hotels | Jason Around the World

Almaty, Kazakhstan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Uzbekistan Airways

Airports, Europe and Central Asia 2013, Flights, hotels, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan No Responses »

Jun 082013

Wrapped up our session at around 4pm, and our driver picked us up at the office at 5pm to head to the airport, promising there would be lots of traffic…and you “must” get there early. Since it’s the largest city in Kazakhstan, I figured the airport would be pretty good-sized, so maybe there was reason. Plus, things move slowly with bureaucracy in central asia sometimes, so we’d see.

Got to the airport in about 25 minute, and it was still nearly three hours until flight time. Oops! The entry way was a long hallway left to right, but there were no check-in desks anywhere in sight. Oh, wait, they’re through the security checkpoint. That’s odd…but ok. Checkin took a couple of minutes, asked for a window seat in row two after being shown the wide-open seatmap…and ened up with 1B. Um, ok? I asked for row two aisle. She switched from Russian back to English, saying “yes, you take.” Sigh, ok. This was a non-winnable battle.

There were two lines for passport control, for business class and everyone else. It didn’t matter in the end, as both seemed to take about 20 minutes to get through. Right on the other side was security again, which had no line. So, in about 30 minutes, two hours before the flight, we were in the terminal. Let’s find a lounge!

There was a lounge it turns out, but it’s only open to passengers of Air Astana. Business class on Uzbekistan? Nyet, go wait in the terminal. Priority Pass? Nyet! Sigh. The terminal? It was one large room with a few hundred seats, shared by all flights. There were a couple small outrageously priced cafes around the edge of the room, and a good-sized duty free shop that was pretty well-stocked. That was it…we were just going to have to wait it out. Time went pretty fast due to free WiFi which was nice, and soon it was time to board!

Uzbekistan Airways flight 764
Almaty, Kazakhstan (ALA) to Tashkent, Uzbekistan (TAS)
Depart 20:15, Arrive 21:05, Flight Time 1:50
Airbus A320, Registration UK32014, Manufactured 2010, Seat 2F

There was no such thing as priority boarding, so I did what lots of developing country travel has taught me to do well and stood up for myself….using all 6’3 210 lbs of me to make sure I stayed at the front of the scrum. Fortunately, once on board, someone was already in my seat. I took that as a cue to take the seat I wanted…2F…and in the end, I don’t think anyone ended up in their assigned seats. That works!

The sun was setting, and the view out the window onto the tarmac over the bright green engine was pretty cool:

…and what’s this in the seatback pocket? An “amenity kit” for a two hour flight? Neat!

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Almaty, Kazakhstan and time in Almaty

Europe and Central Asia 2013, hotels, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Restaurants No Responses »

Jun 072013

Apologies in advance this post will be a stream of consciousness mostly text post because, well, we were so busy working we didn’t get to see a whole ton!

Ended up working until mid-afternoon in downtown Bishkek, and at 4pm we got ready to head to the Almaty. Our office in Bishkek had arranged a driver to take us to the border, and our office in Almaty had arranged another driver to meet us at the border and take us the rest of the way. Sounded like an easy plan, and as someone who’s gotten used to negotiating minibusses and share-taxis the last couple years it was a rare treat! Not only the chance to not have to negotiate, but comfortable and uncrowded. Score!

Traffic in Bishkek wasn’t awful for a Monday afternoon, and about 30 minutes later we were at the border. Our Kazakh driver was already waiting for us on the Kyrgyz side, and walked us through the car lines (the pedestrian lines were super long on both sides of the border, and apparently he knew some tricks that we could just walk through the much shorter car lines…it took quite a bit of yelling, complaining, and posturing, but in about 15 minutes we were through the border. His car was parked on the Kazakh side, so he loaded up our luggage, and we got ready to head out. I turned back to take a quick snap of the border from the Kazakh side:

Very soon after the border, things got very rural…very fast. We drove for around two more hours before we started to see any signs of the city, and then spent nearly another hour fighting Almaty traffic trying to get to our hotel. All total from downtown to downtown travel time was around 4 hours, and that wouldn’t include any time fighting at the border or negotiating with taxis.

