Turkey 2014

Day 1-2, Friday-Saturday 9-10 May

Oh my, what a long two days!

Got up relatively early on Friday morning and spent a good while packing. Then I did a few housy things before heading off. Went into Belco and got some petrol, fed Neil's fish and dropped off his key.

Then I was off. Pretty uneventful drive to Sydney. Bit annoyed I'd forgotten to load the next Harry Potter book onto my phone.

Got to Mum's fairly early (I'd left *heaps* of time), so finally got to watch To Kill a Mockingbird that mum taped for me last year.

We had a light dinner of an instant pasta thingie, then went up to the station to catch the train to the airport. I got to use my new Opal card which was pretty handy. Changed at Wolli Creek - a station I've never actually gotten off at before!

Mum at Como train station

Checked in to our flight, then went for a wander to find the observation deck, but it was closed :( So went through into the departure area. Little bit of a wait through immigration, but security was quite quick. Had a wander through the duty free shops, and stocked up on some single malt whiskeys and cointreau to be picked up on the way home. At the gate I gave my phone a boost charge.

Etihad Boeing 777 A6-ETL at Sydney Airport

So on the plane (and Etihad 777-300R) we had seats towards the back on the right. The flight didn't leave til 9:50pm, so no photos really possible, but did take a video. Had a lovely view of the city on our right.

Me and Mum on the plane ready to go our our adventure

In flight entertainment system on the Etihad 777

Legroom on the Etihad 777

Interior of the cabin of the Etihad 777 just prior to takeoff

Then settled in for the flight.

Dinner was at midnight. I had a beef hotpot which was a tad dry, but otherwise ok. Saved myself the cheese and crackers for later.

I watched three movies. First was 12 Years a Slave, which was super sad. Then I tried to sleep for a while. Not really sure how successful I was. Next I watched Gravity which I quite enjoyed. It looked so realistic you wondered if they actually went into space to film it! It was a bit "yeah right" in places but otherwise good. Next I had a look at the wifi and sms features of the plane. They wanted $12.95 US an hour to use the wifi, but only a couple of dollars to send smses. So I smsed the sweetie while we over India :) Finally I watched The Social Network which I also enjoyed.

The arrival in Abu Dhabi was a bit after sunrise, but there was far too much haze to see the city of Dubai in the distance.

Desert roads and houses on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi

New terminal at Abu Dhabi under construction

Abu Dhabi airport's air traffic control tower

Aircraft and air traffic control tower in the sunrise haze at Abu Dhabi airport

Etihad Boeing 777 A6-ETL at Abu Dhabi Airport

Abu Dhabi airport is *huge*, and looks set to be even bigger, with a lot of construction on what looks to be new terminal. We arrived right at the very end of the terminal, and had to walk and walk and walk to change planes (which was fine, after fourteen hours of sitting, we needed the exercise!). At the new gates, we ended up in the very pretty holding area. It was a little bit chaotic because that's where *everybody* for like thirteen gates waits. We wandered around the shops, then sat down for a while. I was fading from lack of sleep, so went to The Scottish Restaurant. I was hoping for hash browns since it was about eight in the morning, but alas they didn't have any. So I had an apple pie.

Interior of the main terminal at Abu Dhabi Airport

Interior of the main terminal at Abu Dhabi Airport

Interior of the main terminal at Abu Dhabi Airport

Then we headed to our gate and boarded. Seat on the left side of the plane this time, also near the rear. Had a view of Abu Dhabi city as we left, then headed up through the Persian Gulf.

Etihad Airbus A330 A6-AFD at Abu Dhabi Airport

Terminal at Abu Dhabi Airport

Abu Dhabi airport's air traffic control tower

Taking off from Abu Dhabi airport with a view to the new terminal under construction

Abu Dhabi's Formula 1 track

Sandy coastline and view towards Abu Dhabi city

I couldn't decide what I wanted to watch, so ended up watching the first episode of House of Cards. As much as I love Kevin Spacey I'm not sure I'd have the energy to watch it again. Next up I watched Hackers which was of course completely ridiculous but fun. And freaky to see very young versions of Johnny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie.

Flew over Kuwait and Iraq and Turkey before arrival in Istanbul (through very thick clouds that didn't part until almost sea level!)

Our first view of Istanbul once we cleared the clouds on approach to Istanbul airport

We didn't get to go to a terminal gate, but got off just opposite (in the rain) and a bus to the terminal.

Then a very very long queue through immigration. Got our bags then headed out to wait for the rest of the group. Their plane was delayed for half a hour, so we had an hour and a half to wait for them :( I managed to get free wifi with Caffe Nero which was helpful.

Finally everyone else arrived and we all piled into our coach. Had a bit of a tour through rainy Istanbul.

View over Bakırköy Balıkçı Barınağı marina on the way to the city from the airport

Sea of Marmara south of Istanbul

Part of the old city walls of Constantinople

Remains of an old Roman-era aqueduct

Yeni Cami Mosque

We didn't go to the hotel, but instead had three quarters of an hour to wander through the Spice Bazaar. I actually bought a few souvenirs there because everything was so cheap, and the vendors aren't in your face like they are in Egypt. We also got a bag of half a dozen different Turkish Delight flavours to munch on because we were hungry and hadn't eaten in ages. I wanted to get some meat on a stick, but didn't end up having time.

Mısır Çarşısı bazaar

Mısır Çarşısı bazaar

Mısır Çarşısı bazaar

Mısır Çarşısı bazaar
Photo by Mum

Mısır Çarşısı bazaar

Mısır Çarşısı bazaar
Photo by Mum

Mısır Çarşısı bazaar

Yeni Cami Mosque

Then we headed to the hotel. After checking in, I jumped straight in the shower. After two days it felt *really* good! The room is quite nice, although we're on the side facing the hillside, so no view at all.

Headed down for dinner at 7:30pm local time (2:30am Canberra time). They had a reasonably decent buffet, but I didn't eat too much.

Then it was up to download photos and rearrange our bags before bed.