Text 4955, 40 rader
Skriven 2010-12-14 17:37:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 882
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Our driver was waiting patiently for us. In common with all
the drivers we had on this trip, he commented proudly on
the historical and cultural sights we passed. On some of
the rides, the guy's English was barely enough for him to
grunt things like "buyuk hospital," "school," "ambassade,"
"football stadion"; this one had some grasp both of English
and what Anglophones might be interested in, "Byzantine
castle," "original city wall," that sort of thing. He was
pleasant, polite, and, as it was a fixed fare, quick.
Though he took us to the wrong place, as our accommodation,
Sultanahmet Suites, is the blanket name for four properties.

On the second try we found the offices, which are in a
little coffee house in a traditional old neighborhood.
For our prepayment, the night manager gladly took a mixture
of lira, Euros, and dollars for our rent - and gave us a
quite favorable rate, according to my calculations, and then
showed us to our rooms, in an odd building in the middle of
renovation, on the southwest edge of Sultanahmet district.
The digs were comfy though peculiar: we were split up into
basement and attic rooms, each with its own pecularities.
Lilli's room, a deluxe, was too cold; mine, a standard, was
too stuffy. In the morning, when I went up to discuss the
plan for the day, hers had become too hot - no surprise
as mine had gotten too cold.

Hot water: day 1, plenty; day 2, little or none; day 3,
plenty of decently warm water but no cold!

Our time in town was mostly preternaturally cool; the first
day was unbelievably wet, to the degree that I feared that
my room, being in the basement, might flood (it didn't).
Every day someone we encountered would apologize on behalf
of all of Turkey about the weather, saying it's never this
cold [or wet] this time of year. Fat lot of good historical
meteorology did us.

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