On our way

We are seven and a half hours into an approximately ten hour flight from Toronto to Istanbul. The flight from Ottawa to Toronto was quite pleasant as neither the airport nor the plane was very full. Unfortunately it raised our hopes, that perhaps the flight to Istanbul would be similarly sparse. It was not to be. We are packed in like sardines, every seat taken in a Boeing 777. This is the same type of aircraft as the infamous MH370, and as I look around at the number of people on the flight, it difficult to believe that that many have disappeared without a trace. We had dinner about one hour into the flight. It was OK, with free alcoholic beverages for those that wanted them. It is difficult to eat too much, as there is limited room for expansion if you do so. The two of us have been up several times as have others, to pace the cabin and get the blood circulating. Thankfully we do not have too long to go. Presently we are over Innsbruck Austria at an altitude of 11,277m with exactly 2 hours to go. Our next post will be from the ground in Istanbul. See you then.

We landed safely in Istanbul after a long tiring flight only to be faced with hoards of people crowded together, in no semblance of order, all needing to clear passport control.  We finally made it after being pushed  and shoved for 3 hours.  Our taxi driver must have been a frustrated Formula 1 driver and got us to our hotel, across the Galata bridge,on the other side of the Golden Horn, in no time at all.  Our hotel is nice enough. It is clean and modern.   We walked around before going to bed and, after being harassed once too many times, we succumbed and had dinner underneath the bridge where one can find numerous fish restaurants, probably catering to tourists judging by their prices.  That said, the Seabream we chose was very fresh.

We are now going to bed.   It is eleven and we are exhausted.