Our hotel was the Rixos Almaty and appeared to be located pretty centrally in the city. It was around 8pm by this time, so after checking in we decided to head out quickly in search of a bite. Nothing was easy to find and we were getting pretty hungry at this point, so just decided to admit defeat and head back for room service since we had an early morning. Unfortunately work was incredibly busy here, so there wasn’t a whole ton of time to sightsee. So, I’ll do a mini hotel review first.

The obvious place to start, since I just mentioned room service, is with the food. Let’s just start by saying that for the region I thought prices were outrageous. I ended up with a club sandwich and a beer from room service, which came to nearly $45. Stunning. I was expecting to get something pretty awesome for that price, but you be the judge:

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Attractions, Europe and Central Asia 2013, hotels, Kyrgyzstan, Restaurants 1 Response »

Jun 062013

Got to the hotel around 430am, the Hyatt Regency Bishkek:

Guess this is as good of a place as any to start the hotel review…since I had problems from the very start. Check-in was quick, up to my room, and it was roasting. AC and blower weren’t working. Call down to front desk and ask to switch rooms, “no, we are full, I will send someone up.” The maintenance guy fiddled with it for 30 minutes and couldn’t get it to turn on either, and then I elevated and demanded a manager. He still said there’s no rooms, blah blah blah. I threw a mild fit. Well, look there, there’s a room on the Executive Floor. Funny how that worked out! An hour after arriving, around 5:30am, I passed out…and didn’t wake up until nearly 2pm.

But, back to the hotel. The staff was friendly the entire time, although I didn’t have a ton of interaction with them. The perk of the new room was executive lounge access, but it was nothing to get excited about. A nice espresso machine and cookies (?) in the morning, but in the evening they put out quite a nice snack display with meats, cheeses, etc, and free beverages. I was allowed to bring my colleague in as well, so that was a nice perk.

Other than that, we really didn’t use any hotel facilities. We had one drink in the bar which tried really hard to be cool, but weren’t overly impressed with it. There was an in-house travel agent, who was fantastic and managed to book us a daytrip for the next day at around 9pm – impressive, and more on that later.

The room was comfy enough, and no complaints about the bed or room temp once I got a room where the AC worked. It was plenty quiet, and my room had a huge shower and tub in it. I would say the paying the extra $20 or so for the deluxe room upgrade was way worth it – it was double the size of the standard rooms plus had a king bed. Overall, no question this is THE place to stay in Bishkek.

So, woke up at 2pm, and decided to go for a stroll. I’ll go through the sites pretty quickly, and I didn’t see all of these the first day….since I had the weekend to recover. But, going to post them all now regardless.

We’ll start right next to the Hyatt with the national opera and ballet:

A short walk away was the Dom Soyuzov, a very cool Soviet-era building:

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Attractions, Bosnia and Central Asia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, hotels, Restaurants 1 Response »

Jun 042013

Landed late evening in Sarajevo, and after a short wait for baggage we found the hotel drive which we’d arranged online waiting for us right outside customs. A quick maybe 15 minute or so ride, and we were at the hotel which I’ll talk more about later. It was already after 8pm at this point, and it was a national holiday in Bosnia, so we just went for a short walk around the river to see if we could find a cafe for dinner and walk off a bit of the jetlag. Managed to find a small cafe/pizza shop in a mall that was still open for a quick snack, and it was relatively early to bed.

No meetings the next day until mid-afternoon, so was nice to sleep in a bit and recover and walk around the city a bit. All told, I think we ended up walking a good 10km in the morning, which was fantastic for getting rid of a bit of the jetlag. Most of the following pictures were taken on that morning walk, but some are from random walks in between meetings the next several days.

