Travel

As I write this, I’m sitting in the business class lounge at Istanbul airport. It would appear that the weather gods are not going to let us go easily – we woke on our last day in Kazakhstan to temperatures of -35F. I paid $100 for Liz and I to use the VIP lounge at Atyrau airport, as I had been warned that the temporary shelter that they have put up in lieu of a departure lounge isn’t heated. It was still cold, but that has to be the best $100 I’ve ever spent. The folks getting on the plane that were not in the VIP lounge looked painfully cold. Just to add to the weather theme of this trip, we were greeted in Istanbul by a driving snowstorm. The locals claim that this is first snow they have had in SEVEN YEARS. When we got up this morning there was about 8 inches of new snow on the ground, and we were pretty dubious about whether the taxi would even be able to make it up the hill to our hotel (it isn’t called “Seven Hills” for nothing). Aside from the occasional slip and slide, our taxi made it to the airport. The Blue Mosque in snow has to be seen to be believed. Never-the-less, we are on our way. Bags are checked and all we are left to do is enjoy the lounge and get on that big plane for San Francisco! Liz thinks that when we get there it will be snowing...