Horowitz Travel N. Greece, Albania, N. Macedonia Oct. 16, 2024

From now on I will refer to our destinations as GAM. From Dulles to Istanbul airport was all about wheels. Wheelchairs, that is. We had reserved a wheelchair for David in advance, and it went like clockwork. He was transported to the Business Lounge by Speedy Gonzales with me trotting behind pulling our two rolling carry-ons. All I remember is long hallways and 3 elevators. When boarding time came, there was a chair waiting for us, although the gate wasn’t far. The lineup of chairs at the gate numbered 15. The configuration of our seating area on the plane was different as it was an Air Bus. We’d previously flown Boeings on Turkish Air, which I prefer. Once again OAT messed up and we were not seated next to each other, but across the aisle. It turned out not to be a big deal since we ate, slept, & watched movies most of the time. I finally got to see Killers of the Flower Moon. Thoroughly enjoyed it despite its 3+ hour length. What else did I have to do? I’ve had a problem with an irritated ear lobe. It was particularly itchy even though I’d stopped wearing earrings, but my rubbing alcohol was in packed luggage and the hydrocortisone cream wasn’t doing its thing. I decided that the closest I could get to rubbing alcohol was vodka, so ordered a glass…no ice. I dipped my lobe in the stuff periodically and it did provide relief. David, on the other hand, enjoyed his Glenfiddich Scotch in the traditional way. True to their word, Turkish Airlines was ready with a wheelchair when we landed. They rolled us onto what was a re-furbished lift that could have doubled for food delivery and we rode to ground level. We then transferred to a motorized chair steered from behind by the attendant. I got my own chair because there was no way I could keep up with them on foot. Mr. Toad’s wild ride commenced weaving around inert and human obstacles until it stopped at what was a way-station/storage area for chairs (motorized and manual) and trams. We scored a tram and with only a brief gate detour to off-load, we were whisked to the Bussiness Lounge where we ate, drank, and waited for Judi. I’ve described this Lounge in previous emails, but for those new to the blog, I’ll go through it again. There is a baby grand piano spewing automated soothing diddys. There are at least 3 food buffets including a carvery. All drinks are included whether alcoholic or not. More personal services include dry cleaning, massage, alterations, showers, prayer rooms, playground, ironing, and laundry service. Judi arrived in the lounge as scheduled and we had an uneventful flight to Thessaloniki, Greece. Our hotel is small but updated. The only glitch was that the receptionist insisted that David and I had separate rooms. Our guide straightened that out quickly, and we collapsed in our beds. I’ll skip the part about trying to figure out how to turn off the room lights but leave the one in the bathroom on. Toby