After walking a few km, the first major site was the Latin Bridge, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated, largely sparking World War I.

Another nearby cool bridge:

The central square in the old town – at day and night. The old town had a distinctly east-meets-west feeling, with the call to prayer constantly heard, several mosques, and a really unique blend of people and cultures:

33 Hours in South Africa

Attractions, hotels, Restaurants, South Africa, South Africa Milage Run 2013 1 Response »

Apr 192013

We landed at 10am, and immigration was quick without bags, and we were spared the odd questions about why we’d come to Johannesburg for just 33 hours. Fortunate.

I’ve been to South Africa dozens of times, but haven’t actually visited Johannesburg in over 15 years. I flew into JNB two years ago during my round the world 40th birthday trip, but immediately got in a rental car and headed to Lesotho, so I hadn’t properly visited the city in a long time. I was excited to get a small preview of how things had changed.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. I did do a similar milage run about 5 years ago, when Lufthansa published a DC to Helsinki fare that allowed Johannesburg in the routing rules. So, yes, I did go DC – Frankfurt – Johannesburg – Frankfurt – Helsinki. It was legal, and only like an extra $10 in taxes, but as it was a connection I only had about 8 hours in Johannesburg. I did manage to get down to Sandton for lunch, but had to take a giant share taxi which was a bit of a pain in the butt.

Why am I going on about this? Because everyone I knew from there had told me how nice the Gautrain was. JNB to Sandton and Rosebank in about 15 minutes. Clean, fast, efficient, and relatively affordable. I was sold! We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a train, and it was actually rather nice!

Short train ride later, we were at the Sandton station, which was located conveniently across the street from our hotel, the Radisson Blu Sandton Gautrain. Check-in was quick and pleasant, and we were “upgraded” to a business floor room. Nothing special about the room, except that Radisson Blu’s business class rooms seem to all have Nespresso machines in them. I was a happy caffeine addict. Perhaps the strangest part was the picture on the wall outside our room:

Yes, that’s the Farragut West metro station in Washington, DC, the same station I get out at most every day to go to the office. Halfway around the world. Go figure. It was if the hotel was taunting us! We took advantage of the Nespresso machine in the room to refuel, and since it was almost noon at this point we headed across the street to Nelson Mandela Square to get some lunch.

We settled on Baglios, mainly because they had a table on the lanai where I could sit and enjoy the 23C sun since it was still cold back in DC. But first, to start lunch off on the right note, I introduced Phil to Savanna Dry cider!

Aguas Calientes to DC via Cuzco, Lima, and New York

Airports, Flights, hotels, Peru, Peru 2013 No Responses »

Mar 262013

Fortunately our train out of Aguas Calientes was in the afternoon, so we had a chance to sleep in and take it easy in Aguas Calientes before we had to be at the train station for the ride back. We grabbed a casual lunch near the train station as I mentioned in another post, and then it was back to Cuzco first by train, then by shuttle bus, and finally a taxi to our hotel. We’d decided to stay at the Hotel Monasterio again, and they had our driver waiting at the train/shuttle station and our stored bags already in our new room. Absolutely perfect.

One last dinner in Cuzco, and it was up early for our series of flights back home. One last breakfast at the hotel, and they arranged a taxi for us to the airport. Once again, everything at this hotel was flawless, and geared towards people visiting Cuzco and/or Machu Picchu. A very early breakfast before our taxi, taxi to the airport arranged and on time…it was excellent.

The Cuzco airport is relatively small, and the business class/Star Alliance Gold line had a 15-20 minute line before we could check in. However, when we did, we were surprised to hear the agent say “I am adding your name to the list, you can ask about an upgrade at the gate.” I didn’t question her, but why was this? Are Star Alliance Gold members (and companions!) automatically upgraded space available at the gate on TACA?!

Immigration and security were maybe a 10 minute affair, and soon we were in the very congested departures area for our flight.

