Day 12- Istanbul to Milan

Overnight, we finalized our plans with Dave and Molly.  We are flying to Milan today where they will meet us and then drive to Santa Margherita Ligure on the Italian Riviera near Cinque Terre National Park.

Arrival in Istanbul was exciting

with many of the famous landmarks visible from the water.

After clearing customs for the 4^th time now, we transferred from the port to Atatürk International Airport for our flight to Milan.

We arrived on time and because of our voluminous amount of luggage (I can’t even blame the camera equipment for this one), we had to rent a van.

Driving on the narrow windy streets of Italy is hard enough in a little Fiat but excruciating in our truck (actually a Fiat minivan, but felt like a semi).  The only saving grace was that since I wasn’t there when Dave picked up the vehicle, I couldn’t be put on it as a driver, so I rode shotgun and navigated.  Jeri and Molly were happy to relinquish the map and compass (ie GPS). 

After about a 2 hour drive from the Milan airport, we arrived in Santa Margherita Ligure, a cute little Mediterranean town with red brick roofs and huge waterfront villas.  Our hotel, the Santa Margherita Palace was a small boutique hotel a block from the marina. 

The concierge, Luca (AKA “Chico”-Molly couldn’t remember his name) was a lot of fun and very helpful, giving us hiking and dinner suggestions.  Tonight we went to his favorite restaurant, Antonio’s just a few blocks from the hotel. 

It was fantastic and not terribly expensive!  We had amazing sole,

boned expertly by our waiter Giancarlo

                       

                                       

and squid ink pasta with seafood that was outstanding. 

Best meal of the trip!

Tomorrow we are off to hike Cinque Terre.