It was a long but uneventful flight from Dulles Airport to Istanbul. The flight statistics screens were interesting. They included the time to the next prayer, and direction to Mecca. We didn’t see anybody visibly praying, but it was a big plane. The airline dinner was inedible. Breakfast was slightly better.

Danita didn’t sleep well and I didn’t sleep at all. We had a several hour layover to catch our flight to Ankara. I enjoyed the safety of not missing the connecting flight. But I was literally falling asleep with my eyes open. When we finally got on our second flight, I was wide awake and unable to sleep.

Our hotel is gorgeous. We were lucky to get a suite. Two bedrooms share a private sitting room. We “only” got one bedroom, which includes a shower and a soaking tub, and of course a bidet.

Danita and I were trying to stay awake until at least 9:00. We chose to do that by getting under the covers and read. It wasn’t the most successful strategy. With 20 minutes to go, Danita suddenly said she almost fell asleep. She woke me up, Our dinner and breakfast were both amazingly good. We get more food than anybody could possibly eat.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.