TACA Peru flight 830
Cuzco, Peru (CUZ) to Lima, Peru (LIM)
Depart 8:05, Arrive 9:30, Flight Time 1:25
Airbus A320, Registration N498TA, Manufactured 2008, Seat 2K

About two minutes before boarding, the gate agent called our names, and wrote new seat numbers on our boarding passes…upgrade confirmed! I still don’t know why, since coach was only about 75% full, and we were two of four in business, but I’m not complaining at all!

It was a pretty routine flight, with a small meal offered. Seats were typical US-style up-front seats, so nothing special, but it was nice having all sorts of extra room! A shot of the meal:

Touring around Aguas Calientes, and the SUMAQ hotel

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Mar 152013

We were met at the Aguas Calientes railway station by the SUMAQ hotel porter, who put our bags in their cart and then…wheeled them to the hotel. We didn’t know there were no cars in town, so everywhere you went was on foot. It was no big deal, since the hotel was only a five minute walk, it was just funny watching them wheel the giant cart of bags to the hotel. Most of the other people on our train were at the same hotel, but were headed straight up to Machu Picchu so didn’t walk to the hotel with us. First, a few thoughts from our two days at the hotel, and then a little review of Aguas Calientes itself.

SUMAQ Hotel, Aguas Calientes

Room:

We’d reserved the basic standard room, and it was perfectly fine. The beds were very comfortable, there were more pillows than I had a clue what to do with (seriously, there were 6 pillows on each bed!) and the temperature was decent. There was no climate control, so the room tended to be slightly on the warm side, but not enough to every really be a problem. Bathroom was well-stocked with decent eco-friendly amenities, and considering this was a small town it was a very nice room. Some pics of the room, with the many-pillowed bed:

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Lima to Cuzco on TACA, and the Hotel Monasterio, Cuzco

Airports, hotels, Peru, Peru 2013 No Responses »

Mar 112013

We’d booked a slightly later flight to Cuzco, thinking it would let us sleep in at least a little bit and a terribly early morning, but the one thing we didn’t take into account is that a 9:55 departure meant we’d be leaving for the airport in the middle of rush hour traffic. Fortunately, the trip was still quite quick and maybe 30 minutes at most, and we got to the airport just a bit over an hour before the departure of our flight.

The domestic check-in line for TACA was crazy long, and even the business class/Star Alliance gold line took probably 15 minutes, but check-in was pretty easy. Unfortunately, the flight was going to be rather full meaning the middle seat in between us wouldn’t stay open. Security took another 15 minutes or so, and by the time we made it to the gate it was 30 minutes before departure and we expected them to be boarding. Except they weren’t. Boarding finally started about 9:50, when we were allow to go out to…the bus. No jetways here. By the time we boarded and closed the door it was nearly 10:30. Not horrible because we had no place to be, but it was handled very casually as if this was completely normal.

TACA Peru flight 809
Lima, Peru (LIM) to Cuzco, Peru (CUZ)
Depart 9:55, Arrive 11:20, Flight Time 1:25
Airbus A319, Registration N520TA, Manufactured 2007, Seat 8K

The flight was almost completely full in economy, meaning the seat in between us was taken, so we shifted to the middle and window seat. It was maybe an hour in the air, so no big deal. During the flight, the crew managed to serve a quick snack/sandwich and drinks to a full plane, which was pretty impressive. The snack didn’t look appetizing and we’d just had breakfast so I decided to skip it, but it was still pretty impressive that they offered it. Overall, there was nothing special about TACA, but at the same time nothing really went wrong. To top it off, milage posted to United about five days after the flight, so score one for the partnership working as well.

Upon landing we got our checked baggage in 10-15 minutes, and had arranged for the hotel to meet us and transfer us so I can’t comment on how easy it would be to get a taxi. On the way back to the airport, however, we had the hotel call a taxi which was many, many times less expensive at only 20 soles. It was not quite as comfortable, but still plenty nice, so I think this is definitely the way to go.

