Monday 1 October 2007

Istanbul - Turkey 2007






Well, I have finally arrived after a rather long day travelling. I left home at 6.30am this morning to be picked up at my place of work. The journey started with a slow drive up the M4 Motorway to Heathrow Airport. By 10am I had checked in and had made my way upto the Business Lounge for some refreshments and a little relaxation. So far, so good.......... Now, I am not going to start to get all political and moan about our aiports, but what was supposed to be an 11:25am take-off ended up being a 1:00 pm take-off (3.00pm Turkey time). We had sat squashed up in our seats for an hour and a half without so much as moving an inch.... I could have swam half way by now!!! I got bored, so started taking photos already... This is out of the window..... and as you can see, being England it is bloody well raining!!!! and this is a photo of the interior of the plane from my seat... Please note that the picture shown on the TV screens on the back of each seat is NOT a gripping film or even a slightly amusing comedy, but instead was live footage of a static white van filmed from a camera on the undercarriage of the plane. Not only did the plane not move for ages, but nor did the white van. Oh well, back to counting rain drops.... Anywayz, by the nature of the fact that I am writing this post from my hotel room, we did finally take off. To amuse myself during the flight I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the flight.... The photo above is a beautiful shot of the London skyline. As you can see, on the left we have Westminster Bridge, just below is Buckingham Palace and if you look closely to the right you can see the London Eye.... well, you would have been able to if there wasn't so much cloud! I beg of you to use your imagination on this one. The one below is a little clearer, it's just a shame that I have no idea what country we were flying over at this point. I could have looked on the map on the TV in front of me, but I was in the middle of watching "Ocean's 13" and didn't want to disrupt my viewing.... anyway, it was somewhere over Europe (if I were to make an educated guess, and yes that is always dangerous with me, I would say Germany) Ahhhh, I smell alcohol.... it must be afternoon snack time.... Mmmmmm, just enough time to devour a glass or two of red wine (although I am convinced it was vinegar) before lunch arrives. I was a bit foolish, I forgot to ask what lunch was before I opened it. I kinda thought I would recognise it, but nope. Not even by taste and smell. Still, the wine wasn't too bad and the cheese & crackers were not too warm and soggy either. Now, back to the flight....



I did take some video of the flight and landing but cannot seem to get the upload to work on my 'work' laptop. It'll have to wait until I get home.

So, we finally landed safe and well, thank goodness. The arrivals was nice and easy, I queued to get my visa stamp, then through to passport control before collecting my luggage and jumping in the nearest taxi. About 40 minutes later, I arrived at the Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel and checked in.

Here is a small collection of photos of my hotel room, which will be my resting place for the next few days...





Finally, here are a couple of pics of the night skyline view from my hotel window...



Well, that's it from me for now, it's gone midnight and I have a horrible early start in the morning... I will add more to this post over the next couple of days.


Ta ta for now,

Graham :)

27 comments:

Daszzle said...

Hi Graham! It looks like you've been busy. Sorry I disappeared. Hope all is well with you :)

no more said...

is that hotel company paid for? Nice! Planes sure have changed since i last went on one around 1989..lol Back then there was no tv, you only could watch a movie from the screen on trans-international flights. I don't know why i find it funny that you're on your way to turkey staring at an Air Canada plane. those candians sure get around

Have fun this time! look forward to more pics, always interesting to see the views, the hotels...the little things that are sometimes just as interesting as all those touristy landmarks. I like to see how the turks live

linda said...

Look at that Hotel room! How come when I travel I never get one like that - sheesh! I even enjoyed looking at the photos in the plane - I am not sure if that is good or bad.....I like seeing what other people are doing, it is fun.

Paper Fan Club said...

Out of curiosity Graham, when you were taking pictures of your food on the plane, did anyone next to ask what the heck you were doing? :)

Marjie said...

whoah...you've been everywhere. look at that scenery! i'm glad you're having a blast. please...have more of a wonderful time :)!

no more said...

lol paper fan club

Anonymous said...

Ah, lovely UK weather I can see ! :D

I love the pictures taken at night. Cities are night are mysterious, scary yet inviting. Love it !

Taking picture of the food in the plane... the airline prob. thought you were gonna sue for food poisoning ! :D

Choc Mint Girl said...

LOLL!! Oh, that's for Barb @ PFC...he he he...

Anyway, welcome back 'again', Graham!! So, what was that, I mean the food??

Practically Dutch said...

ooohhh.. very pooosh (trhat is suppose to be posh.. said in a posh accent.. but how the frig would you spell posh in a posh accent?!)

Mike said...

Hello from New York! I love these travel blogs. Since I can't go. I get to see all these great places.

