There're mixed feeling coming home from a holiday , even a short one . There is the regret that its over, that all the fun is behind you , until next time ..and that could be a while in my case , but then your looking forward to your own bed, your own bathroom with all the things you didn't pack..to seeing your friends and getting back to normal because being on holiday can be draining
So things weren't looking good when, on my way home I found myself stuck in Istanbul, and I'd lost my glasses to boot ..We, the passengers of of the fated Turkish airlines flight were not privy to why the plane was so late but when we did arrive in Istanbul we were rushed off the plain to try to connect with ongoing flights ..and in the rush I lost my glasses ...I was told my connecting flight was waiting at gate 216 and to hurry.. so off I run the 3 miles to the other side of the airport to catch my flight, only to arrive clutching my chest and trying to force air into my lungs to stop the pounding in my ears to hear that the plane had already gone ..WTF.. didn't someone call ahead to say I was on my way?..I ask what can be done and I was told I had to return to the other side of the airport to the airlines desk to sort it out .
...So back the 3 miles I go to a circus worthy of a Faulty Towers script..As I arrived at the desk ,others were coming off other, ill fated flights ...and the desk was getting very crowded and I don't think I have ever witnessed so many angry people ..all shouting at once and waving their arms to be noticed, all trying to get connecting flights to different parts of the world .There seemed at one point to be as many staff as customers ..
Obviously the squeaky wheels were dealt with and I was constantly pushed back in the line as they were having trouble with my connection between Singapore and Sydney ..so after a few hours I was given a ticket for the next day ..On the same flight just 24 hours later ..I was trying to see the up side of this, concerned I would miss Australia day but maybe finally getting to see the blue mosque that I missed the first time around ..I was asked to wait a little longer as they were going to find my luggage ..Another half hour or so wait .. Instead of my luggage they now come back with still another ticket ..I'm now leaving tomorrow at noon so I can now go to the hotel ..Go go !!..I'm the last to leave, all the other customers had been given flights or hotel rooms ..and I alone was left ..The staff had also dwindled to five ..They point the direction >>> in which they want me to go ..I am no longer their concern ..I m tired and hungry by now, the only meal I have had in the past twenty hours was lunch on the flight from Barcelona .I stoop and drag myself another mile or so in the direction indicated ..through passport control and down through the barrel of the airport ..there is no one around.!! Im alone in this cavernous space and its eerie ..really there's no one!!..In the distance I see a cleaner pushing his cart so I pounce on him and ask where the hotel reservation booth is, the only thing he understands is HOTEL and he points >>>> towards the end of the air port ..I see a double door and a desk ....On the desk is an open newspaper ..I push through the doors to the outer space of the airport ..Still no one around but now I can see a sigh with HOTEL RESERVATIONS and I start to see that welcome bed and a shower and food...but
I stop, I realize I had just gone through customs....CUSTOMS!! ...why all the hassle with security during the day if at night you can just walk out ...I was not at that point complaining, it would have just held me up anyway
The man behind the counter was very kind and very friendly ..He sits me down and asks with a big cheesy smile ( that should have given it away ..but did I say how tired I was ) What type of hotel would I like? .".four star ..five star perhaps ?." " Istanbul has many wonderful hotels "..I thought in my sleep deprived and hungry state that perhaps Turkish airlines were compensating me, for keeping me so late when every one else had gone ..So I'm kind too and say "all I want is a nice clean room to take a shower and a clean bed as I'm only going to be in it for a few hours or so ..He looks confused , I remind him that the airline will be picking me up in the morning at ten thirty ..His smile fades as the penny drops, and he asks the appropriate questions to find I'm in the wrong booth and "come let me show you where !" Now if Turkish airlines had that I would be on my way to the hotel by now ..
I'm introduced to the woman now that is going to find me a hotel room, so I have to sit and wait , I ask if I can have access to the internet .NO!! Maybe at Starbucks .." they will let me "..and I have time to ask as the shuttle from the hotel will take about twenty minutes ....twenty minutes!!!! ..that means it will take twenty minutes to return to the hotel ..if it were not for the shower and the possibility of food I would have thought it a better idea to stay at the airport!..
