Around the world in 40 days but no Gallipoli

[Flying mermaid]

Mosques at night

 

[Flying mermaid]

Street Images

 

[Flying mermaid]

Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons - $160 for 2 (no wine).

 

[TheRealTMA]

So as requested some photos of BA CE. This was an A 320 - basically the same as Y, except they have a sort of tray that sits on the middle seat. Gives more elbow space, but not leg space. Breakfast was rather nice - I am always a bit suspicious of plane eggs, but these were good.

Ah I miss the good old BA sausage and egg breakfast at 10Km.

PE looks like the old Eureopean J with a spare seat and tray in the middle on which to put your hat.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Dinner at Khorasani - $92 for 2 mezze a main and a shared dessert (chocolate fondant - beautiful, as were the mezze), a glass of wine, beer, water and coffee.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Ah I miss the good old BA sausage and egg breakfast at 10Km.

PE looks like the old Eureopean J with a spare seat and tray in the middle on which to put your hat.

CE (club Europe), not PE, so yes still the same. Although the ones I have flown before had 2 seats on one side and 3 on the other with the tray thing. I thought the old ones were more comfortable than these. However service was very pleasant on both flights and I thought the food was fine.

 

[TheRealTMA]

CE (club Europe), not PE, so yes still the same. Although the ones I have flown before had 2 seats on one side and 3 on the other with the tray thing. I thought the old ones were more comfortable than these. However service was very pleasant on both flights and I thought the food was fine.

Bug**r! I must learn to read the post before I jump in! Yes I meant CE. At least I got the sausage correct if not the class or spelling.

 

[amaroo]

Getting through Immigration was reasonably quick - we had fast track passes and although there was a reasonable queue it was nothing like the ordinary one. Our Four Seasons minder was there to greet us and take us to the car and we thought this is easy. Then we hit the peak hour traffic Eventually things came to a total halt and our driver and Serdal conferred and decided to turn around and hit the side streets. Well that was fun. I have no idea how it worked! The roads appeared to be two way but with all the cars parked on the side there was no room. Some sort of system prevailed similar to going across a one car width bridge. However it broke down when someone parked in such a way that there was no proper view and so we ended up with the opposing lines of traffic meeting in the middle. There was a huge altercation between the offender and another driver (one calling the other the son of a coyote according to Serdal). Anyway somehow we got through and were at the Four Seasons only 2 hours after leaving the airport. We became quite friendly with Serdal, exchanging our life histories and seeing photos of his cats.

2 hours :shock: We arrived on a Saturday and departed on a Sunday and both times it took <1hour. Our departure had to be worked around the Istanbul half marathon and we still made it under the hour. IST airport was another story - the TK incident on the 25th April was still being felt the next day. Just entering the terminal was a major effort!

Istanbul Atatürk Airport breaks its own traffic record

Istanbul’s main international airport, Atatürk Airport broke its own traffic record on Sunday, April 26 2015 when a total of 1,338 planes took off and landed. A day earlier on April 25, one of the airport’s runways was closed due to an emergency landing of a Turkish Airlines plane bound for Milan.

A Turkish Airlines plane returning from Milan made an emergency landing in Istanbul on Saturday after one of its engines caught fire. All passengers and members of the crew were immediately evacuated after the Airbus 320 landed. Due to the runway closure, the number of landings and take-offs was 1,097. The next day, however, the airport broke its October 4, 2014, traffic record of 1,326 landings and take-offs.

 

[Flying mermaid]

2 hours :shock: We arrived on a Saturday and departed on a Sunday and both times it took <1hour. Our departure had to be worked around the Istanbul half marathon and we still made it under the hour. IST airport was another story - the TK incident on the 25th April was still being felt the next day. Just entering the terminal was a major effort!

Istanbul Atatürk Airport breaks its own traffic record

Yeah it was incredible traffic - we arrived at 5pm on a Friday so I don't know whether that was a problem. We left FS at 11am on a Monday and had a very smooth run - well under an hour.

I had read about the TK incident and I have to say our first landing in Izmir wasn't great - actually bounced back into the air. Second landing was only a tiny bounce and third landing was fine. . One more to go.....

I will be posting more stuff soon - I have Mr FM slaving away on photos, but we have been so busy the last week! Ephesus, Pamakkle and Cappadocia are incredible.

 

[Flying mermaid]

One of the things we didn't do last time we were in Istanbul was go to the Galata Tower. After brunch we headed for the Galata Bridge. We followed the tram line down and walked past one of the outer walls of Topkapi on the way.

It was really busy at the waterfront and a random sheep was wandering around.

Of course we had to take a photo of the cruise ship we should have been on

 

[Flying mermaid]

There was a long wait at the Galata Tower - around 2 hours, as one of the lifts was out and it was really busy. We were fascinated by the cucumber seller. He quickly peels a cucumber, cuts off top and bottom and then splits it in 4 (not all the way), salts it liberally and hands it to the buyer. He was doing a roaring trade.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The Galata Bridge is two levels - the top a normal bridge with people fishing and the bottom packed with bars and restaurants.

As you come off the bridge there was a busy market/dining area and of course on the way back we had to buy yet more baclava.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Being still rather full from Brunch we decided to have a small dinner at the Four seasons. Just a few mezze and a main each (our idea of what constitutes a small meal has been warped by 3 weeks of travel

I also couldn't resist buying some more bling from the Bazaar - workmanship is just beautiful.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Some more pictures of Istanbul. Such a beautiful city and although everyone is trying to sell you something, just lovely friendly people.

 

[sinophile888]

I also couldn't resist buying some more bling from the Bazaar - workmanship is just beautiful.

That "bling" looks breathtaking. And I only wear white gold.

 

[Flying mermaid]

That "bling" looks breathtaking. And I only wear white gold.

I know - I just couldn't resist it!

 

[medhead]

One of the things we didn't do last time we were in Istanbul was go to the Galata Tower. After brunch we headed for the Galata Bridge. We followed the tram line down and walked past one of the outer walls of Topkapi on the way.

It was really busy at the waterfront and a random sheep was wandering around.

Of course we had to take a photo of the cruise ship we should have been on

Our second hotel was right around the corner from that bit of the wall.

 

[pagingjoan]

Our second hotel was right around the corner from that bit of the wall.

And we had a gorgeous small hotel with a direct view of the tower from the wrap around terraces of our room. One of the best travel experiences ever. Wonderful city.

 

[ellen10]

Fantastic photos and love the bling!

 

[amaroo]

There was a long wait at the Galata Tower - around 2 hours, as one of the lifts was out and it was really busy.

Rotten luck with the lift. We were up there a few days before you and all was in working order. Did you go for the special fancy dress photo up the top