After waking up and getting dressed, I went to the Club Lounge at the Sheraton. I realized that this was my first "Turkish breakfast" since I arrived in Turkey. I had simit (bread that looks like a seed-studded bagel), tangy white cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, and black and green olives. I followed that with yogurt and fruit salad. I look forward to more breakfasts like this in Turkey, though I doubt any of them will be accompanied with the view I had this morning.
I delayed my departure until noon, and took a short taxi ride to the Dedeman Hotel. No one will mistake the Dedeman as being the same class as the Sheraton, but it more than meets my needs. The rooms have A/C, free wireless and wired internet, TV, and bath. The rooms are clean, and I was able to get a room on the non-smoking floor. I had read the reviews on TripAdvisor, and I was a little apprehensive. However, I should know by now that TripAdvisor seems to attract a larger proportion of dissatisfied customers than satisfied ones.
The Dedeman is in an area of Ankara known as Bakanlıklar, which is about 1.5 km north of Kavaklıdere, where the Sheraton is. Bakanlıklar doesn't have the upscale shops and restaurants that Kavaklıdere does, but it is by no means a downtrodden area. There are more shops and cafes in the immediate area. Both areas are within easy walking distance of Tunali Hilmi Caddesi and Ataturk Bulvari.
While I won't bore anyone who is reading this with the details of the program--I have put in enough details about other things to bore you
--I will keep you updated about the sites we see, some of our activities, as well as the travel/hotel info. I will say that only 15 out of 19 participants were present this evening, due to travel disruptions. In addition, a few of those who were here this evening faced delays en route. One arrived a day late due to weather at IAD, and another spent 21 hours on a plane because of a mechanical issue at JFK that required about 12 hours to fix. Pax were told that they could not deplane, otherwise, the flight would cancel! I wonder what type of compensation pax will get for that!
