Hakan & Serenay Come for a Visit

Hakan and Serenay, my nephew and niece-in-law, were actually supposed to arrive yesterday. But their flight from İzmir to İstanbul was delayed by heavy fog.

The bad news? They missed their İstanbul to Bologna connection and lost a day of their one-week trip to Italy. The good news? They got to spend time with friends who live in İstanbul. Gotta find those silver linings when plans go awry.

Their flight to Bologna today progressed as expected, and they arrived mid-day … with the bonus of an extra hour since Europe fell back overnight from daylight saving time to standard time.

After tea at the apartment, we went on a stroll around Centro Storico, gave them the lay of the land, returned to the apartment for a bit to rest up, and then headed back out again for dinner at San Pietro. Delicious food and nonstop camaraderie made for a great meal.

Tomorrow, they head out for a few days to drive around Tuscany. Then back here for a few days before heading to Venice for a short visit before they fly back to İzmir from there.

As luck would have it, the day they travel to Venice — the 30th — there is an Italy-wide transportation strike. Every mode of travel will be impacted … including taxis. We managed to get their ticket changed to one of the trains guaranteed to run during the legally required hours, so they should be OK … at least as far as getting there is concerned. After that … well, they are experienced travelers and will figure it out.

Looking forward to more fun times with them.Read more