August 2 is when these events occurred
During our time in Istanbul, while we stayed exclusively on the European side, it did not feel as if we had returned to Europe; yet it also did not feel as if we were still in Asia. Today we got to Europe! Not only did the environment change, but our GPS with the talking instructions returned.
But before we left I experienced an odd emotion. During the prior two mornings at breakfast we had sat near the front of the restaurant, both to get more daylight and to watch the people stroll by. Another young western couple also did the same thing. However, on this day in the front there were several very traditionally clad Muslim women sitting in the front with a number of their rowdy kids. I do not know if it was their noise, the commotion or having to watch the women pass food under their veils to eat, but I did not want to be part of that so we sat in the back. The other western couple coincidentally did the same. The breakfast was still good.
It is amazing what three days in a city and not being tired does for new sense of direction. This time there was no problem driving out of Istanbul. I even ad libbed and did not follow the GPS directions, believing correctly that I knew an easier way to get to the correct route. Istanbul is a very big city. We just moved in a very small sphere. It took almost an hour to drive beyond the city limits. By then we entered a rolling farmland that we had not observed upon our first trip to Istanbul, since we arrived after darkness. The area was much flatter than anything we had previously seen in Turkey and the crops seemed to be more grains rather than orchards. Using our hard-earned PTT sticker obtained during our previous trip in Turkey, we were on the toll road for about an hour. (Ended up leaving money on the sticker.) Then we turned off to a secondary road and traveled south heading for the border crossing with Greece.
We stopped for gas balancing the desire not to run out of gasoline against the wish to minimize purchases of gasoline in a country with Europe's second highest gas prices. Used the rest of our Turkish money on ice cream and snacks.
The Turkish/Greek border crossing does not seem like a model of cooperation. We had to pass through four Turkish checkpoints to get out of the country. There was not much of a line exiting Turkey, but it took time to get through all the checkpoints, all of which seemed to ask for the same documents, passports and car registration and ownership. No verbal inquiries. When we finished with the last Turkish checkpoint, Greece was no where in sight. We drove about 1/2 mile and came to Greek immigration. This was the EU border so I anticipated an extensive inquiry. We were basically just waved through and the customs station was closed. The line going into Turkey was very long; it seemed to be at least several km. Maybe people returning on Sunday after a weekend.
We entered Greece in its northern tier. The temperature was cooler. I had no intention of going into southern Greece, both because I did not want to experience Athens' summer heat and because we were running out of time if I was going to meet the daughter in Dubrovnik. So we set our sights for Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. The toll road we traveled on was surprisingly cheap, only a few toll gates that charged from 1.2 to 2.4 euros (fortunately we had a few of them left). However, after one toll gate we were waved over by Greek police using a little stick. The officer approached the car with his hand on his sidearm. He asked for identification, driver's license and car documentation. No reason was given for his action and after about 5 minutes the documents were returned and we were waved on.
In Turkey there were lots of gasoline stations on all types of roads. It would be hard to run out of gasoline in Turkey. There were no gas stations on this toll road and throughout our three-day trip in Greece, gasoline stations were not plentiful. We exited when we saw a sign for a gas station. Gasoline prices were lower than in Turkey, but not by a lot.
It was a spectacular ride on the well-maintained road, and most places followed the winding, twisting coastline, usually from cliffs overlooking it. Lots of small towns either clinging to a cliff or hugging a bay. The beaches seemed small, but in many cases secluded. We passed a number of marinas, many with very large boats. We passed through Thrace and saw a sign for Alexander the Great Airport outside Xanthi.
It took us several hours to reach Thessaloniki. I had made reservations at the Les Lazaristes Hotel. It was not in the center of the city so it would be easier to find, it had free on-site parking and it had a pool. The GPS directions were good and this hotel had signs miles away with directions to it. The parking was as advertised, but alas, the pool was unavailable. The pool was set in an open-air courtyard within the hotel, but it was surrounded by the eating area for the hotel restaurant. Thus, it was open only from 11-7. No one told me that. . . so as I was about to enter the pool, a waiter hurriedly rushed over to me waving his arms and telling me entry was prohibited. It was a nice pool, too.
We had dinner along side the pool. Not adequate compensation.
