I'm on holiday! And you know what that means - lots and lots of posts, probably intermittently posted as I have access to Internet. I will try not to bore you with what I had for breakfast each day. Well, actually, I can't make any promises.
I had tickets for a flight from London City Airport this morning at an early-ish hour, but because City is in the city and not an hour or two out by train, I didn't have to get up until half past six. I was extremely pleased with this, especially when it only took me twenty-five minutes to get to the airport. You can't get anywhere in London in twenty-five minutes, but I did it. I got to the Docklands Light Rail (aka the slow robot roller coaster) stop and caught the DLR with time enough to get the front 'driving' seat, muttering to myself all the while 'driving the DLR, I'm going to be driving the DLR...'. Unfortunately I was facing the wrong way, so I was actually right at the back. Ah well.
Upon trying to check in, I found my flight had been cancelled due to high winds. I had been a bit dubious about the winds thrashing the trees around, but thought of all the flights I've taken out of Wellington airport and hoped it would be fine. My airline thought not, however, so I waited in line for forty minutes to change my tickets. Planes were flying out of Heathrow, so in the end I was put on a direct flight from Heathrow to Istanbul rather than the stopover-in-Zurich flight I'd been booked on.
Now I just had to get to Heathrow. The airline got us a black London cab, which took us all through central London and then out to Heathrow, which for anyone wanting to know is a hundred pound journey. I have a cancellation buddy who's been changed to the same flight as me, and when we were getting to the end we looked at each other and hoped we weren't expected to pay the fare. Luckily, no.
So I am currently sitting on a Turkish airlines flight wondering which movie to watch, or if I should brush up on my Turkish. I know there's a word 'Merhaba' (sp.) but I can't remember what it means...
Turkish airlines also has the longest safety video I've ever seen, and tells you to remove all sharp objects from your person when you use the emergency slide. I never thought about that... (and actually, what sharp objects would you have on you after going through security?).
To be continued....
Now I'm sitting in my hostel trying to figure out where the day's gone. It's 8.30 at night already and I'm sure I got out of bed only a few hours ago. I watched Another Earth on the plane (interesting, very atmospheric movie. You never actually get to see the other Earth. I think I liked it, though) and then Singing in the Rain, which I've seen parts of but never all the way through. I walked past the Blue Mosque and what I think might be the Aya Sofya to get to the hostel, which I found without really consulting a map - very proud. Next step: food.
Update: had a Caesar salad for dinner at a nice outdoor cafe and there was a cat with HUGE eyes staring at people from under the table.
I had tickets for a flight from London City Airport this morning at an early-ish hour, but because City is in the city and not an hour or two out by train, I didn't have to get up until half past six. I was extremely pleased with this, especially when it only took me twenty-five minutes to get to the airport. You can't get anywhere in London in twenty-five minutes, but I did it. I got to the Docklands Light Rail (aka the slow robot roller coaster) stop and caught the DLR with time enough to get the front 'driving' seat, muttering to myself all the while 'driving the DLR, I'm going to be driving the DLR...'. Unfortunately I was facing the wrong way, so I was actually right at the back. Ah well.
Upon trying to check in, I found my flight had been cancelled due to high winds. I had been a bit dubious about the winds thrashing the trees around, but thought of all the flights I've taken out of Wellington airport and hoped it would be fine. My airline thought not, however, so I waited in line for forty minutes to change my tickets. Planes were flying out of Heathrow, so in the end I was put on a direct flight from Heathrow to Istanbul rather than the stopover-in-Zurich flight I'd been booked on.
Now I just had to get to Heathrow. The airline got us a black London cab, which took us all through central London and then out to Heathrow, which for anyone wanting to know is a hundred pound journey. I have a cancellation buddy who's been changed to the same flight as me, and when we were getting to the end we looked at each other and hoped we weren't expected to pay the fare. Luckily, no.
So I am currently sitting on a Turkish airlines flight wondering which movie to watch, or if I should brush up on my Turkish. I know there's a word 'Merhaba' (sp.) but I can't remember what it means...
Turkish airlines also has the longest safety video I've ever seen, and tells you to remove all sharp objects from your person when you use the emergency slide. I never thought about that... (and actually, what sharp objects would you have on you after going through security?).
To be continued....
Now I'm sitting in my hostel trying to figure out where the day's gone. It's 8.30 at night already and I'm sure I got out of bed only a few hours ago. I watched Another Earth on the plane (interesting, very atmospheric movie. You never actually get to see the other Earth. I think I liked it, though) and then Singing in the Rain, which I've seen parts of but never all the way through. I walked past the Blue Mosque and what I think might be the Aya Sofya to get to the hostel, which I found without really consulting a map - very proud. Next step: food.
 |
| Aya Sofya and watermelon |
Update: had a Caesar salad for dinner at a nice outdoor cafe and there was a cat with HUGE eyes staring at people from under the table.
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