February 26
I spent the Whole Day watching Olympics on my computer (really, I’m even watching hockey right now) and getting my trip to Europe etc. started. It took HOURS to finally get an air itinerary because none of the online services would ‘confirm’ such a complicated itinerary and no one carrier could book the whole thing at anywhere near a reasonable price.
I’m all set now with dates and only one segment has a nasty flight – to go from Istanbul to Tel Aviv which is two hours away if you fly direct, I will be in transit for NINE hours and arrive at midnight. I got the idea to go to Israel because it was so close to Turkey and now it’s going to take the length of a transatlantic flight to get there! All the other flights are excellent though, so I’m happy. (LA-Istanbul-Tel Aviv-Rome-LA.)
THREE languages (maybe four if I decide to touch Arabic) one/two with an unknowable alphabet and all with lots of sounds never spoken in English… This is going to be HARD!