I'm going on a five day trip to Istanbul, Turkey with students and teachers of the Academy. The plane will take off at 10:00AM, but I have to check in two and a half hours in advance. This means I will have to catch the train to Schiphol from 6:59AM on The Hague Central Station. That means I have to get up in 6 hours from now... tops. I don't think that there has been one day this summer that I went to bed before 6AM... and now I have to get up at that time. I hope I will be able to get some rest before I leave though, I'm still not feeling well (had a bad case of the flu and inflamation of the throat, which is the third time in roughly three months).
I am looking forward too it, but (/because?) I don't know what to expect; I've never been to Turkey, nor have I ever been on a plane before. Packing my bag (I don't have a suitcase) felt a bit weird... I really didn't know what to pack. I decided to pack very little (just the obvious toothbrush and some clothes). I'm still pondering whether or not I should take on suit with me. One thing that especially makes me look forward to it is that I'm going with the right people. They're all people I've known for a little over two years now, and we connect really well.
The plane is supposed to arrive in Instanbul around 14:00. We will then be escorted to the Ersu hotel*** by bus. The hotel is located in the centrum of town, where we will be doing some sightseeing, after which we will dinner in a very low budget restaurant.
On wednesday we will visit the Topkapi palace, Aya Sofia, and the Blue Mosque. I will post more information about these and other places we will visit (and hopefully pictures), when I get back.