A very lucky chance meet-up

Flying to Istanbul

I woke to an email from Turkish Airlines advising of a 50 min delay to my 0725 service to Istanbul.  From the airport hotel, I walked over to the terminal about 1h25 prior to the new departure time.

At the check-in desk, I asked if they would accept a mobile boarding pass but they wanted me to have a paper one, presumably because immigration want to stamp it.

Strangely, my online check-in experience didn’t work on the app (possibly due to the ticket being issued by another airline being a redemption ticket) but the website followed slightly different validation and worked fine.

When the time came for us to board, it was a bus transfer to the aircraft even though it is only a short distance.  Likewise for my arrival two nights ago.

The flight was further delayed slightly until 0840, getting us into Istanbul at 0955.  It was a long 25 min taxi to get to bus gate which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Being on a Business Class redemption ticket, I was put in a small shuttle (along with the remaining Business passengers, comprising of two adults and an infant).  It dropped us close to the immigration area, saving us a long walk through the mega-terminal.

With another stroke of luck, I found the Business Class immigration counters (didn’t know they existed) with not a soul waiting.  With no bags, I was on the 1045 bus seconds before it departed.  Not bad!  That’s only 20 mins after disembarking the plane at this huge airport.

The Havaist bus dropped me off at Aksaray Metro where I took a tram to the Sirkeci Esen Hotel, getting there at midday.  It was a pleasant surprise to find that the trams now accept contactless international cards.  Just as well, since my Istanbul transport card had insufficient balance.

While waiting for my room to be ready, I took my dirty laundry to be washed.

Disappointment set in as I got to my room around 1300.  Last year, our was tiny but this time around it was bigger but very worn.  It’s only for two nights, which is really only one full day.  So, I got over it.

Chance meet-up

I realised inflight this morning that a high school friend Rosalind was also in Istanbul today.  Very fortunately, she was free to meet up and I went over to the newish Peninsula Hotel where she was staying.

Heading out around 1600 onto the streets of Istanbul again was like coming home!  It’s a city that I love tremendously and have been fortunate enough to come so often in recent years.

We had a nice yarn, together with her husband John, on the waterfront area of the Peninsula Hotel, sipping Aperol.  We had a light dinner before they showed me around the property afterwards.  John, being an architect involved in the design project, gave me some information about the finer points of the property’s design.

While leaving the area afterwards, I wandered around the backstreets of Karakoy.  I had only been down the main drag of Karakoy and never ventured the drab buildings than lined it.  To my surprise, it was a rather happening area but I’m guessing it is all quite new.

As the sun was now low, it was quite a pleasant walk across Galata Bridge back to my hotel.  Getting back around 2030, I was quite ready for bed, having started early in Kazakhstan this morning.