The flight to Turkey - May 2022

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When I arrived at the airport on May 4th I felt like I was already in Turkey. First of all there was a sea of travellers with loads of suitcases on carts and no one spoke English. 

By accident I jumped the queue by about 15 people because I wasn’t sure which line I was supposed to be in given that I had checked in online. I quickly found out that everyone needed to line up. 

After an hour I finally reached the ticket counter.  All I needed to present was my passport and proof of vaccination. No one wanted to see the e-visa I had purchased. 

Before boarding the plane there was a cart with sealed hygiene kits for passengers to grab and go. On board I discovered an older gentleman sitting in my seat. I pointed out that he was in seat A when he ought to be in C. He didn’t really want to move to the window but I politely stood my ground and after a few minutes he muttered and moved. 

I ran into a similar experience with the bathroom. Men of all ages would walk past me and wait opposite me and act as if they had no idea why I was standing at the curtain waiting patiently. I had to use direct  eye staring contact with them so that they would get the idea that I was next in line. I had to stand my female ground!! 

The service was great!! Each person got a zippered bag of goodies with slippers, eye mask, socks and other objects that are usually given out in first class. I was impressed. They even gave out a little menu card with options. I had a three course meal with wine!! 

On the screen in front of me I noticed that we were flying over Lavaltrie and immediately thought of the Quebec folktale « La Chasse Gallérie » “The Flying Canoe”. When we flew over Apeldoorn in the Netherlands I immediately began to think about stories that I heard Drut’syla Shonaleigh Cumbers tell. There were even prayer times listed and named on the screen. As you can see, I was quite amused by the details on the screen. 

I arrived and went through passport control like a charm and even snoozed a little on the way to the hotel. Big shout out to Occidental Taksim Square Hotel!! Great location and they upgraded me to a room with a terrace!! Not bad eh? I only had one slight mishap. There was a knock on my door and it was security. Seems I inadvertently removed a key card from its slot on the wall thinking that room service forgot their pass key. I only wanted to replace it with my room key for the lighting. Oops!! Big mistake, I failed to read the wording in bold which read: ENERGY CARD ONLY. Hence the knock on the door by security, wanting to know if I was safe. 

In the evening, my storytelling friend Cem and his lovely wife Isil, took me down to the old port for supper with a storytelling friend from Australia. I recognized Cem immediately because I know his face from Zoom sessions. What I didn’t expect was his height. On Zoom we all look the same size!! As tall as Cem is, in contrast, Jo is not. 

Supper was delicious. We ate at Liman Istanbul Restorant in the Galataport area. Each bite was mouthwatering!! 

I went to bed dreaming of a wonderful and safe arrival, which left me with a hankering for what else is to come.


                       
                        Covid masks were mandatory                   Men would  pass through the closed curtain and                                                                                               wait on the opposite side to jump the queue for                                                                                               the bathroom.                                          

View from hotel balcony

Taxim Square outside hotel
    

Delicious Turkish Food 

Meeting Cem, Isil, and Jo Henwood

Sea view of Istanbul from the Galataport 
DO NOT REMOVE
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                       




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