We are off again on another adventure, this time it's Istanbul Turkey and Athens Greece. The kids really enjoyed the Westin Astir Resort in Greece and it warranted another visit.
Today, dad worked until 3:30 pm EST and the family enjoyed the Siena Hotel (http://sienahotel.com) in Chapel Hill, NC. The kids enjoyed seeing my away from home, home. They all agreed with me, the beds are awesome. The only shortcoming of the Siena, no pool which is a requirement with Abey and Kristen.
As we headed to the airport, we had a discussion about traveling and which direction (West or East) would you incur the worst Jet Lag (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_lag).
Everyone in the family provided their answer to dad, results to follow later in the blog....
Prior to our journey, the kids spent 3 weeks in Canada with family and many of their flying friends, the mosquitos. Kristen looked like one big mosquito bite...we returned home for a brief 3 days in Charleston before heading back up to Raleigh for our trip.
Our journey will take us from Raleigh, NC via London Heathrow and onward to Istanbul Turkey. We will spend 4 days in Turkey before heading to Greece for a week. We will then return to Raleigh via London again. Jacob will then attend Carolina Hurricane Hockey camp before heading home. Hopefully the home renovation will be completed!
Flight Details - AA Flight 174 was a Boeing 777 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_777) which Jacob hadn't flown on yet, so he was excited to tell us all about the details of it's safety record. As a result of the merger between AA and US Airways, dad was able to use 4 - System Wide Upgrade (https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/eliteStatus/upgrades/upgrades.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=systemwideupgrades) to move everyone up to Business Class.
Our seats 10 D, E, G and 11 E, G which were angle flat beds which were nice however nothing like the lie flat beds on Star Alliance carriers we enjoyed on our previous journey. We arrived in London (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Heathrow_Airport) on time and proceeded to the lounge. Heathrow is the world 3rd busiest in the world. Jacob was very excited to count the number of 747 and A380 planes parked at the international terminals.
American Airlines airline alliance is with One World (http://www.oneworld.com) which enabled us to attend the British Airways Business Class Lounge (http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/lounges). Here is a photo of the kids in front of the A380 model plane as we left the lounge for our next flight to Istanbul. Since most of us had very little sleep on the flight over it was time to get breakfast and rest.
Our next flight was on British Airways #676 (American Flight A6613). As we arrived at the gate it was delayed 35 min because safety inspectors hadn't yet arrived to do a walk through. Our flight was on a older Boeing 767 aircraft. As you know newer aircraft have sufficient room to store bags, but these older planes just don't have the room in the overhead as the new models. It was entertaining to watch people trying to stuff bags into spots way to small for the roller boards.
Our seats 19 D, E, F, J and K almost an entire row(http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/British_Airways/British_Airways_Boeing_767-300_B.php), . It wasn't long before the McLeod Crew was sleeping. It was 6 am EST when our flight departed London. We landed in Istanbul during rush hour.
It took no time at all to get through customs and immigration. Certain countries require visas to visit Turkey and we were well prepared. eVisa web site, let us get our travel visa ahead of time (https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/apply/). Off to Avis to get our rental car.
We picked up our Volvo S60 (http://www.volvocars.com/intl/cars/new-models/S60), considered in this part of the world to be a big car....as the family squeezed into the car, we headed off to the hotel. Our Avis bus driver told us it was about 1 to 2 hrs drive to the hotel which surprised me since it was only 12 miles away. Well after 1:45 minute, we arrived at the Renaissance Istanbul. (https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/istbo-renaissance-istanbul-bosphorus-hotel/)
Unfortunately, the hotel is the last exist before the world famous Bosphorus Bridge, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorus_Bridge) which I think everyone in Istanbul (14,000,000) was trying to cross at the same time. Reminds me of the bridges in New York city at rush hour.
The Bosphorus Bridge links Europe to Asia, so as you cross the bridge you go from one continent to another.
Our rooms at the Renaissance are really nice and our view of the bridge from our room is very picturesque. Family showered (in the overhead rain shower) and then grabbed dinner before an early night.
And the winner of the worst travel direction is - "EAST".
