Up early, we managed to stuff our suitcases full of our purchases and get ready to go. We had an hour before our transportation to the airport, so we took a walk from the hotel to Taksim square. Being Sunday morning - everything was closed, the traffic was at a minimum and there werent even a lot of people on the streets - what an amazing contrast of the days before!
As we drove to the airport it struck me that we were still in Istanbul proper and had been driving for like a half hour - its totally huge. When they tell you that you need 2 hours at the airport they arent kidding! It took us that long to get through all the security. First you clear security to get into the airport - then through passport control again - then to get to the gate area and then once again at each gate. Mind you we didnt have to take our shoes off once!
We got through our two flights home and arrived with totally confused body clocks - exhilirated and exhausted all at the same time.
I've made lots of observations on the past week or so. Most of the quirky just like me! For example, there is a huge difference in what Americans and Europeans consider proper personal space - we're used to much more room between people. Also, I noticed that many American travellers have this sense of entitelment going - kind of strange - like its ok to be demanding or not respectful because they werent from there - really really sad, and a bit embarrassing. The people in Greece and Turkey could not have been kinder or more pleased to share their cities with tourists. It really got to me how young our country is, and as rich as our history here is, there is a whole world to be seen that brings time into different perspective. Of course one Geek observation: the internet is much faster in the US! Many more ridiculous things that I'm sure will come out in conversation as I start to process all our adventures.
Most important observation - what fun my mother is to travel with. She can make conversation with absolutely anyone and they all find her charming and loveable like I do. We laughed a lot, we shared stories about ourselves that the other didnt know. We embraced our differences and used them to our advantage. Adam - my nephew asked me via webchat the first day on our trip if Grandma and I were still getting along - well Adam, the answer then and now is we got along great! This was a week of memories that I will cherish forever.
It was a blast on every level but at this point I'm happy to be home!