When we arrived at the Hotel Monasterio we were asked to take a seat in the lounge / bar area while they got our check-in information. They brought us a pot of coca tea to help with the altitude, and sat at the table with us while they completed registration.

Room:

The room was spacious and comfortable, and had the added benefit of extra oxygen being pumped into the room to help with the altitude. The hotel was a converted monastery, so it definitely had that “something old” charm about it. It’s not usually my preferred decorating style, but it was really cool to be staying in a place with so much history. The beds were extremely comfortable with great bedding, and the only small gripe I had about the rooms is that both rooms we had were slightly on the warm side for sleeping. We tried to get them cooler, but no matter what they stayed quite warm despite the fact the temperature would drop to about 10C outside at night.

On our second stay, the hotel actually upgraded us to a small two-level suite for the night, with the bedroom and bathroom upstairs, and a large sitting area on the entry level. It was very nice considering we hadn’t requested it, and the bags we stored with the hotel were waiting for us in the room when we checked in. Big plus!

Service:

As mentioned above, service was amazing. From our bags waiting for us in the room on the second stay, to friendly staff everywhere (reception, breakfast, bar/lounge, etc) the hotel really went out of its way to go that little extra step from doing what was expected to anticipating what would make your stay easier and more comfortable. Despite some challenges in communication (English skills of some staff were rather limited) it was still clear they were intent on delivering excellent service and it really showed.

Location:

The location of the hotel was absolutely perfect, located 2-3 blocks off the main plaza. Just far enough away that the noise of the plaza was nonexistent, but close enough that it was an easy walk. Location was absolutely perfect!

Breakfast:

What can I say about the breakfast – absolutely awesome. The only thing that was slightly lacking is that the staff seemed slightly overworked, and getting refills of coffee took a bit of time. Now, onto all the great stuff! There were amazing breads of all sorts, pastries, danishes, meats, cheeses, cakes, pies, pretty much you name it and they had it. Not to mention fresh squeezed orange-carrot juice that was amazing. Oh, and the first day…we actually had breakfast in the courtyard of the hotel with a musician playing soft music while we ate. It blended in perfectly with the old monastery atmosphere, and again although it’s not really my style I definitely enjoyed breakfast al fresco!

A shot of the courtyard, you can see the tables we ate at:

Restaurants / Bars:

We didn’t have any meals other than breakfast at the hotel, but we did have evening cocktails before dinner each night at the hotel. I really enjoyed the lounge space. There was a nice fire going in the fireplace each night, big cozy leather couches to relax on, and fantastic service. They also made amazing cocktails with pisco, and I really wish I could remember the name of the one I ordered over and over – it was delicious, and at roughly $10 for a drink in the lounge of a rather nice hotel I thought prices were incredible reasonable. There were also small bar munchies too, which were kept filled.

Pool / Gym / Facilities:

Unfortunately we didn’t check out any of the facilities, but there was a rather nice little gift shop that sold local items.

Overall Review:

I think the best thing I can say that illustrates how much we like it is that we stayed for two nights once we arrived from Lima, and then promptly canceled the hotel we’d booked on our way back from Machu Picchu in order to stay at the Monasterio again – it was just that good. On top of everything, the taxi that took us to the train station for Machu Picchu was waiting for us upon our return, and drove us back to Monasterio. It was little details like that made this one of the most flawless hotel stays I’ve ever had. I’ve never felt a hotel went so far above and beyond with little details that you have a hard time thinking of negative things to say about it. I’m even willing to give them a pass on the room temperature, since I know I like my rooms a bit closer to arctic than most people do. Other than that, to me, there’s no doubt this is the place to stay in Cuzco!

Hotel Review: Westin Lima

hotels, Peru, Peru 2013 No Responses »

Mar 062013

We arrived at the hotel after an easy 30 minute or so taxi ride, and checkin was quick and efficient. This hotel receives very good reviews online, so we were really looking forward to our three nights here before setting out for Cuzco and Machu Picchu.