Travel Stats:
AA174 - RDU to LHR 3872 miles (7.5 hrs)
BA676 - LHR to IST 1560 miles (3.5 hrs)
Today, dad worked until 3:30 pm EST and the family enjoyed the Siena Hotel (http://sienahotel.com) in Chapel Hill, NC. The kids enjoyed seeing my away from home, home. They all agreed with me, the beds are awesome. The only shortcoming of the Siena, no pool which is a requirement with Abey and Kristen.
As we headed to the airport, we had a discussion about traveling and which direction (West or East) would you incur the worst Jet Lag (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_lag).
Everyone in the family provided their answer to dad, results to follow later in the blog....
Prior to our journey, the kids spent 3 weeks in Canada with family and many of their flying friends, the mosquitos. Kristen looked like one big mosquito bite...we returned home for a brief 3 days in Charleston before heading back up to Raleigh for our trip.
Our journey will take us from Raleigh, NC via London Heathrow and onward to Istanbul Turkey. We will spend 4 days in Turkey before heading to Greece for a week. We will then return to Raleigh via London again. Jacob will then attend Carolina Hurricane Hockey camp before heading home. Hopefully the home renovation will be completed!
Flight Details - AA Flight 174 was a Boeing 777 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_777) which Jacob hadn't flown on yet, so he was excited to tell us all about the details of it's safety record. As a result of the merger between AA and US Airways, dad was able to use 4 - System Wide Upgrade (https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/eliteStatus/upgrades/upgrades.jsp?anchorLocation=DirectURL&title=systemwideupgrades) to move everyone up to Business Class.
Our seats 10 D, E, G and 11 E, G which were angle flat beds which were nice however nothing like the lie flat beds on Star Alliance carriers we enjoyed on our previous journey. We arrived in London (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Heathrow_Airport) on time and proceeded to the lounge. Heathrow is the world 3rd busiest in the world. Jacob was very excited to count the number of 747 and A380 planes parked at the international terminals.
American Airlines airline alliance is with One World (http://www.oneworld.com) which enabled us to attend the British Airways Business Class Lounge (http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/lounges). Here is a photo of the kids in front of the A380 model plane as we left the lounge for our next flight to Istanbul. Since most of us had very little sleep on the flight over it was time to get breakfast and rest.
Our next flight was on British Airways #676 (American Flight A6613). As we arrived at the gate it was delayed 35 min because safety inspectors hadn't yet arrived to do a walk through. Our flight was on a older Boeing 767 aircraft. As you know newer aircraft have sufficient room to store bags, but these older planes just don't have the room in the overhead as the new models. It was entertaining to watch people trying to stuff bags into spots way to small for the roller boards.
Our seats 19 D, E, F, J and K almost an entire row(http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/British_Airways/British_Airways_Boeing_767-300_B.php), . It wasn't long before the McLeod Crew was sleeping. It was 6 am EST when our flight departed London. We landed in Istanbul during rush hour.
It took no time at all to get through customs and immigration. Certain countries require visas to visit Turkey and we were well prepared. eVisa web site, let us get our travel visa ahead of time (https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/apply/). Off to Avis to get our rental car.
We picked up our Volvo S60 (http://www.volvocars.com/intl/cars/new-models/S60), considered in this part of the world to be a big car....as the family squeezed into the car, we headed off to the hotel. Our Avis bus driver told us it was about 1 to 2 hrs drive to the hotel which surprised me since it was only 12 miles away. Well after 1:45 minute, we arrived at the Renaissance Istanbul. (https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/istbo-renaissance-istanbul-bosphorus-hotel/)
Unfortunately, the hotel is the last exist before the world famous Bosphorus Bridge, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorus_Bridge) which I think everyone in Istanbul (14,000,000) was trying to cross at the same time. Reminds me of the bridges in New York city at rush hour.
The Bosphorus Bridge links Europe to Asia, so as you cross the bridge you go from one continent to another.
Our rooms at the Renaissance are really nice and our view of the bridge from our room is very picturesque. Family showered (in the overhead rain shower) and then grabbed dinner before an early night.
And the winner of the worst travel direction is - "EAST".
Travel Stats:
AA174 - RDU to LHR 3872 miles (7.5 hrs)
BA676 - LHR to IST 1560 miles (3.5 hrs)
No comments:
Post a Comment