Damascus and Beyond

I am confused by this site. I am curious if i’ll be able to get it to work properly. Today is Monday, which means I have only three more days before I leave. I wish I was leaving later than 4:30 pm. What a stupid time. That means I have to try and go to sleep for at least 5 or 6 hours at around 7:00 pm Chicago time. I hope the “mother’s little helper” that Keith gave me will work. I tried one out last Friday night and really couldn’t feel any difference. I still woke up at least twice during the course of the night. But, that will have to do because i’m too uncertain about taking more. I will want to get up and walk on my own when we get to Amsterdam. I wonder if i’ll have time to see the world’s biggest mall? I kind of hope not cause I really don’t need to do any shopping before vacation even starts. Anyway, I think it’s a pretty quick turn around. I will have plenty O time to do whatever when we get to Istanbul. I plan to buy my visa and hopefully check my bag so I can go into the city for a while. I want to try the new metro and see how well it works. I figure i’ll just go to some new neighborhood and wander around to kill some time before my 11:30 pm boarding for Damascus. And speaking of 11:30 pm boarding times. Whose brainy idea was that? I understand that most or maybe all flights from Europe get in in the midle of the night. So, the airport might be hoppin’ at 1:30 am. The only advantage I see is that the drive to the hotel should be quick. I can’t imagine sitting in hot, polluted air, stuck in what sounds like really bad traffic conjestion, after traveling for almost twenty four hours. Maybe I should consider some “wake me up pills” in addition to the “sleep tight” ones. Or maybe I’ll just rely on the local java. That stuff puts lead in your pencil.