Room:

As a Starwood Platinum member I was upgraded to a one bedroom suite without having to ask. The room was clean with a very large shower room. The only slightly odd feature is that the door/wall of the shower room that faced the hallway was glass and completely transparent. Slightly awkward if you don’t want to be watched while showering. It was a nice rainshower, and there were plenty of towels, soaps, etc in the room without having to ask.

The room had the standard Westin Heavenly Bed, and I did ask – all suites in the hotel are single king bed only. There are no suites with doubles at this property. The bedroom had two walls of floor to ceiling windows, giving a fantastic view over the city. In the living room, one of the walls was also floor to ceiling glass with a fantastic room. There was a nice desk and sofa in the living room, and plenty of room to spread out, work, or entertain just a few guests. Temperature control in the room was excellent. I like my room very cold when I sleep (somewhere around 16-18C) and the air conditioning in this room had absolutely no trouble handling that.

Sunset view from the room:

Service:

All the staff we encountered were friendly, helpful, and went well beyond the call of duty.

Reception was warm and friendly when we checked in, and the agent spoke excellent English and was genuinely helpful, explaining all the features of the hotel. In the executive lounge, all the agents we encountered were friendly, although English ability seemed to be a bit more limited here. They did, however, remember us from day to day and welcomed us back each time.

When we checked in there was a problem with our keycard, but one of the bellmen helped us with the elevators, and he was exceptionally friendly as well. Finally, the concierge helped us a few times with taxis, directions, and restaurant reservations, and was also extremely friendly.

Location:

Perhaps the one minor downside of this property, although it never really came into play for us. The hotel is definitely not in a tourist area, but more in the financial district. There is a huge grocery store and plenty of restaurants within walking distance, but beyond that it’s not ideally situated for tourists. Getting a taxi was really no problem, however, and since taxis are incredibly inexpensive in Lima it never once bothered us. It was a short 10 minute (20 max) ride to most of the places we wanted to go, so the inconvenience was minimal.

Breakfast:

We had breakfast in the executive lounge each morning, which had a large spread of both hot and cold food. There were several breads and pastries, cheeses, cold meats and fish, and an assortment of fruits including some local fruits I’d never seen before. On the hot side, there were pancakes, bacon, etc. It was way more than a continental breakfast, and definitely one of the better executive lounge breakfasts I’ve ever had.

Restaurants / Bars:

Although we didn’t try any of the hotel’s restaurants or bars, we did do cocktail hour in the executive lounge both nights. It ran for two hours from 6-8, and featured a huge spread of hot and cold foods as well as complimentary local beer and wine. The attendants were never shy with refills, and I think we finished off several glasses of wine each night. Another plus, the lounge was nearly completely empty. I don’t think I ever saw more than 10 people in it, and it was a nice quiet getaway and place to unwind after the day.

Pool / Gym / Facilities:

Unfortunately we didn’t use the pool or gym, although it was pointed out to us that they were included.

Overall Review:

Overall, this was a fantastic property and felt like a bargain for the rate we paid of under $200. Although the location isn’t the best, the service was fantastic and everything “worked like it should” throughout the property. It felt new, clean, and never once did we feel like there was something missing. Combined with the excellent service and features in the executive lounge there’s no doubt I’d return to this property if in the area again. We didn’t have any problems during our stay, so we didn’t get a chance to see how they’d recover from them, but I suppose that’s better than having problems in the first place!

Skopje, FYR Macedonia to Washington on Turkish, Lufthansa, and United

Airports, Flights, Germany, hotels, Kosovo and Macedonia, Macedonia, Turkey No Responses »

Feb 282013

Not too many details on this part of the trip, so I’ll keep it pretty simple.

