Got to the airport with some time to spare – asked for an aisle seat but all had been pre booked, it seems now that this is the norm, and of course the airline charge for it. So Song was sat next to the window and I was in the middle, next to an old fat lady.
Plane left on time, an Airbus A380, was comfortable and the in flight entertainment really good. I caught up on some old films – The Truman Show, Master and Commander (then realised both are Peter Weir films), and Moneyball.
Also listened to some old albums, created a playlist of REM, Paul Simon, The Beatles and about 5 others, a total of about 4 and a half hours, closed my eyes and slept on and off.
There was not one screaming baby on the flight. Nope, there were 4 in my immediate vicinity. I’m sure my name is flagged by the airlines – I know they have a “no fly” list and they must also have a “screaming baby” list with my name at the top. I think they were timed so that when one needed a rest from annoying me another one was ready to take over. I usually have noise cancelling earphones but they need replacing so I thought I’d wait till I got here to see if they were cheaper. Big mistake.
On top of this the lady next to me was deaf and had the volume turned up on her earphones so I had to listen to her music as well as mine. She was also a grumpy cow and protested when we had to get up to go to the toilet. I don’t think 4 times in 13.5 hours was excessive.
Our bags were checked through to Istanbul (hopefully) so we passed through immigration and customs and found an office for the hotel open (which was good considering it was around midnight) and they had a car laid on. The hotel was only 5 minutes from the airport, checked in and passed out.