Flying to Europe

Özgür, Ferit's cousin and Seattle's most eligible bachelor, drove us to the airport early Thursday morning.

Özgür, Ferit, and me.

Two hours later, Ferit and I flew from Seattle to Minneapolis on Sun Country, an airline none of us had heard of. After seven hours of layover in Minneapolis, we then flew to Frankfurt on Condor.

Apparently the huge bag carrying all of the kite gear didn't board the plane in Seattle. That was totally fine by us, as the bag would be put on a flight the next day and delivered directly to the doorstop of Ferit's mom, in Turkey. Sweet! As we wouldn't need the kiting gear until we arrived in Turkey, we were pleased that we wouldn't have to lug this ginormous bag around with us for the next two weeks.

Our luggage. The kite bag is in the back.

We waited for two hours in Frankfurt for Ferit's sister, Dilek, to pick us up. Driving from Hamburg, she was delayed by construction on the autobahn. Ferit took advantage of this time to catch up on some sleep, as he would be driving for the next few hours to Prague.

Ferit catches up on his zzzz's.

So, here's the game plan...

Ferit, Dilek, and I will spend the next 11 days road-tripping from Frankfurt to Istanbul. We'll drive through Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, and Greece before reaching our destination in Turkey. Ferit and I will drop Dilek off in Istanbul so that she can continue with her travels to visit some friends. Ferit and I will then spend a few months in Turkey kiting, visiting Ferit's family, and traveling around the eastern part of Turkey.