We had a late check out at the Doubletree and got a taxi for the 30-minute trip to the Hampton Inn. Unfortunately, the trip actually took over an hour because the traffic in and around Istanbul is horrible. But the cost, including tip, was $18. Not bad for an hour ride.
The Hampton Inn is about halfway between Istanbul Old City and the airport. We still have a 30-minute taxi ride in the morning, but that’s better than the 1-hour drive we would have had if we stayed at the Doubletree. Since we have an 8:00am flight, being 30 minutes closer is a big deal.
Well, our holiday is coming to an end. What can I say about a trip that lasted 133 days, covered 12 countries on 2 continents and spanned 4 time zones (UK, European continent, Israel/Greece and Turkey)? Calling it an epic adventure is an understatement.
We visited big cities…
mid-sized cities…
and small villages…
We saw new stuff…
and incredibly old stuff…
Peter touched the…
And floated in the Dead Sea…
The weather ranged from hotter than hell in England…
To cold and rainy in Amsterdam…
In Scotland, where it usually rains every day, we had several cloudy days, but it only rained a couple of times.
But, for the most part, we had amazing weather for 4 months…
We stayed in 45 different flats, houses and hotel rooms. Some were wonderful…
Some tiny…
And some pretty nasty…
We ate way too many unhealthy (but delicious) foods.
We had high tea at a castle…
And had a snack where royalty has dined…
We saw so many castles…
palaces….
Chateaux…
Big churches…
Small churches…
and everything in between…
We saw lots of stained glass windows…
Then there were the ruins…
If you don’t count the food poisoning, our 9 days in Israel were amazing.
We had an AMAZING time at the Dana Winner concert…We bought the silver ticket package, so we received a ton of great pictures.
We went on river cruises in…
And looked for, but didn’t find, Nessie…
We visited beautiful gardens…
And lots of markets…
We played rounds at the Home of Golf…
And at the highest 9-hole course in Scotland…
But most importantly, we did everything together…
We had a few more challenges than on previous trips (final fall count: Peter 4, Lynn 1), but we don’t regret a minute of it. It has truly been a once in a lifetime adventure.
Thank you to our faithful followers for hanging with us over the last 4 months. Peter and I really appreciate the time everyone took to read about our adventures and your patience with the typos when I was too tired to proofread before I posted. We especially appreciate all the comments. By the way, the prize for the most comments goes to Cynthia, followed closely by Desiree. But don’t get too excited, girl, there isn’t really a prize, just my undying gratitude.
Tomorrow our flight leaves at 8am so we’ll head to the airport around 5am. The flight from Istanbul to LAX is just over 14 hours and we land at 11:30 local time which means we land less than 3 1/2 hours after we left…if you don’t count the 11-hour time change. Then it’s 2 hours on the ground before the short, one hour flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor. Kathy and Jim are picking us up at the airport and hopefully we’ll be home by 5pm. What I wouldn’t give for a little “beam me up, Scotty” technology right now. It is going to be an incredibly long day, but we’ll be glad to sleep in our own beds tomorrow. As much as we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our epic adventure, it’s time to go home.
I’ll touch base over the weekend. Until then, love to all and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Lynn and Peter
There has to be a 1st and 2nd place prize! At least a piece of Belgium Chocolate or other non-sugar filled treat! Just joking. That was very funny Lynn.
It was fun tagging along. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into documenting your journey. It was amazing to follow along. I’m almost sad that it is coming to an end but I know what it is like to get home to your own bed. Don’t miss the duty free shopping at the airport like you need to shop anymore. Safe travels home.
I am certain that my prize is that large Spoon diamond!
What a fantastic summary of your extensive trip! I give you tons of credit for all the planning and navigating through the bumps in the road along the way.
That’s a very long trip home so I wish you safe and hassle free travels.