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| Somewhere over Europe |
Saturday, February 17
Today is a full day of travel - all day on the plane, except a brief visit to Istanbul and the CIP Lounge for Turkish Airlines.
I slept from 12:30 to 5
AM, with the help of podcasts and an eye mask to dampen the sounds and light
from the galley. Breakfast was served at
5:30 AM – mango smoothie, home made muesli, fresh fruit, croissant and
eggs. My favorite was a nice hot
cup of tea, served with milk and honey in a pretty china and metal cup. Michael woke up about an hour later.
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| Breakfast worth waking up for - followed by eggs |
The clouds over the
European continent finally parted somewhere over Romania or Bulgaria (hard to
tell by the map). We flew into
Istanbul from the south, so we had a nice view of the Bosporus, but not the old
city, as we had when we first flew in 2016. It’s cloudy and rainy with a temperature of 45 degrees
F. We walked through Ataturk
Havalimani (Airport) to get to the Turkish Airlines lounge. We have a little more than 2 hours here
before our next flight departs to Dubai.
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Rainy and hazy on the Bosporus today
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Buses at Ataturk airport - I wonder if you'll be able to use real jetways when the new airport is complete?
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After about a 3 hour layover in Istanbul, we boarded our flight to Dubai. We’re in the same seats – 3A &
3B. This plane is also lovely, but
a little older model than the transcontinental flight. The space is almost identical, but the
seats are not quite the “pod” like recline as the first plane. For some reason
the flight attendants seem nicer – maybe they are less stressed from a 4 hour
flight vs. a 9 hour flight with 2 full meals.
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| Flight to Dubai - where's everyone? |
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| Michael's ready to just get there! |
We again were offered the
lovely fruit juices as soon as we boarded the plane. This time I
had a mint lemonade which was truly delicious. Our meal was served quickly, in contrast to our previous flight – similar to how the US airlines do the meal service. Only one chef instead of 2, he came
round to say hello and get our dinner drink orders. Our seafood appetizer, salad and cheese plate were all
served on a tray, so less complicated that the previous meal service. This is our 3rd large airline meal in 12
hours!
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| My new favorite juice - lemon mint |
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| Nice! |
We did have a lovely
dessert – a chocolate covered cream puff, which was called a profiterole on the
menu. We topped it off with
Turkish coffee, served just like Muammar said it must be: with a side glass of water and a piece
of Turkish delight.
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| Turkish coffee - deliciously thick |
Perhaps the most
interesting thing about this flight is watching the flight map. We’re flying over territory that’s
frequently been in the news: Aleppo,
Mosol, Kirkuk. I notice we have
completely avoided flying over Syria, but rather traveled due east to cross
over Iraq and then down to the UAE.
The flight path is actually a right angle - due east and then south to the Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea. Of course, the Turkish - Syrian border has been complicated over the Kurdish situation in recent months. Other areas that we'll visit this trip - such as Myanmar - have also been in the news recently for complicated reasons.
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| Flight path from Turkey to UAE - a right angle around tricky airspace |
When we arrive, it will be
1 AM in Dubai. We’ll have to go
through customs, pick up our luggage and find our driver to take us to the Jumeirah
Zabeel Saray Hotel. I’m hoping to
sleep for 4 or 5 hours before we meet our Tours by Locals guide, Ute, who
will take us on a private tour of Abu Dhabi tomorrow. Cant’ wait!