.Back to STARBUCKS..The little weed behind the counter said no!! I must buy internet time ..I had no turkish money ,..I had given the change I had to a friends grandchildren before I left Spain ...and he wouldn't or couldn't take credit ..I had no idea what time it was in Australia anyway ..
So Finally I'm in the hotel ..Its a travel lodge type hotel ..It was clean but no chance of a snack at this hour ! the kitchen was closed and the rooms don't have free internet, only the lobby ..I can use that in the morning I'm told ..I had the feeling they wanted to get rid of me and perhaps back to a backgammon game in the back room somewhere ...I was way too tired to argue ..I wanted a shower as much as I wanted a bed ....
Its like minutes ...and there is this terrible noise in my head. Its the alarm call to say I have got to get down now!!! A bus is picking me up early to take advantage of the shuttle going to the airport with other guests ..DAM!!!I dress as quickly as I can ..I have got to eat !..Im starting to feel queasy ..
I pore some coffee into a cup ..OMG!!!!! I forgot how bad the coffee was here ..I put some precooked eggs and mushrooms on a plate ..No time to wait to toast bread..I ask about the internet while I see guests being chauffeured into a minibus ..I knew it was mine as I see them fanning the room looking for me ..I make like I don't see them as I put my head down and quickly type off a general status on face book of my situation and for someone to find my ride home ... I had booked a shuttle home from the airport and he would be waiting with his little sign as I came out the customs exit ...DAM!!! they find me and give me this look .... How dare I hold things up!
We get to the airport and the driver parks the furthest from the Singapore airlines counter ..The other "paying" guests must be using another airline ..I'm sure there should be some restriction on the size of airports !!..I go to information ..There was no pre checkin done !!I have to wait in line to check in ..
No worries!! I'm the first in line as I got here early!!..did I say that I only got a few hours sleep!!...Thankfully the plane is underbooked and I can have three seats together ..woohoo!! at least I'll be prone ..with my feet up ..soft pillows and I can close my eyes .......but then the girl at the counter asks ....Where are your bags ??????WHERE !! WHERE !! How the F... am I supposed to know ..They could be in greenland for all I knew or cared ...all I want is to go home ..Strap me to the wings with grapper tape I don't care just get me home !..A raised eyebrow from the hostess .."What is grapper tape"??.
..I thought, ..and that is dangerous when traveling ..that this was taken care of last night AHHHH!! but no .there is a mad rushing around by a group of attendants ..Another oxymoron !.. All looking as if doing something important ..and they are ..THEY ARE HOLDING UP THE bloody PLANE !! and passengers start asking what the problem is ..why aren't we boarding ?..Why are we leaving late ...I don't have the heart nor the energy to tell them what they're in for ...
A young woman comes running up all sweaty and intense to let me know they have found my bags ..but I have to identify them before they can put them on the plane ..they have my name on them ?...yes, but still I have to identify them ...
I was the very first in line at the check in desk, now I'm the last to enter the plane ..Everyone is seated with their bags stored waiting to take off ...As I walk to the very back of the plane to take my three seats they all look at me ..Shame ..Shame!!.I'm the one that made them late !!
I find my three seats ..but as I sit alone in my three seats I'm starting to think the motives for giving me the three seats had more to do with fact that I hadn't brushed my teeth since I left Barcelona ..I was asked on the return trip to put ALL my bags through check in and I didn't mind as I was going straight home so had no toiletries with me ..only my handbag and I didn't think to take any out when my hand luggage was checked in ..I think my breath would have melted glass ..Then.. this beautiful, and have you noticed they are all beautiful ..Singapore airline hostess gave me a little zipper bag with a pair of socks and a toothbrush and a tiny tube of paste ..Thank you !!! Maybe in Turkey they were to polite to notice ..I didn't sleep until I was upgraded to business class in Singapore but the food was good and I have to thank Turkish airlines for putting me on a Singapore airlines flight ... I'll be home soon ..but its been close to sixty hours from start to finish . I'll be in my own bed...my bed.. ...ahhhhh!!!..that was a soft satisfied very tired..ahhhhh!!!!
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