During our time in Istanbul, while we stayed exclusively on the European side, it did not feel as if we had returned to Europe; yet it also did not feel as if we were still in Asia. Today we got to Europe! Not only did the environment change, but our GPS with the talking instructions returned.
But before we left I experienced an odd emotion. During the prior two mornings at breakfast we had sat near the front of the restaurant, both to get more daylight and to watch the people stroll by. Another young western couple also did the same thing. However, on this day in the front there were several very traditionally clad Muslim women sitting in the front with a number of their rowdy kids. I do not know if it was their noise, the commotion or having to watch the women pass food under their veils to eat, but I did not want to be part of that so we sat in the back. The other western couple coincidentally did the same. The breakfast was still good.
It is amazing what three days in a city and not being tired does for new sense of direction. This time there was no problem driving out of Istanbul. I even ad libbed and did not follow the GPS directions, believing correctly that I knew an easier way to get to the correct route. Istanbul is a very big city. We just moved in a very small sphere. It took almost an hour to drive beyond the city limits. By then we entered a rolling farmland that we had not observed upon our first trip to Istanbul, since we arrived after darkness. The area was much flatter than anything we had previously seen in Turkey and the crops seemed to be more grains rather than orchards. Using our hard-earned PTT sticker obtained during our previous trip in Turkey, we were on the toll road for about an hour. (Ended up leaving money on the sticker.) Then we turned off to a secondary road and traveled south heading for the border crossing with Greece.
We stopped for gas balancing the desire not to run out of gasoline against the wish to minimize purchases of gasoline in a country with Europe's second highest gas prices. Used the rest of our Turkish money on ice cream and snacks.
The Turkish/Greek border crossing does not seem like a model of cooperation. We had to pass through four Turkish checkpoints to get out of the country. There was not much of a line exiting Turkey, but it took time to get through all the checkpoints, all of which seemed to ask for the same documents, passports and car registration and ownership. No verbal inquiries. When we finished with the last Turkish checkpoint, Greece was no where in sight. We drove about 1/2 mile and came to Greek immigration. This was the EU border so I anticipated an extensive inquiry. We were basically just waved through and the customs station was closed. The line going into Turkey was very long; it seemed to be at least several km. Maybe people returning on Sunday after a weekend.
We entered Greece in its northern tier. The temperature was cooler. I had no intention of going into southern Greece, both because I did not want to experience Athens' summer heat and because we were running out of time if I was going to meet the daughter in Dubrovnik. So we set our sights for Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. The toll road we traveled on was surprisingly cheap, only a few toll gates that charged from 1.2 to 2.4 euros (fortunately we had a few of them left). However, after one toll gate we were waved over by Greek police using a little stick. The officer approached the car with his hand on his sidearm. He asked for identification, driver's license and car documentation. No reason was given for his action and after about 5 minutes the documents were returned and we were waved on.
In Turkey there were lots of gasoline stations on all types of roads. It would be hard to run out of gasoline in Turkey. There were no gas stations on this toll road and throughout our three-day trip in Greece, gasoline stations were not plentiful. We exited when we saw a sign for a gas station. Gasoline prices were lower than in Turkey, but not by a lot.
It was a spectacular ride on the well-maintained road, and most places followed the winding, twisting coastline, usually from cliffs overlooking it. Lots of small towns either clinging to a cliff or hugging a bay. The beaches seemed small, but in many cases secluded. We passed a number of marinas, many with very large boats. We passed through Thrace and saw a sign for Alexander the Great Airport outside Xanthi.
It took us several hours to reach Thessaloniki. I had made reservations at the Les Lazaristes Hotel. It was not in the center of the city so it would be easier to find, it had free on-site parking and it had a pool. The GPS directions were good and this hotel had signs miles away with directions to it. The parking was as advertised, but alas, the pool was unavailable. The pool was set in an open-air courtyard within the hotel, but it was surrounded by the eating area for the hotel restaurant. Thus, it was open only from 11-7. No one told me that. . . so as I was about to enter the pool, a waiter hurriedly rushed over to me waving his arms and telling me entry was prohibited. It was a nice pool, too.
We had dinner along side the pool. Not adequate compensation.
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