Livingsword said...

Hi Graham;

This article was as usual up to the usual excellent Grahamesque level.

My wife and I traveled thru Europe in May and June (one of our many times) and we found Heathrow to be dreadful, one of the worst airports…our favorite is YVR…Vancouver.

I loved the images from the airplane, they look like Buckingham Palace compared to Air Canada (whoops did I just say that out loud? And my delete button is broken…what is one to do?)

Thanks so much for taking us along on your trip, very nice.

By the way I wrote my comment before looking at the comments; I see I am not the first to mention Air Canada. Yes Muse we Canadians are everywhere…but we try not to use Air Canada.

(This information brought to you by Air Canada’s competitors, well not really but I don’t wan to come across as mean).

AZZITIZZ said...

Hey Graham,
Who's the guy in your bathroom taking a picture of you taking a picture?
Does he come with the room?
Do all the rooms come with a guy in the bathroom?
Where do I book?
:))

ExcedenteDeForça said...

Hi, I like your blor very much, can we blogroll ? my blog is ultraside.blogspot.com, btwn, you could be making money with those quality photos, in shutterstock at http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=132265

plz do use my referral link, I would apreciate, do contact me at ricardo.mustra@gmail.com

so we could blogroll or I can help you out with shutterstock

my blog is http://ultraside.blogspot.com

Thanks, Jmus

no more said...

i wanna go to turkey just so i can use that bathroom...

Anonymous said...

I loved you snack. And I laughed out loud when you explained what was on the TVs on the plane!

The hotel: NICE!

I think its great you take pictures like that. I do the same thing. I take a million pictures of everything.

(Thanks for dropping by my blog and for those really kind words. Made my day)

DubLiMan said...

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Deadpoolite said...

Damn you spotted me... it was me in that van you see:) Hmmm... my stealth tactics are a bit rusty... oh well at least my innocuous tampering with the flight controls caused you enough suffering.... I'll take my small victories wherever I can get them:)

Great pics from the plane, I mean I've heard the expression ' a bird's eye view' but you took the concept to a whole new level:)

Hope you have a moment to catch your breath before your next trip. No I dont care about your well being I just hate "a moving target", LOL!

Take care friend and keep making our blogging experience worthwhile with your vibrant pictures and commentary!

DP out!

Graham Ettridge said...

Daszzle: Hey matie! Welcome back!!!! Hope things are well with you too :)

Muse: LOL! Yes the hotel room was paid for by the company... however, I will probably stay here when I come back for a vacation next year.

Linda: Lol! You are as bad as me, being so curious about what otehrs are upto in their lives... LOL!

PFP! You will be relieved to know that I knew the person next to me on the plane... I would never of had the nerve to take so manmy photos with a stranger next to me... (well, unless she was really attractive...lol!)


Marjie: Thanks hun!

Graham Ettridge said...

Zhu: No that is a good idea... I should have complained that there was a fly in my soup - problem is, it would have probably tasted better if there was...lol!

Choc: hehehe!!!! lol!

Rachel: lol! Poooosh indeed. Last time I was here, the normal rooms were fully booked, so I had to stay in the luxury suite on the executive floor for a couple of days.... it's a hard life.... ;)

Mike: Hey there! Thanks for your comment. I am glad I can open the world a little...

Graham Ettridge said...

Livingsworld: I completely agree with you, Heathrow is an embarrassment. I also agree that YVR is one of the best.... In fact, I think Vancouver is one of the most amazing places on the planet... If I were to pack up sticks and move to another place, it would definitely be Vancouver without any doubt at all.

Azzitizz: I'm not sure who that guy was, but every time a take a photo looking into a mirror, he always appears.... bloody stalker!!!


Muse: You are welcome to come to Turkey, to use the bathroom...lol! But watch out, there's a stalker in there....lol!!!


jmus: thanks... It'll be great to blogroll!

Graham Ettridge said...

Meleah Receccah: Thanks for your kind words too! I'm glad to make you laugh... (I seem to have that affect on women). Isn't it great to just take photos of everthing... that way, we can remember even the smallest of moments (ie. the crappy food and the rain lol!)

Monday morning power: Thanks, I'll def. take a look.

DP: LOL!!!!! I think I'll keep my feet on the ground for a few weeks now.

Shay said...

Looks like you had some awesome hotel rooms and love all the blog pics. :)

New York Hotels said...

These are some good prices for Istanbul Hotels. I think last time I visited there I spent nearly twice that price, but that was also during the summer. Got my ticket for a good price from EasyClickTralvel and it took a while to find them, but i'm so glad I did.

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