Mini-OE to Germany–Day 16

Leaving Germany. I never would have thought that I will be sad to leave. But we had the most wonderful time here and are now leaving for Istanbul. I now can imagine that people get homesick. I think it is ok as long as you live in your country and haven’t been back. But maybe homesickness is something you pick up when you go back and visit, And maybe it gets stringer and stronger over time and increases with every visit. I don’t want to go into too much detail because I want to summarize in a last post. But to be honest, I couldn’t find many of the reasons we had to leave Germany and move to New Zealand. I write this entry on the plane to Singapore. I have now the full picture and know the emotions and thoughts I developed over those days. But as I said, let me save this for later.

A last breakfast in Germany. The last German bread. But everything comes to an end eventually. We packed our bags, finished our coffee and after another tearful goodbye were on our way to Berlin Tegel. Initially we were scheduled to leave from the new airport Berlin Brandenburg which is in Berlin Schoenefeld. But there is a big scandal around this airport because it is completely over budget by some Billion Euros and they still have problems with the security sign off etc. So we were re-scheduled to Berlin Tegel which is old and small.

But finding it was a different story. We had excellent guidance from Lilo’s uncle and avoided all the usual traffic jams. But once we entered Berlin there was no signage which confirmed we were on the right way. We started getting nervous but a short check with a car driver stopping beside us at a traffic light confirmed we were ok. But still, this is Berlin and not some small provincial town.

Arriving at the airport it got worse. Were is the drop off for the rental car. Driving around this airport is more difficult than Spaghetti Junction in Auckland. We circled the roundabouts again and again until we found a small entrance into an underground parking space where the drop off was. Berlin Tegel, that’s a Fail!

The return of our Opel was easy. No scratches, no damage, they even were ok with a tank which was only quarter full. Thanks Hertz for an easy service.

The airport itself is not better than the outside. I will spare you the details but I now know why they built a new airport. We were glad when we were eventually sitting at the gate t our flight to Istanbul.

We arrived Istanbul almost 45 minutes early and of course our friends weren’t there. I had their mobile number and called our friend Meltem. She was at home but told me that her husband Mustafa and her son Uğur should be at the airport to pick us up. Well they haven’t seen us and didn’t recognize us, And we couldn’t find them. Thanks to the Turkish mobile network and a full prepaid card we could guide them to us and were happy to see them.

Mustafa has a new car, a Landrover. I love to sit in cars which are high up and you have a good view. If you ever happen to be in Istanbul and happen to be a passenger in a car driven by a Turkish person, most likely male I can give you one advise. This is the best advise you will ever get for this situation: DON’T PANIC! Sounds familiar? The second best advise: Relax! Otherwise you will end up with mental problems and might need some drugs to bring you back to normal.

Seriously, there are no rules in Istanbul. All signs and lights etc are just suggestions. You drive where there is space for your car. Lanes are decoration. The horn is the most important part of your car And the more expensive your car them more distance the other drivers will keep. This is seriously one of the last adventures of mankind. But worry not dear reader, the fact that I am still able to use a computer and type this report should tell you: I survived!

We arrived at our friend’s house in one piece and unloaded our stuff. A cold shower helped to revive us and we sat down for a Turkish Coffee.

Later on we had a typical Turkish dinner. I love the Turkish food at least as much as I love German food. Maybe even more because it is healthier and fresher. We had all sorts of peppers, tomatoes, feta and other cheeses, yogurt, bread, olives and – ta taa Suḉuk.

After dinner some friends of our hosts showed up, Yildirin and Sevgi. I must admit, I was dead tired at this stage. We only had 5 hours sleep the night before. But this is Turkey and in Turkey you live through the night. Friends come in at 10 pm, that’s just how it is. I was worried they think we were some boring Germans because I was fighting to stay awake And Lilo wasn’t any better. Honestly, I was relieved when they left.

We slept like angels despite the heat and the usual Istanbul background noise.