April 28th: Istanbul To Italy... Many Challenges!

Pegasus Airlines: the cheap way to go in Turkey, but you get what you pay for... or..NOT!The view looking down as we flew over Europe was quite lovely, as you can see.  

 I had arranged for Ilhan to pick me up at 6 a.m. to take me to the Istanbul airport... and I have to say that man is PROMPT! He arrived at exactly 6 on the nose! Good start! Or so I thought, but... 

... about 20 minutes into the 40 minute drive, he had car trouble. All of the dash lights came on and he started losing power! He thought he needed oil, which he had a supply of in his trunk. So...he pulled over and added oil. 

It didn't do the trick. Most alarmingly, the car kept going slower and slower, until he was driving on the shoulder. Of course I expressed my concern... but he wouldn't really talk to me or tell me anything, so concerned was he about what was going on....

Then, when we got within a few minutes of the departure terminal, the cab kept stalling out completely. I had visions of running to the terminal, dragging my luggage behind me... 

We inched and coughed along, and by some miracle, he at least managed to get me within about 400 meters of the entrance. I raced along to the doors...only to get stuck in a long line of people waiting to get inside and go through the first level of security, where all bags had to be screened. Never seen such a procedure anywhere I have been before! At least it was not TOO cold outside, and before too long, I was waiting in the line inside. But... it inched along at a snail's pace, and I began to get very concerned that my bag wouldn't get checked in early enough to make it on my flight... 

While waiting in this line (couldn't believe HOW very crowded the airport was at such an early hour of the morning!), I did at least meet, and chat with, a very nice fellow whom I shall call J., from Florida. J. had flown all the way to Turkey for a few days' stay JUST to get a hair implant done! He explained that it was about a 10th of the cost in the U.S., and Turkey had a stellar reputation for this procedure, as did the affordability/competence of the medical profession here in general. Good to note!  His shaved head had interesting patches of color, looking something like this (only, J's covered much bigger portions of his head): 

Rather gruesome-looking! Ahh, the things we do for vanity.... and he wasn't the only one! I saw a couple other men going through security who had the same sort of patchy, shaved heads! 

Chatting with him helped pass the time... and, once we cleared security, we got in the same line to check in, as he also was flying on Pegasus Airlines. Just behind us was a maniac-- a seriously disturbed German fellow, who was spewing hateful words about Americans, English speakers in general, and pretty much anyone else who wasn't German! This awful guy then cut through the line (which was also extremely long!) and J. confronted him. (I warned him not to engage, pointing out that this man was crazy and potentially dangerous, but J. ignored me...) There then ensued some crazy, nonsensical, very loud debate about language and cultures, and the disturbed German became more and more agitated. By the time I got up to the check-in counter, I was quite rattled... and let the agent know that this man was deranged and should be dealt with by security personnel. I stated--very strongly-- that if he were on MY flight, I would reschedule it!! The agent smiled and said it was a matter for security... and didn't seem a bit interested in dealing with him. But J. also spoke up, as did another passenger near us in line, and most thankfully, we never saw the man again (I assume he was indeed detained, and hopefully was NOT allowed on ANY flight!) 

After parting from J., I boarded my flight. It was a packed plane, and they required me to check my carry-on bag, but I didn't mind this. What I DID mind--and in fact, was quite incensed by--was the fact that NO beverages of ANY kind were complimentary on that flight! Thankfully I had water with me, but I really wanted hot tea... until I found out they wanted to charge 4 EU for it! (About $5 U.S.) Highway robbery, the scoundrels!!! And this, after I paid $300 for the 2 hour 40 min. flight to the Rome airport! WHAT an outrage! From that moment, I declared I would NEVER fly Pegasus again!

But it got worse: After we landed, it took a good 45 minutes for our checked luggage to show up! That was a first for me, and reinforced my determination to boycott this airline! 

Going through customs was at least a breeze...getting a SIM card for my phone here in Italy was not! I got a Vodafone card for 55 EU--yikes!--even worse than Turkey!--and later found out their service was lousy, AND I had to re-start the plan at a different outlet because the guy at the airport screwed something up... so another aggravation! AND that other Vodafone outlets only charge 40 EU for the SIM plus a 30 day plan... so I really got a bad deal at this airport kiosk. 

Another word of caution: NEVER, EVER get money at one of those airport change kiosks!! I paid $116 for 100 dollars worth of Euros, which I didn't realize until AFTER the fact... so basically paid a whopping SIXTEEN PERCENT commission!!! A TOTAL rip-off!!! I should have used an ATM instead... well, at least thank God I only changed $100 and not more...so another valuable lesson learned!!! 

But, unfortunately, the above bad experiences still weren't the worst of it! Apparently, my Airbnb hostess had deceived me regarding the distance of her place from Rome. Basically, the town where her guest house is located is NOWHERE near Rome, and not a single taxi driver would take me there!!  I wound up canceling the reservation, plopping myself down in a chair at the airport, and weeping. I had nowhere to go in this foreign city, and it was totally reminiscent of the trauma I went through in the Mexico City airport when I was denied my flight to India back in 2021... 

Thankfully, a lovely Italian couple who worked at the airport took pity on me. They asked what was wrong, and I told them.  They were avowed to help... They called a friend of theirs in the town of Fiumicino, a 15 minute drive from the airport. As it turned out, she DID have a room, but only for that night (a Friday)-- it was a holiday weekend in Italy, and she was completely booked for the rest of the weekend. 

I jumped on it! After waiting 2 miserable hours in that airport, I was SO very grateful to have somewhere to go! The room-- 50 EU, or about $55.50-- was still expensive, but apparently a bargain both in Fiumicino, and especially when compared to Rome (the CHEAPEST accomodation I could find ANYWHERE in that city was $100 for a bed in a dorm room! Unbelievable, utterly surreal!!!)  Sabrina, the lovely hostess, sent a driver for me, and away I went... 

The room was nice,  but simple. It had a double bed and a bunk bed, so for a family of 4, it would definitely have been a great deal. Of course, for a solo traveler like myself on a budget, it was still a fortune. (This month of April has really blown my budget out of the water!!!)  Still, I was grateful.

The guest house was close to a pretty marina. I took a nice walk along it, saw a beautiful sunset, and bought some food in a supermarket (so at least saved the cost of eating out). 

Tomorrow, I will be on my way to Assisi, skipping the prohibitively expensive city of Rome altogether. Hopefully, I will make it there at a future time, when it is NOT a holiday weekend and/or peak tourist season in Italy, as is apparently the case at this time. In Assisi, I will be staying at the wonderful Ananda community, nursing my wounds and recouping financial losses! Onward, ho!

Lovely sunset at the beautiful marina in the town of Fiumicino