Blogger, Grace Bramer
A very late dinner….
Today was a travel day, but I’ll get to that later. The true beginning of the day got started about an hour after we
got off the bus that had taken us back to Malaga. While the rest of the group went back to the hotel for some much needed rest, Gabby and I ventured to check the one final thing to check off of the Spain list. Patatas bravas.
Gabby had been in search of such small, flavorful potatoes the whole trip but something always seemed to get in the way. The first restaurant we stopped at was about to close, but we didn’t let that stop us, we carried on.
Before coming to Spain, I had read about the later dinner times, and maybe, I overprepared for this. I found myself being shocked that a restaurant would close right at midnight. We walked through the streets of Malaga and saw restaurants closing everywhere; trash being taken out, floors being mopped, customers with empty plates and glasses. We decided that if we didn’t find a restaurant in the next five minutes, maybe patatas bravas were just not in the cards.
Gabby and I had accepted our potato-less fate… until we turned a corner and saw a bustling restaurant front with many customers at almost every table. We walked past, glancing at plates of tapas. Had our luck turned? Had we found a restaurant that didn’t close until the respectable hour of 2am on a Sunday night. We had. Before we even saw a menu we saw a plate of glistening, brava sauce covered potatoes. We were so back.
We got a table and ordered, you guessed it, patatas bravas. We also got Gambas al Ajillo, a dish of shrimp cooked in a mixture of hot oil, garlic, and paprika. I am usually not a big shrimp guy, but I am so glad we ordered these. They were so good. Gabby and I even splurged on some bread to soak up the rest of the oil.
By this time it was about 12:45. Did we have to be up and packed by 8:45 to catch the flight to Istanbul in the morning? Yes. Was it absolutely worth it? Yes. We went back to the hotel and I slithered into my bed.
Empty plates
The Airport
After a quick hotel breakfast, we walked to the train station. From there we got a (thankfully not very crowded) bus to the airport. On the way Dr. Pitamber taught us some Turkish phrases like “Teşekkürler” (thank you).
Thankfully, at the airport things went smoothly. Once past security the group split off from each other until boarding, or at least that was the idea. It turned out everyone went to the same cafe anyway, I got an iced coffee, a great little treat that I had missed dearly.
As boarding time approached we all gathered back at the gate. Our assigned seats were spread throughout the plane. Thankfully, it wasn’t a full flight and it worked out so some people got a row to themselves, including the sickies, which I’m sure was a good surprise. I got a middle seat.
My row-mates were nice enough. The guy in the aisle seat came in with a leather jacket, maybe not the clothing choice I would choose in June.
I went into the flight with ambitions to read some of the books I brought on this trip but haven’t picked up once. However, I fell fast asleep as soon as we took off. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
About a quarter of the way through the flight there was a meal. I had not expected any food, but I guess the flight was through lunch. There was a choice between pasta or chicken, I, along with the guys in my row ordered pasta. A whole row of pasta, “pasta, pasta, pasta” we all said to the flight attendant. This was the first time I saw the German guy in the aisle seat react to anything, he seemed to think the psychic pasta link of our row was funny.
During lunch, I watched Edward Scissorshands, Carson and I had watched some clips of it on our TV at the hotel, so I thought now was my chance to finally watch it. I liked it a lot, I had always assumed it would be a tale of nobody liking him because he has scissorhands and then they learn he’s not a bad guy and everything is beautiful and happy. No spoilers, but that is not fully the case, which was a nice surprise for me. I gave it 4/5 stars on Letterboxd.
At some point, the German guy in the aisle seat got up to use the bathroom. I saw the guy in the window seat glance over at the aisle guy’s departure, and before the window guy had to ask me anything, in an act of understanding we also both got up to use the bathroom. Trudging through the aisle, I saw Kacie watching Top Gun, Gabby watching Quiet Place: Day One and Dr. Pitamber typing away on her computer. The row 21 reunion in the back of the plane was uneventful, but it was good to stretch my legs.
At some point our plane flew over Mount Vesuvius in Italy. Gabby got a good picture of it!
The arrival to Istanbul was pretty bumpy and I started to feel motion sick, but nothing too bad. We got off the plane and just like that, we were in Turkey! Everyone seemed pretty excited as we headed down to customs.
At the airport cafe
Sprite for the ill
Made it to Istanbul!
The gate
More Transportation!
Once we were outside the airport, Dr. Pitamber and Wen-Ting looked for the bus that was going to take us to the hotel. The bus was decked out with pink lights, and earned the title “party bus”. It was about a 45 minute drive to the hotel and I was excited to finally have a window seat and get to view Istanbul for the first time.
The bus dropped us off in front of Hotel Nena. We paired off into rooms and took a quick break. It felt so nice to lay down on a bed after hours of travelling. I wanted to sleep, but I also wanted to go to dinner with most of the rest of the group. I opted for the food, a good choice.
Flag of Turkey on drive to hotel
The Rest of the night
We went to a place called Massa Bistro, about a five minute walk from the hotel.
Empty plates and baklava!