It was time to say goodbye to this beautiful coastal town and make our way back to Istanbul, from where we would take a non-stop flight home. The plan was to turn in the rental car at Milas Bodrum Airport and catch a flight back north then spend the night near the airport.

The flight out from Bodrum was in the afternoon so we had plenty of time to have breakfast and pack up. It was a solid plan.

Except for one very important detail: Our round-trip flights were in and out of Istanbul Airport. But I had accidentally booked the flight from Bodrum to land at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, nearly an hour away. So despite trying to minimize driving, here we were crossing the city in an expensive hire car to arrive at the hotel. At least I had booked that near the right airport!

Another thing I messed up, badly, was in packing. I got mixed up which suitcase had the olive oil in it. When we went through security, I still had the tin, instead of having checked that bag through. Fortunately, the airport was small enough and the staff kind enough that they let me run my bag back to the airline counter and fix it. Good thing this did not happen at the Istanbul or we would have said farewell to our oil and maybe even had other problems to deal with.

FRT Airport Hotel

We had a room at the FRT Airport Hotel in Arnavutköy, outside of Istanbul and about 15 minutes from the airport. The hotel, as I recall, was nice enough. It might have been a little noisy. In one direction, looking down the street we could see the Çardaktepe Mosque and our room looked out onto the Hicret Mosque. A photo of our son in the elevator reminds me that it was ludicrously small, big enough for one per - one bag, and it was very slow. It seems you find this wherever you visit historic buildings that have been retrofitted, though I am not sure that's the case here.

We went out to find some dinner and settled on a place a few doors down the block. It didn't feel like a great neighborhood, so we didn't want to stray too far. I remember getting manti and we had other things it was probably the worst food we had had on the trip. Or, literally the only not-good food we had. There were lots of flies buzzing around. We did not linger but instead went back to the hotel where we enjoyed a bottle of the Karnas wine we had bought and couldn't take home.

We arrived at Istanbul Airport with plenty of time. We had heard that the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul was a.mazing, and we were able to get ourselves in. It was everything that was promised!

I also have to recommend the Turkish flight as well. The staff are great, the food is plentiful and terrific. I didn't sleep on the way home but it's such a long flight that I think I watched four or five movies. I still managed to arrive home reasonably rested. I would almost choose this route to connect to other European cities, if it didn't add more flight time. Maybe someday I can fly Turkish again!