The Trip Across

It was an exciting trip across the world from Eastern USA to Eastern Europe.  We left Philadelphia on June 6^th early in the morning about 8:30 AM.  We traveled by bus to JFK airport in New York and were there by midday.  It was exciting for me to cross the George Washington Bridge and to see the NY skyline along the Hudson River.  I even saw the Globe in Flushing Meadows from the expressway that is a souvenir from the International Trade Fair of 1969.  I was there when it was brand new!  Our baggage trials began with the ticket line at Delta and continued until we ended up in Chisinau, Moldova.   The flight for Istanbul left the gate at 4:30 PM.  Ten hours later we were landing in Turkey.  From the airport we could see the channel of water that connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea.  Large tanker ships were busy crossing back and forth.  The International Airport in Istanbul is quite an exciting place.  The many types of people from so many different cultures that are exotic to us were present coming and going.  Most noticeable were African women in stunning dresses both on their heads and on their bodies.  Indian women in saris. Arab men and women dressed in traditional garb.  And tired American Peace Corps volunteers who sought refuge in a quite corner of the airport to take a nap in the corner as we had a ten hour layover in the airport.  Some of us ate our meals at the food court that featured TurCuisine, Italiane Café, Quick Asia, Popeye’s Chicken, Burger King, and Sabarro Pizza.  Some were adventurous and got a visa for $20 to enter Turkey and visit the big city of Istanbul.  We were all back and ready to board our Air Turkey flight leaving at 7:30 PM.  It was a nonstop flight to Chisinau.  An hour and a half flight, but it took us two hours to leave the gate.   A busy airport.  As the sun was setting in the West, we winged our way directly north and I could see the north shore of the Black Sea from my airplane seat.  One of the flight attendants thought I was Turkish and tried speaking to me in Arabic.  I was complimented, but her English was perfect, so I asked for “red wine, please.”