Constantinople is a very long word...

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At long last, after a false start in February, I’ve made it to Istanbul, but not without thinking again that this trip must be doomed. This time, it was thanks to my car battery deciding to go flat on the morning of Easter Day, putting paid to various plans! Despite it being on charge for the rest of the day and overnight, it refused to play ball on Monday morning, so a call out was made- the battery started from the recovery vehicle, appeared to charge fine, so I was able to set off on time for Luton airport, as the snow fell! The journey, for which I decided to avoid the M1, was surprisingly smooth and having parked in the mid-term car park, disconnected the battery- just in case! (On my first flight from Luton, in Jan 1998 to Rome, I returned to find my car battery flat- easily fixed, but such incidents stick in the mind- I also bought a Psion 5 from Duty free on that trip- which is another story!)
Check in was smooth- I was on speedy boarding, so despite having to wait 15 mins or so for the flight to open, I had no check in queue, a smooth pass through security, and then a long wait! For the wait, I was in the Aviance executive lounge, which was a little too warm, a little too gloomy (overlooking the departure shopping concourse rather than views of the apron), but nice and quiet and reasonably comfortable seats.
The flight was ‘called’ with about 40 mins to go, and the 737-700 G-EZJF had just arrived on stand (16). No seats at the gate, but a convenient windowledge on which to sit and watch the inspection and activity around the plane, in decidedly wintry conditions which did ease before boarding started. As the fifth aboard, I managed to snaffle the overwing port seat, which is an emergency exit row and so has no seat in front- double length leg room! I decided not to use the camera today, as visibility was not great and the downside of a wing seat is that the views are obscured anyway. The flight pushed back with about a 90% load, and we were soon in the air from Rwy 26, heading out east over Southend and with good views of the Kentish Flats offshore Wind farm- I wish I’d had my camera to hand after all! In fact only a couple of other photo-opportunities were missed, both of aircraft passing close by in the opposite direction (but quite safely, well separated both vertically and horizontally) as most of Europe was under cloud. I whiled away the time with my iPod, watching both the Simpsons Movie (I’ve never been into the Simpsons really, but I can see that the humour does appeal to all ages) and a documentary on Concorde (which would have made it to New York in our 3hr 20 flight time to Turkey!).
Landing at Istanbul’s second airport, Sabia Gohken, on the Asian side, was straightforward and I experienced one of the quickest arrivals ever- short walk to the terminal- no need for bus- getting early into the Visa queue, straight through passport control, my suitcase already through, and my driver waiting with a sign with my name! (I’ve always been slightly envious of those with a pre-booked chauffeur, and because transport links were quite long and not straightforward into Istanbul, and a hotel shuttle bus only hourly, I decided to pre-book a transfer- well worth it. A good conversation with the english speaking driver about the city and which ranged also into such subjects as Top Gear and the iPhone and I was at my hotel about an hour later- which could have been 2 or 2 1/2 hours later had I relied on public transport.
A quick snack, then time for bed, listening via the hotel’s free wireless internet and my Sling box at home to TMS and the early stages of the Test Match in Napier, day 4!