Istanbul! We Both Got Here!

I left the house by cab for the train station at 2:15 and got to JFK by 4:15--easy. The plane was supposed to take off at 6:50, but we didn't leave the ground until 9:38, arriving at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul at 2:38pm the next day, local time. I had managed to watch "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" in two shifts, with about 4 hours of fitful sleep, always in search of a comfortable position. The movie was extremely apt, for reasons I'd realize later. Service and food were excellent on this Turkish Airlines flight, and they trumpeted their award as the "Best European Airline" on their menu (!).
But the waiting ordeal had just begun. I had imagined that I could run into town and see the Archaeological Museum and return to the airport by 6 in time to meet Barbara, who was supposed to arrive at 5:15 (and then go through customs for 45 minutes). But her plane turned out to be more than 6 hours late. I was getting smellier and smellier and more and more tired as I tried in vain for 4 hours to find out when her plane was expected to arrive. But her London originating flight was just marked "Delayed" in English and Turkish for hours; no one knew anything. Finally at about 10pm her expected arrival time showed up as 23:29, or about 11:30 pm. We had agreed we would take an overnight bus to Kayseri that night to begin our visit to Cappadocia, but no one in the airport had a bus schedule, so at about 8:45 I decided to take the metro to the Otogar, or bus depot, to find out. 
I grabbed all three of my bags, plus my plastic food bag, and off I went to the metro, bearing one backpack and dragging two rolling bags, one quite large. Inside the subway train the bigger one at 28 inches, kept keeling over, and I was glad it didn't hit anyone. When I got to the stop two young men tried to take my luggage, asking me my bus destination. I held onto it for a while, while they led me to the bus company that served Kayseri. I had expected a centralized depot. Instead, it was a row of colorful storefronts, so it turns out the two young men were actually helpful. Inside I found out that there was a midnight bus, arriving in Kayseri, Cappadocia, at 10 the next morning. The owner begged me to leave my two rolling bags with him, but I wouldn't think of it, since although Barbara's arrival was predicted at 11pm, I had no assurance that she would be her by then.
The two young men escorted me back to the subway station, repeating "baksheesh, baksheesh," and I assured them that I understood that a tip was the whole point of the exercise. However, I had no small bills, and only one Turkish lira in change, plus my return subway token. 
"No problem, no problem," they said when I revealed that my smallest bill was a 50 lira note, about $27. "Change, change," was their other English word. They offered to give me 30 lira in change, but I refused. Then they found a friend who contributed an additional 10 lira in coins, but I still refused. None of the merchants we tried in the metro station had change for the 50, so I had to give them the subway token (worth 3 lira) and the 1 lira in coins. The meaner of the two then shook his fist and scowled at me; I had betrayed them, but they had also left me with the necessity to find change for my 50. In the rear of the station a merchant took two 20s and a 10 out his wallet for my 50--the token machines wouldn't take anything larger than a 20, so I could buy my token.
Back at the airport by 10pm, Barbara's plane was finally announced at 23:29. By 11, I had decided to change our car rental reservation in Kayseri, moving it up a day, and to find a hotel in Istanbul, which I did with my Rough Guide to Turkey in my Kindle viewer in my tablet--a boutique hostel-hotel in the Sultanahmet district, where the main historical buildings were located--Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, etc.
The announcement that Barbara's plane had landed came at 11:11. Now it would take her 45 minutes to get through customs. I had been calling and texting her for the past six hours, but with no response. I got up to wait with all the limo drivers at the arrivals door at about 11:30. By midnight she still hadn't appeared. I was beginning to wonder if I could do the trip on my own, if it had all been a hoax; I was extremely tired and smelly, but I did manage to banish those thoughts. 
Then, finally, after seven and a half hours in the airport, she appeared. We recognized each other immediately and greet each other like old friends. The trip would go on as scheduled (more or less--given uncertainties like today's). She changed money, and we headed for the metro, but were met by a kind taxi driver who informed us it was closed for the night. He offered to take us to our hotel for 65 lira, and we jumped at it.
We sped through the city, with the Sea of Marmara on our right, and the very European lights of the city on our left, passing through the ruins of Constantinople's fortified wall, and arriving at the Big Apple Hostel-Hotel on a sloping street within view of Hagia Sophia's minarets. The young proprietor's name was Apo, hence the name, and he was right out of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," and here we were, past retirement age (though still working our asses off) having just met on the physical plane, and sharing a room with two beds. 
I set my camera up on the rooftop terrace before showering off the sweat of the voyage, while Barbara went directly to sleep. It was delicious extending my legs in a real bed.

The minarets of Hagia Sophia from the hotel terrace:

This morning dawned overcast, but I had gotten a good night and morning photograph from the same position. I took my camera down at 7:50, and then went back to sleep. The breakfast, which we at at 9:30, was quite extensive.

The view of the Sea of Marmara from the hotel cafe, with Barbara working on her blog in the foreground (rtwin70days.com).