Turkey
I left Istanbul at 2 AM on April 6 and landed in Tokyo at 8 PM. It turned out to be the longest flight of my life. Even though I had previously flown to Thailand for a similar amount of time, this one felt endless—like I had been on the plane for twenty hours. I’m not sure why, but time just wouldn’t move. To make things worse, I couldn’t even distract myself with movies or onboard entertainment because my screen barely worked. Eventually, it completely gave up and froze on a black screen. Luckily, the passenger next to me was watching a documentary about wild animals and some world news, so I ended up half-watching along with him. In that sense, I guess I was lucky—I still got some kind of in-flight entertainment.
My vacation honestly couldn’t have started better. I already managed to explore the city a bit and now I’m mentally ready for my next destination—Tokyo. I’ll write about Tokyo tomorrow though. For now, I just want to capture how fascinating and surprisingly smooth today turned out. When I booked my flight, Turkish Airlines included a free Istanbul tour program, so from 4 pm until 9:30 pm I joined this really well-organized excursion—with dinner included. And not just any dinner, but proper Turkish cuisine. What made it even more interesting was the company: I ended up at a table with a family from California, so I got to hear real, natural American English in conversation.
My Wednesday started a bit unusually. The weather was sunny but freezing — around -12 to -14 degrees. When I woke up and opened my eyes, bright sunlight filled the room and made me squint. I rushed to the window to look outside. Everything was shining. The snow was glittering under the sun, and despite the cold temperature, the view felt warm and positive. Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy this beautiful winter scene for long. I quickly went through my morning routine and started my workday.
Tomorrow my flight to Kazan will be on an Airbus A330-203, and my seat is 16K by the window. Today, at the last moment, I checked in and got this seat. If I understand correctly, for passengers who don’t buy a seat, the system randomly assigns middle seats first, and only after those are filled does it start assigning other seats.
Well, I'm in the business lounge and I'm very surprised because the manager told me I can stay here until my flight. Usually, the stay time is 4 hours, but for me it’s unlimited. When I asked the manager why I could stay so long, he answered, "Because I'm a good man, go and enjoy." It’s all a bit strange. I just hope that when I leave, they don’t ask me to pay an extra fee.
In Turkey, the weather is very good — 26 degrees, with a nice cool wind and a sunny sky. The weather is ridiculously comfortable for me, and I don’t want to leave the outside and go inside the airport. As for my plans, I only have one flight to my hometown, from IST to KZN. The flight is on September 3 at around 1 AM. Until then, I’ll be here.
These days, so many important moments have happened in my life, but I can't tell you about each moment. I want to share my travel plan for next month. I want to visit Spain (Valencia), Portugal (Porto), Czech (Prague), Austria (Vienna), Italy (Milan). I think everything will be ok
Today's day has been busy, I packed my suitcase and bought the last few things I needed. Tomorrow, I’m leaving Mersin and go to Russia, to Kazan. Tonight is my last night in Turkey, so I decided to take a final walk along the embankment before leaving. It was my last chance to enjoy the sea breeze and beautiful views, and I couldn’t miss it.
A few days ago, I went to capture the sunrise over the sea, when the sun’s rays broke through the clouds and lit up the surface of the water. On the horizon, there were ships waiting for their turn to enter Mersin port. If you notice these ships at night, you might ask yourself what they are, because at night you can only see the lights and might think it’s land.
During today's walk, I noticed a pharmacy with its entrance door decorated in a New Year style. These decorations really stood out among other shops and pharmacies, attracting a lot of attention. Naturally, they caught my attention too.
Last night, the temperature in my apartment dropped to 21 degrees. Outside, it was 11-13 degrees, and since there is no heating in the apartment, I could feel the cold creeping in through every crack. Although 21 degrees is still a fairly comfortable temperature for sleeping, I felt noticeably colder than usual.
Today in Turkey, the weather is perfect for a walk: it's sunny, with a temperature of around 22-23°C, and it feels a bit warmer in the sun, around 26-27°C. There's a light breeze, making the air fresh and pleasant. It's a great time to walk along the seafront, enjoy the views, and breathe in the sea air. The leaves rustle in the trees, and the scent of fresh flowers is in the air. It's a wonderful moment to relax, recharge with positive energy, and just enjoy the present.