Six AM start for the second day running. Could get used to this - Not. We’re in plenty of time for our Turkish Air flight to Istanbul. Score seats next to the window in the departure lounge with a view of our plane - a rather grumpy faced Boeing 787.
Excellent in-seat entertainment and the flight isn’t full so we have a bank of three seats to ourselves. Food usually good on Turkish Airways as well. And it is this time too - briefly. Or could repunctuate as too briefly. Cheese, sliced turkey, tomato, cucumber, olives as well as a roll, and a small almond cake. And quite drinkable coffee. J, observing the young couple across the aisle, realises it’s possible to ask for wine as well. Yes, of course - red or white? Just nicely started with food half eaten and coffee scarcely begun when the stewardesses charge down the aisle telling everyone to put their trays up. But we have coffee on the trays. They are adamant and not their usual helpful selves either. No suggestion on what to do with the contents of the trays. Just a sharp “You can’t have trays down when you’re landing”. So we’re landing? Repair to the simulated flight map, which is quite a good one. Well, ok. Say half an hour out of Istanbul. Maybe only twenty minutes. Roughly over Çorlu and slightly north of the Sea of Marmara. Definitely losing altitude. Deliberately? Nobody yelling “brace”, which must be a good thing. Involuntary landings on water somewhat preferable to those on land. But actually now that the meal has been sabotaged the panic seems to be over. Once again we take inspiration from the couple across the aisle who are happily drinking glasses of wine. We’ve retained possession of two small bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and a couple of plastic glasses. The stewardesses have apparently lost interest. If we go down how better than with a nice glass of wine?
Post mortem. Not ours, happily. We decide that the problem was that the stewardesses, for whatever reason, didn’t get round to serving breakfast until much too late in the flight and were told that regardless people had to prepare for landing. They had probably been told off by a superior and took a bit of flak from unhappy passengers but once the seats and trays were in position the panic was over.
The connection time is fairly short, a bit over an hour and Istanbul is arguably the largest airport in the world, but the connection process is the best we’ve experienced. Immediately after disembarking we head for the exit for international connecting flights. A man takes a quick look at our boarding passes to be sure we are indeed headed for an international flight and that’s all that’s needed. No more security checks just a well signed route past an endless sparkly Disneyland of duty free shops and cafés. Must be a good kilometre, but then it’s the only exercise we’ve had today.
And a peaceful, unhurried boarding and flight to Ercan, Nicosia’s airport, newly built since we last flew from here. Flight interrupted only by delivery of the best sandwich we’ve had on an airline, a warm homemade style bun filled with gooey cheese, red pepper, and olive paste. Wine is Merlot this time. Flight is an hour and forty minutes and we’re met by another of Ozy’s taxi drivers for the last leg. Fifty-six km but an hour and a quarter drive - mostly down to heavy traffic in the first half of the trip. Crazy day and a half (thirty-three and a half hours) but mission accomplished and we’re home.
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