We had a few oversized toiletry items, so we packed my carry on bag to check. We packed Craig's international carry on bag (a tiny, four-wheeled spinner that meets international carry on size requirements) as an overnight bag in case we missed our connection in Istanbul again. My first packing attempt included a few extras, but those had to be removed to get the bag under the 7kg weight limit imposed by Turkish Airlines. With all the pill bottles and things, I had to pack a small duffle bag, which we checked as well. I hope that we will have used enough of those things that I can pack everything, including the duffle, into the suitcases for our return.
While Craig and I were busy preparing the house to leave, Mallarie brought over lunch from Spitz. She remarked upon how little we had packed for a two month trip. But, of course, we had left so much in Abu Dhabi that we didn't need to take much with us. After emptying the fridge and taking out the trash one last time, we called a Lyft to go to the airport.
We'd had some trouble checking in for our flight online (no great surprise there, in the four roundtrips we've taken, I don't think a single leg has allowed us to check in online without any problems) so we didn't have seats together for our flight to Istanbul. When we checked in at the airport, we were told to check at the gate for seats together. When we asked at the gate, we were told we should have done that during check in.
Turkish Airlines - where customer service is not really a thing.
After the typical (for Turkish Airlines) curfluffle of boarding, we were able to switch seats with another passenger so that we were able to sit together. Some highlights of Turkish Airlines service:
- Craig asked for champagne to celebrate our anniversary. (Yes, we spent our anniversary on a 13 hour flight, why do you ask?) You might have thought no one had ever asked for champagne before.
- The switch for the cabin lights must have been in an awkward location - there's no other explanation for how often the lights were dimmed, brought up, dimmed again, and changed...all before dinner service began.
- We "enjoyed" the longest dinner service I've ever experienced on a plane. Honestly, I don't know what was happening in the galley. Food kept appearing, but in far more courses that described in the menu. But drinks, even water, were nearly impossible to get.
- At some point in the middle of dinner, they suddenly decided to offer us more champagne. We had both switched to different drinks and they had already removed our glasses.
- But in the theme of removing glasses, my glass of port was not picked up until landing. The half filled glass sat between us while we slept, remained through breakfast service and clean up, and miraculously managed not to spill during some turbulence that woke me after I'd gone back to sleep.
- Upon landing, they announced that we should remain in our seats to allow a medical team to remove the "person having medical issues." But it soon became obvious that they wanted business class passengers to get off before they dealt with this medical issue, whatever that was. I can only hope they did manage that.
- Another passenger asked how far his gate was from our gate and was told "the ground crew will help you with that."
- Another passenger was hoping to make a tight connection to Berlin, but she was also told that "the ground crew will handle that."
- We didn't bother to ask about our tight connection - we merely hit the terminal at a run.
The ground crew provided no information about our flight or others. This is our third time making this particular connection - the first resulted in a 24 hour stay in Istanbul and I made it the second time because an employee took me back on the bus and drove me to another part of the airport. This time, we got off the bus and ran while trying to follow the signs. Luckily, we've now spent enough time in the Istanbul airport to make sense of the signs. Or maybe that's just me - the arrows aren't quite right, but I have figured them out to a certain degree.
As it turned out, we made it to our gate before boarding began. They were taking tickets, but the jetway wasn't actually open. We milled about for some time after having our tickets scanned, waiting for the door to open.
Business class on this flight was practically empty - just us and one other lady. Perhaps because of this, the flight attendants took several "breaks" during dinner service. Or perhaps that's just the Turkish Airlines customer service we have come to expect. Oddly, they did not ask us for our choice of entrees before service began, but somehow they were able to serve hot entrees immediately after we made our selection. Lucky guess? Or had they heated up a few of each because they had extras?
Other than a touch of excitement during take off - we must have hit turbulence or a microburst, because the plane wobbled most distressingly just as we left the ground - the flight was uneventful. We did end up switching seats when my wine glass leapt off the tray and landed upright on the floor. The flight attendant stopped by to ask if everything was alright and did bring us a single wash cloth to deal with the spill. Then he suggested we move to another aisle because business class was so empty. It wasn't until some time later (Craig was asleep) that he finally returned to clean up any wine that hadn't evaporated.
