email from Turkey #1

> On 9/6/06, John Lofranco wrote:
> > Hey Canada,
> >
> > So, by virtue of the tried and true Debardi method (thanks buddy!), my
> > flight to Paris was spent luxuriating in the extra-wide seats formerly
> > known as first class. Wow, it really makes a difference. And the hot
> > towels...great stuff. I actually slept 4-5 hours. Air France flight to
> > Istanbul was boring. I slept. The food was crappy.
> >
> > Once at the airport, I hired a car to take me to the Crown Plaza to
> > meet Jason, Michelle and Amy. All the Turkish car guys were much
> > impressed with out choice of hotel: "oh, Crown Plaza, is expensive,
> > yes." It is indeed a fine establishment. On the way here, my driver
> > rear-ended a lady and her daughter, causing their car to rear-end
> > another van. Much Turkish swearing ensued. Istanbul is apparently the
> > car crash capital of the world. How appropriate.
> >
> > So I recovered from that with a nice little hot tub session with Jason
> > and Amy, and then the four of us went out to dinner. What a dinner. It
> > was a little pricey, but our meals our paid for for the next few days,
> > so it was good to sit and eat. And eat. I ate two steaks--that was
> > after the cold mezzah (kind of like greek pikilias, a sample plate of
> > salads) and hot mezzah (a shrimp thing and a meat roll). Michelle ate
> > a fish. Like you know when you get a fish on your plate and it still
> > has eyes? Yeah, that kind of fish. Then the dessert was milk pudding
> > with ice cream.
> >
> > Don't worry, I won't be too heavy to get up the mountain. ;)
> >
> > We're getting the shuttle to Bursa in the morning. I suppose there
> > will be more in a few days.
> >
> > Have fun! Play safe.
> >
> > John
> >