6th May - To Bari

Bernie had her wish to dine at a Turkish fish restaurant. When we arrive we are shown samples of the night's fresh catch - sea bass - blow fish - then a string of local fish names that we don't recognize - Bernie is inclined towards the blow fish but goes with the waiter's recommendation - the sea bass. We decide on a fish soup starter and sea bass for Bernie.

The view out over the sea? - superb! - The meal satisfactory - the service satisfactory - the server's English barely adequate - "where are you from?" said he - "Australia" - "ah Vee-n-ah" says he - "No - not Austria! - Australia!!!"

A taxi to the airport - we have lots of time - the taxi fare the equivalent of $80 - twice the cost of our inward bound ride - a reflection of peak hour versus early Sunday morning traffic. 

The Turkish roads, at least those we traveled on, were excellent - the speeds on the freeways excessive! - The delays at peak hour almost tolerable - "quite an achievement for the largest city in Europe" thinks I.

What we saw of Istanbul was modern, clean, sophisticated, friendly and progressive.

By 10:00 we are settled into the Turkish airlines business lounge - we wait to board our flight to Rome and then on to Bari in Puglia - it will be a day in airports!

The Turkish airlines business lounge could not be described as an airline lounge - it could not be described as a large airline lounge - it is enormous - it is huge! - food service kitchens with abutting cafe tables everywhere each with multiple chefs - drinks stand cabinets everywhere you turn - pastry chefs tending pastry counters - seats and more seats - a nursery - a wundering massage therapist - everything the old couple could desire! 

The flight to Rome is both short and uneventful. We sit as instructed in our seats waiting for the plane to totally disgorge it's human cargo - the wheel chair people arrive - it starts an experience - first Bernie is ushered into  a conventional wheelchair with an indication I should follow - into a lift - out side to a van - into a van - into an arrivals hall - into an assistance waiting room that contains an assistance control desk - lots of electronic wheelchairs, lots of assistants and about 30 people waiting to be moved by wheel chair around the airport. 

There are people with a genuine need for mobility assistance but there are also people who are simply there to take advantage of the system - what is the point of reading signs and making your own way through baggage claim and customs if you can get some one to walk you through it!

There is initially some apparent chaos but in retrospect it might just have been people doing things the Italian way.

Soon I am taken by one assistant off  customs and  bag collection - the process rapid in the extreme. Meanwhile another assistant is taking Bernie through customs and security. We meet and Bernie's assistant pushes her off towards the domestic terminal - I trot behind pushing the luggage trolley and in the process breathing heavily and showing my age.

Soon we are at the domestic terminal - we are taken into the domestic version of the assistance control room. Our assistant leaves to go back to his own control room and we are soon in the hands of a new one - through closed doors - around and about - soon we are at the departure gate - "wait here - another assistant will come to take you to the plane" - we wait.

Right on boarding time  the "other" assistant arrives with a wheel chair - the waiting hordes part at her demand and soon with are at the head of the queue and ready for priority boarding. Very soon after we sit watching the other passengers compete with one another for seats and luggage storage as they make their own way onboard. 

For me it has been an aerobic experience as I tried  to keep up with the assistants perched on the back of their electrified wheel chairs - As I sit in the plane I am in a mild sweat  - for Bernie it was a calm and relaxing experience - for me? - not so! - little wonder then that her request for her jacket because she was feeling cold did not go down well with me!

The flight was full - the day sunny - the country side green - the number of wind turbines stunning - a thousand? 

50 minutes and we are at Bari - we emerge from the plane on to the tarmac - the sun still shining but the rain tumbling down - "careful Bernie - don't slip".

The taxi takes us in towards the old town - if there is a scale of "impressive-ness" then the drive from the airport into town would rate as negatively impressive - the roads terrible, the environs weedy and overgrown, the traffic unruly and buildings crying out for tender loving care. 

The traffic behavior - including that of our driver - so unruly that it causes us too laugh! - complete disregard for white lines - the use of lanes or rules of parking.

We reach the accommodation in the old city - we follow instructions to get into our room only to discover that our room has been changed - we assume some sort of surveillance for before long we are contacted on WhatsApp and the doors are opened.

The room adequate - neat enough - great location - we sleep!