (Turkish people like to kiss once on both cheeks to say hello – even the guys) we climbed in the 10 passenger van that Irmak’s dad bought and headed for Cesme, a small town on the beach about an hour from Izmir where Irmak’s family has their summer house. We saw lots of interesting things on the hour drive, including beautiful green hills and valleys, the sun setting on the sea, and lots and lots of olive trees! We drove through a tiny farming village on the way to Cesme, and the design of the houses and the types of people and shops we saw along the dirt roads of the town were so interesting. It was like nothing I have ever seen in the United States.
My dad and I think that the popular style of architecture in this part of Turkey is a mix of Middle Eastern and Spanish. Many of the roofs of the houses are red tile, and the houses are usually made of a yellow, off white, or peach colored adobe. It is so hot here, that the people are very creative with how they shade their houses and gardens, so many of the houses have walls, fences, overhangs, trees, or bushes protecting different parts of the house from the sun.
We were all really happy to see Irmak, her brother, and her parents, as we hadn’t seen them in a while, but it was especially exciting for me to see Semo, since I hadn’t seen her in 10 years! She had changed a bit since the last time I had seen her; last time I saw her she was 17, and now she is married! However, I’m sure it was more of a shock for her to see me, as the last time I saw her I was 10 years old and a lot shorter.
We all hugged and cried, and once we had all said our hello’s (Turkish people like to kiss once on both cheeks to say hello – even the guys) we climbed in the 10 passenger van that Irmak’s dad bought and headed for Cesme, a small town on the beach about an hour from Izmir where Irmak’s family has their summer house. We saw lots of interesting things on the hour drive, including beautiful green hills and valleys, the sun setting on the sea, and lots and lots of olive trees! We drove through a tiny farming village on the way to Cesme, and the design of the houses and the types of people and shops we saw along the dirt roads of the town were so interesting. It was like nothing I have ever seen in the United States.
My dad and I think that the popular style of architecture in this part of Turkey is a mix of Middle Eastern and Spanish. Many of the roofs of the houses are red tile, and the houses are usually made of a yellow, off white, or peach colored adobe. It is so hot here, that the people are very creative with how they shade their houses and gardens, so many of the houses have walls, fences, overhangs, trees, or bushes protecting different parts of the house from the sun.
When we got to Cesme it was dusk, and we took some pictures of the amazing view before getting our tour of the summerhouse shared between Irmak’s family, her Uncle’s family, and her grandmother. It is a large house, with lots of bedrooms, but each family has their own separate part. My room has its own balcony, with the most gorgeous view of the sea! After the tour we sat down for dinner, where we had lots of delicious Turkish foods. We ate meatballs stuffed with potatoes, rice, and lots of fresh vegetables.
During dinner we could hear the fifth and final call to prayer given each day by the Imam in the local mosque. The sound was unlike anything we had ever heard. The Arabic prayers went on for a few minutes, echoing peacefully through the valleys. Irmak’s family says they are so used to it now that they barely notice it, but for us, it was a completely new and interesting experience. I guess the most similar thing we could relate that to in the US was the ringing of church bells, but even that is very different.
During dinner we could hear the fifth and final call to prayer given each day by the Imam in the local mosque. The sound was unlike anything we had ever heard. The Arabic prayers went on for a few minutes, echoing peacefully through the valleys. Irmak’s family says they are so used to it now that they barely notice it, but for us, it was a completely new and interesting experience. I guess the most similar thing we could relate that to in the US was the ringing of church bells, but even that is very different.
After dinner we were all so tired that we went straight to bed! My dad and I were tired from our race to catch the plane, and the rest of us were exhausted from the traveling and all the day’s activities. We went to sleep excited at the prospect of spending the next day at the beach!
Love from Turkey,
Julia Marie
The view from Irmak's family's house in Cesme
Mom, Dad, Irmak, and Umurhan on the deck of the Cesme home
Our first Turkish sunset on the way to Cesme!
Suzy and I in Cesme our first night in Turkey
The sign that greeted us at the Yensel's house when we first arrived!
