Day 0: Texas to Türkiye

The LONG journey begins.  30 hours. 32 minutes to be exact . . . that is if all goes as planned and no delays.  If I was paying cash for my flights, it would be much faster but since I am flying on miles/points I don’t get the best connections.  It is perfectly fine since it only cost me the tax which was $81 so I’m not complaining.  I did have access to airline lounges which are always comfortable and an added treat.  I have learned sometimes it is the small things that make the hassle of travel worth it.  I flew out of my local regional airport that has three flights a day to DFW.  I love the mammoth rope art on that dark blue wall!

Side Note:  If you are ever in my town, the Waco Mammoth National Monument is a really good place to visit.  A herd of Columbian mammoth bones were discovered in the late 70s by two guys looking for fossils along the Bosque River.

As soon as I landed in DFW I headed to my favorite place for a snack!

I love Shake Shack.  I know it is over priced and small for the price but a yummy treat for me.  And then left the airport terminal and headed to the Grand Hyatt DFW to hang out for the next 11 hours!  Yes, my layover is super long.  I used some points so I would at least have a place to hang out and relax; it was a great decision.  My flight to London leaves at 11pm so I headed back a couple hours before take off to enjoy the American Airlines Flagship Lounge for a little snack.

Those little cheesecake bites were so good!  And then it was finally time to board for the long flight to London!  Of course the lie flat business seat is not bad either especially since I only paid $81 and 57,500 miles/points!

Took me no time to get settled and have my little slippers on!  I was not hungry but no way was I passing up a meal service . . . I had preordered the fruit and cheese plate.

Which was still a lot of food but the star of AA business class is always the sundae! 

The flight was quick; I slept; I watched some TV, and we were in London.  I had another long layover so headed to the British Airlines Concorde Room for you guessed it; more food!

Then I hit a wall. So tired. I drank so many peppermint teas and a lot of terminal walking to try and pass the time but at this point I am over the travel and just want to be at my final destination.  I swear I walked every inch of LHR Terminal 5 and sat in every seating area.  There was a lot of excitement in the terminal and people were giddy.  I finally asked someone who these guys were and was told it was THE Bokke.  I was like oh okay and headed right to google to find out it is a South African rugby team who are one of the most successful rugby teams and apparently pretty famous.  I know nothing about rugby!  So, I just watched fans approach them and chat . . . the guys were all so nice and took photos.  It got me to thinking about US athletes and somehow, I don’t think they would be so gracious to fans in the airport.  Time was passing ever so slowly and it felt like déjà vu from last year’s trip where I sat around all day, but at least I wasn’t denied boarding this time. I just wanted to shower and crawl into a bed with clean sheets.  The last flight was a short flight.  The business class area has blocked off the middle seat so no one is sitting right next to me.  However, the guy in my row seemed to think he owned the area of both seats and took over every inch.  I found it fun that British Airways gives you a printed menu card with a full meal service for a flight less than 4 hours.

The food was fine . . . nothing spectacular but the service was very good. 

It was so late, and I am about over traveling and food at this point!  The last flight of the day was painful!  It was just under 4 hours, and well I am exhausted. It was 1230am Monday morning when we arrived at Istanbul. I left Texas Saturday at 10am.  I had not heard a word from my prearranged transportation so I was concerned.  I turned my phone on and noticed a text with meeting location which was nice.  I was carry-on bag only so I got there as quickly as I could.  The ride from the airport to hotel was about an hour.  When I arrived at the hotel, I was shocked to see an x-ray machine bag check point to enter the hotel lobby.  Hmmmm, I have never seen this before but put my bags on the belt and went to check-in.  It was about 2am and noticed the bag guy and check in guy chatting.  The check in guy leans over to me and says, “I am told you have a knife in your bag.”  Of course, I did not have a knife or any sharp object in my bag.  I told him he was wrong and he said “well, I have to ask since that is what the machine says”.  I grabbed my bag and went to my room!  My room is huge because I used a suite upgrade award at the Grand Hyatt Istanbul.