I'm currently sitting in the lobby of the Marriott airport hotel in Istanbul. I arrived late last night and my flight to Tokyo doesnt leave until tonight. I was going to go into the city center for lunch or something just to check it out but that seems like too much of a pain in the ass for just a few hours. Money exchange, figuring out transportation, etc. Instead I'll sit at the hotel bar and have a few drinks.
Even though I've only been at the airport, this hotel, and the drive between, it seems like Istanbul is heavily under security. Just to pull into the hotel lot we had to go through a security check, then to enter the building you need to have your bags scanned and go through a metal detector. The air here smells like the city is on fire. So maybe it's better that I'm staying in the hotel til my flight.
