The new Istanbul Airport is the largest in the world. Impressive and very new. Though largest in the world has a few drawbacks, mostly in terms of walking distance. Signs not bad. Seating pretty limited in central areas but plenty of it on the peripheries. Many shops and cafés not open yet but enough are. Need a fair bit of transit time just to cover the distance and get in the security checks. Our eight hours and fifteen minutes surplus to requirements, however.
Quite a few of the seats are labelled with requests that you not sit on them in the interests of social distancing. Some people do, unsurprisingly, and actually it’s complicated. Families should be sitting together. Everyone meant to be masked and pretty well everyone is. Health Security people on scooters as well as on foot circulating constantly and politely but firmly speaking to anyone not properly masked, as well as cheerfully answering questions. Find seats together and doze off a little. Free wifi is free but amounts to an hour, so email checked. And tablet has downloaded books.
Loos interesting. Clean, and it appears that every fourth cubicle has a squat toilet, sign on the cubicle door identifying it as such. Well Istanbul does symbolise the meeting of east and west. And the sign above the sinks says that they are not suitable for Masjid (ritual Muslim) ablutions. Plenty of info signs on the inside of the toilet seat lid on the regular toilets. Although focusing on them would require a face closer to the, admittedly clean, facility than I’m eager to do. Do take its picture though in the interests of later deciphering meaning. Think I should now run a contest for the most creative guess.
Flight to London also Turkish Airlines but much nicer than flight to Istanbul. Larger plane, not too many people. Rows not full and stewardesses more professionally in control. Reasonably decent paper bag lunch (passengers asked to have only one person in their row unmasked to eat at a time). Are given sealed package wIth extra mask, disinfectant wipes, and a small bottle of what purports to be gel hand cleaner but is clearly ungelled alcohol cleaner. Has Turkish Airlines been refilling the bottles?
Heathrow emptier than we’ve ever seen it. Which results in pretty fast transit. Chipped passports and their owners go through a scan and photograph process and we already provided all the contact and trace landing info electronically to the UK government before we were allowed to board in Nicosia.
Tube pretty empty, happily. As in airport, people are required to be masked. And we’re only one stop away, so no one can get on and join us in the empty end of the carriage. Hotel a block away from tube station. Room good - and bed comfortable, not that it would probably matter at this point.
Quite a few of the seats are labelled with requests that you not sit on them in the interests of social distancing. Some people do, unsurprisingly, and actually it’s complicated. Families should be sitting together. Everyone meant to be masked and pretty well everyone is. Health Security people on scooters as well as on foot circulating constantly and politely but firmly speaking to anyone not properly masked, as well as cheerfully answering questions. Find seats together and doze off a little. Free wifi is free but amounts to an hour, so email checked. And tablet has downloaded books.
Loos interesting. Clean, and it appears that every fourth cubicle has a squat toilet, sign on the cubicle door identifying it as such. Well Istanbul does symbolise the meeting of east and west. And the sign above the sinks says that they are not suitable for Masjid (ritual Muslim) ablutions. Plenty of info signs on the inside of the toilet seat lid on the regular toilets. Although focusing on them would require a face closer to the, admittedly clean, facility than I’m eager to do. Do take its picture though in the interests of later deciphering meaning. Think I should now run a contest for the most creative guess.
Flight to London also Turkish Airlines but much nicer than flight to Istanbul. Larger plane, not too many people. Rows not full and stewardesses more professionally in control. Reasonably decent paper bag lunch (passengers asked to have only one person in their row unmasked to eat at a time). Are given sealed package wIth extra mask, disinfectant wipes, and a small bottle of what purports to be gel hand cleaner but is clearly ungelled alcohol cleaner. Has Turkish Airlines been refilling the bottles?
Heathrow emptier than we’ve ever seen it. Which results in pretty fast transit. Chipped passports and their owners go through a scan and photograph process and we already provided all the contact and trace landing info electronically to the UK government before we were allowed to board in Nicosia.
Tube pretty empty, happily. As in airport, people are required to be masked. And we’re only one stop away, so no one can get on and join us in the empty end of the carriage. Hotel a block away from tube station. Room good - and bed comfortable, not that it would probably matter at this point.
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