We did not have high hopes of getting our checked bags in Abu Dhabi, given the tight connection in Istanbul, but we had to wait and see. Both our bags actually made it! So we collected our things and made our way to the rental car counter. With our bags in the car, we were on our way to our "temporary third home" - our apartment at the Marriott Downtown.
We arrived to find that we had already been checked in by someone from the office. He had also brought over the suitcases and storage containers left there. (Most likely because we arrived on a holiday weekend and this saved him having to go into the office the following day to meet us, but I don't appreciate the effort any less.) With all the suitcases and bins, it did appear that we were actually moving in here.
For reasons that are not entirely clear to us, we have a two bedroom apartment this time around. It is very similar to our previous apartment here, except that it's on the other side of the building. So I don't have a view of the mall and the busy intersection from my "window seat". But we do have more furniture, including a chaise longue in front of the window - so I didn't have to take apart the sectional to create my window seat. We've also got a table and chairs both in the living room area and in the kitchen. And, of course, we have a second bedroom with its own full bathroom, which will be great because we have guests coming a couple times during this trip. It'll be nice to offer them something more than a sofa and half-bath in the living room.
We ordered room service for our first meal here, because we had arrived at the apartment sometime after two a.m. Not being very hungry, we decided we would split an order of butter chicken. Being very thirsty and unsure when we would get a water dispenser, we ordered two liters of still water and one liter of sparkling water.
When our order arrived, Craig had just finished his shower (so the water was off, but he was hidden). The man took a long look around the apartment, taking in the fact that it is a two bedroom apartment, with enough suitcases and boxes for an entire family, then looking back at the single service on his cart. After a moment, he asked, "You are traveling alone?"
I could only laugh, though I did manage to tell him that my husband and I were planning to split the meal as we weren't that hungry. He set out the single set of silverware with one glass...and three liters of water. The rice and butter chicken are in serving containers, but they did not send up a plate. But, we have a full kitchen so we were able to easily make up for the lack.
I am a little disappointed, though, that I didn't think to order appropriately to provide certain "extras" that I had taken for granted in our last apartment. It will take a bit to collect such things again.
We arrived to find that we had already been checked in by someone from the office. He had also brought over the suitcases and storage containers left there. (Most likely because we arrived on a holiday weekend and this saved him having to go into the office the following day to meet us, but I don't appreciate the effort any less.) With all the suitcases and bins, it did appear that we were actually moving in here.
For reasons that are not entirely clear to us, we have a two bedroom apartment this time around. It is very similar to our previous apartment here, except that it's on the other side of the building. So I don't have a view of the mall and the busy intersection from my "window seat". But we do have more furniture, including a chaise longue in front of the window - so I didn't have to take apart the sectional to create my window seat. We've also got a table and chairs both in the living room area and in the kitchen. And, of course, we have a second bedroom with its own full bathroom, which will be great because we have guests coming a couple times during this trip. It'll be nice to offer them something more than a sofa and half-bath in the living room.
We ordered room service for our first meal here, because we had arrived at the apartment sometime after two a.m. Not being very hungry, we decided we would split an order of butter chicken. Being very thirsty and unsure when we would get a water dispenser, we ordered two liters of still water and one liter of sparkling water.
When our order arrived, Craig had just finished his shower (so the water was off, but he was hidden). The man took a long look around the apartment, taking in the fact that it is a two bedroom apartment, with enough suitcases and boxes for an entire family, then looking back at the single service on his cart. After a moment, he asked, "You are traveling alone?"
I could only laugh, though I did manage to tell him that my husband and I were planning to split the meal as we weren't that hungry. He set out the single set of silverware with one glass...and three liters of water. The rice and butter chicken are in serving containers, but they did not send up a plate. But, we have a full kitchen so we were able to easily make up for the lack.
I am a little disappointed, though, that I didn't think to order appropriately to provide certain "extras" that I had taken for granted in our last apartment. It will take a bit to collect such things again.
No comments:
Post a Comment