Today's blog comes to you from Istanbul. I pretty much just woke up, hung out for a bit, then went to the airport. And now I'm on my layover in Istanbul. I've heard that the Turkish Airlines lounge here is supposed to be one of the best in the world, and I can honestly say it's up there. It is super impressive. As soon as you walk in there's this library with a pool table, which I maybe would have tried to use if I wasn't alone. Then they just have everything you could imagine. There's obviously food everywhere, but unlike most lounges where they just have buffet-style food, here they have stations where food is being made fresh. Freshly made pasta and grilled meats and pide and Turkish dumplings. And there's all these mezze stations and dessert stations and drink stations. Not to mention the 15 or so open bars spread around the lounge. And that's just refreshments. They also have the standards like showers and newspapers, but then they have film rooms and a virtual golf room and Playstations and wandering masseuses. Masseuses! Actually, the more I write, the more convinced I am that this is the best lounge I've ever been to. And it's also not super crowded. It's just wonderful.
I also had a few shopping requirements. Specifically coasters and a hookah. I actually wanted to buy a hookah in Georgia, but I couldn't find any. I'd been told I could get one here and assumed it would be like the Dubai airport with all kinds, but sadly it wasn't. They only had tiny ones, which at least weren't so expensive. I wanted a bigger one, but I had no choice in the matter. Plus I'd rather have a hookah from Istanbul than from some online shop in China (I did actually check the online shops and couldn't find any, so it's not just me being pretentious). And the coasters were inspired by my friends James and Lauren. I stayed with them in Philly a couple months ago, if you remember, and they had these great coasters that they said they got in the Grand Bazaar here in Istanbul. I found something similar at duty free, so I paid too much for them, but I did need coasters and also didn't find anything like this that I wanted on the online Chinese shops. So I feel ok with my overpriced purchases.
All in all, my 4 hours here were a pleasure. Other than the shopping and eating, I caught up on saved articles on Facebook and listened to music. I've actually gotten through a lot more music today, and while I stand behind my recommendation from yesterday, if I had kept listening last night for about 2 more songs I would have found a song I think was great. But on the bright side, now I have this great song to share with you today. The song is Anxious in Venice, the opening track off of Superhumanoids album Do You Feel OK?, which came out last month. I know I've heard these guys before. They have another album, Exhibitionists, but the cover art doesn't look familiar. But I'm 100% sure I've heard something by them. Maybe an earlier EP or something, I can't remember. But I must not have been that into it if I can't remember at all. This time, if Anxious in Venice is any indication, I just might be. I still have to listen to the full album, but hopefully it's this good, too.
I also had a few shopping requirements. Specifically coasters and a hookah. I actually wanted to buy a hookah in Georgia, but I couldn't find any. I'd been told I could get one here and assumed it would be like the Dubai airport with all kinds, but sadly it wasn't. They only had tiny ones, which at least weren't so expensive. I wanted a bigger one, but I had no choice in the matter. Plus I'd rather have a hookah from Istanbul than from some online shop in China (I did actually check the online shops and couldn't find any, so it's not just me being pretentious). And the coasters were inspired by my friends James and Lauren. I stayed with them in Philly a couple months ago, if you remember, and they had these great coasters that they said they got in the Grand Bazaar here in Istanbul. I found something similar at duty free, so I paid too much for them, but I did need coasters and also didn't find anything like this that I wanted on the online Chinese shops. So I feel ok with my overpriced purchases.
All in all, my 4 hours here were a pleasure. Other than the shopping and eating, I caught up on saved articles on Facebook and listened to music. I've actually gotten through a lot more music today, and while I stand behind my recommendation from yesterday, if I had kept listening last night for about 2 more songs I would have found a song I think was great. But on the bright side, now I have this great song to share with you today. The song is Anxious in Venice, the opening track off of Superhumanoids album Do You Feel OK?, which came out last month. I know I've heard these guys before. They have another album, Exhibitionists, but the cover art doesn't look familiar. But I'm 100% sure I've heard something by them. Maybe an earlier EP or something, I can't remember. But I must not have been that into it if I can't remember at all. This time, if Anxious in Venice is any indication, I just might be. I still have to listen to the full album, but hopefully it's this good, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment