Friday, September 5, 2014

Turkish Airlines


It is 11:25 pm and we are sitting in a Turkish Airlines Plane at Dulles (Washington D.C.) waiting for take off. An infant is screaming, screaming, screaming. It took an inordinate amount of time to get our boarding pass. I believe the woman at the desk is in training and she needed help from her supervisor. Finally, after 40 minutes, she asked, "And you will pick up your suitcases in Venice?" I said "No, we have a 16 hour layover in Istanbul and want our luggage in Istanbul." "Why didn't you tell me you had a layover? I already tagged your luggage for Venice." (The change was made and we have our luggage in Istanbul.)

Carol has her notebook and is making notations about the time we leave the terminal and the time we get in the air and the times we reach different altitudes.

I feel the most organized for a trip I have ever been. Gwen Frazier gave me the Grand Circle Tour Handbook for Tuscany which was extremely helpful. Charles gave me a great REI roller bag and small pack combo. He also added International 3G capability for my iPad. Diane told me that AAA will exchange currency for you before you go at no charge. Because I had to prepare for Carol's arrival 2 days before we left Dulles, I was forced to clean the house and get organized. Soon I will see what is unnecessary and what I should have packed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is now 5:41 am Virginia time , or 12:42 pm Istanbull time. Carol is asleep in the window seat. Although it is lunch time, they want all the window shades tightly closed. According to the map on the screen we have not hit Europe yet. I am having my typical 'can t sleep on a plane struggles' and feel so tired at the moment that I feel sick. I am dreaming of that hotel room in Turkey.

Oh, looks like we are just approaching the coast line of France.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is now 2:30 pm Istanbul time and I see that we are north of Venice. The baby is crying and the lights have just come on. Soon the window shades will open and they will serve us breakfast. Dinner last night was with real silverware and an elegant menu, just like I remember in the mid sixties. They gave us a travel kit with toothbrush and supplies, a pillow and blanket, a pair of slippers, a heated washcloth, and dinner and breakfast. We have an iPad likescreen on the back of the seat in front of us and can see where the plane is on the map or watch all kinds of movies. I watched Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace of Monaco and a 1980's Turkish film with no subtitles, Kemal Sunal in Postac




 We eventually found the Turkey Tourism booth after showing our passports and visas. They put us on a hotel van and drove us to a Doubletree Hotel. It was rush hour in Istanbull and what usually takes 15 minutes, took over an hour. We have a great room overlooking this part of Istanbul and the Sea of Marmara. Most people we have spoken to in Turkey can speak English but neither Carol nor I can understand their English .











The van will return us to the airport at 8 in the morning to fly east to Venice.





No comments:

Post a Comment