We’re here! We’re here!
After a great flight from Dulles we landed in Istanbul this afternoon. Let me tell you a little about our flight…
In Dulles we had to exchange our boarding passes from United for Turkish Air boarding passes. No big deal there, but in doing that we were given access to their First Class lounge and some little “express passport” paper. Of course, eager to make the most of Eve and Leroy’s generosity in arranging our first class transport, we headed right off to the lounge. Oh, good golly. So very relaxing and pleasant…though Mary did mention that it looked like it had been decorated by Elvis. OOOKKKK – maybe she’s a little tired.
We enjoyed an excellent cup of coffee, I had some yummy lentil soup and we both finished with strawberry sorbet in which you could see big chunks of strawberries. All too soon it was time to go back to our gate for our 10+ hour flight.
This is the first flight I’ve ever been on where the chef greets you as you take your seat. Hmmm…this is going to be more interesting than I thought.
We were thrilled to see that our seats would lie flat; our amenities bag included not only the usual eye mask, slippers and earplugs, but toothpaste, toothbrush, hand cream, lip gloss, bottled water, and a shoe horn. (Really, a shoe horn?)
Being the bumpkins that we are, it took Mary and I about 45 minutes to figure out how to use the remote controls for our individual TVs. I spent 10 minutes viewing the different styles of cargo planes used by Turkish Airlines (all dimensions and descriptions helpfully in Turkish) before I figured out how to change the channel. If I could read Turkish I would be well versed for any Jeopardy questions involving cargo planes.
Soon, though the evening’s entertainment was starting. It was a food fest of the highest degree. At one point, I said “But I didn’t order this” and was told “is included” so I shut up and ate my Godiva chocolates.
After our hot towels arrived some canapes. Grilled salmon on a stick (to die for!), herbed chicken breast on a little biscuit and a wee bitty eggroll.
Following the canapes, came our appetizers. Mine was buffalo mozzarella with fresh tomatoes and pesto with salad; small side dishes of tabbouleh, cucumbers and yoghurt and chilled green beans.
THEN they brought dinner. We each ate about 1/2 of our goat cheese ravioli and sides.
It was all completely delicious.
Mary was asleep before the dessert cart arrived and I just shook my head fearing an exploding tummy would cause an international incident.
We both slept well. When we awoke about 6 hours later, lo and behold, it was time for breakfast. You have GOT to be kidding me! But before breakfast a little “lite fare” to awaken your taste buds.
Fresh fruit, a mango/lime smoothie, coffee, and fresh cheeses with a roll.
Then they brought breakfast.
It was like being on a cruise ship but you had no place to run and no place to hide. What a great flight.
We deplaned rested and satiated. Walked down the stairs to deplane and got on buses to the terminal building. The lines at passport control were HUGE. At least an hour wait to get through (we had gotten our visas electronically before leaving the U.S. so didn’t have to stand in that line. Well, remember those “passport express” cards we were handed in Dulles? Magic! Those cards took us to a special passport line where we waited maybe 10 minutes. Through passport control, stopped at the ATM for Turkish Lira ($1 USD = $2TL – hooray), grabbed our luggage and then caught our prearranged shuttle to the hotel.
What an easy and fun trip we’ve had so far. I hope you’re enjoying my blog and will tune in again soon. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about meeting up with Eve and Leroy at the hotel and about our “Istanbul Eats” walking tour. (Food again??)
Now, for a short hop to Washington DC (Dulles) and onward for a nice 10 hour nap…