We took a late evening taxi to Skopje airport after dinner and coffee, and arrived around 7pm, in plenty of time for our 8:45pm flight to Istanbul where we were planning to overnight. Check-in was quick and efficient, as was passport control and security. The airport was small, but quite modern, and overall quite efficient. There was a shared lounge which we were allowed to use as United Star Alliance Gold members, complete with plenty of beer and wine, and some small snacks – mainly cookies and crackers. Nothing impressive, but it had wifi, drinks, and was quiet so it did the job.

Drama started (see drama cafe reference in previous post) when we got to the gate. We were paged to the podium, and informed that our seats were being changed. We had exit row aisle seats across from each other, and were moved forward a few rows to an aisle and middle. No, there was nothing they could or would do about it, nor would they tell us why. GRRRR. It worked out in the end when after lots of prodding the agent managed to find us a full row in row 21 with the middle seat empty. All’s well that ends well!

Turkish flight 1006
Skopje, FYR Macedonia (SKP) to Istanbuk, Turkey (IST)
Depart 20:45, Arrive 23:05, Flight Time 1:20
Airbus A319, Registration TC-JLV, Manufactured 2011, Seat 21C

Flight was probably 95% full, but since we were proactive we ended up with one of the few empty middle seats in between us. There was a cold snack which was mostly edible, and drinks were free even in economy with one catch – you could have beer, but could not choose what kind. We ended up with one Heineken and one Efes – go figure! Other than that, flight was perfectly on time, and no drama whatsoever.

The same cannot be said for passport control in Istanbul where we’d have a very short overnight. Visa on arrival is available for US citizens, but my friend was traveling on a South African passport which is supposed to receive a free visa on arrival. Catch is, there’s only (apparently) one immigration desk in the whole airport that can issue this, and it’s not really marked. We spent over an hour getting through passport control, complete with a planeful of very rude Ukrainians shoving and pushing in line. There’s something deeply satisfying where when you deny someone the chance to sneak in front of you, and they curse you out in Russian thinking you don’t understand, when you can curse them even stronger right back. Score Jason 1, International Relations 0. Mr Gorbachev may have, in the infamaous words of the Gipper “torn down that wall” but I did my best to put it right back up 😉

Waited another 30 minutes for the aiport hotel shuttle, and it was almost 1am by the time we got to the hotel. With a 620am flight, I was beginning to wonder why we’d even bothered for just over three hours of sleep. The Istanbul Airport Radisson Blu? Well, check-in was efficient, the room was an inferno around 25C in temp, but the beds were ok and we were exhausted so we got three good hours of sleep along with a shower. For that alone, it was worth it.

Off to the airport, check-in and immigration took all of five minutes, leaving us time for Heaven. I mean Starbucks. Same difference – good strong espresso was exactly what I needed, and combined with some turkish coffee in the Turkish Airlines lounge I was ready to go. Oh, about that lounge…in this direction it was not terribly full at all, and they had a huge breakfast spread out! This has to be one of the best business class lounges in the world, at least as far as food goes.

Boarding was right on time, and business and star gold passengers got their own bus to the plane. Can’t complain about that! The load today was only about 50%, so there was plenty of room to spread out.

Lufthansa flight 1775
Istanbuk, Turkey (IST) to Munich, Germany (MUC()
Depart 6:20, Arrive 8:05, Flight Time 2:45
Airbus A320, Registration D-AIPH, Manufactured 1989, Seat 12C

Not too much to say – light breakfast served, crew was efficient, and there was plenty of room to spread out. As far as Lufthansa economy goes, it was a pretty good day. Except…we were held on the ground in Istanbul for over an hour due to fog in Munich, which I understand is very common at this time of year. We were looking at a 15 minute connection in Munich at best…this was going to be interesting. For some reason, it seems every time I connect through Munich I run into this issue.

We made up a bit of time in flight, and we landed 22 minutes before our flight to Newark was bound to leave. Fortunately, we were already “outside Schengen” for passport control, so that was one less line to deal with. We actually managed to get a real gate too, so a quick dash through security, and we made it with just minutes to spare.

United flight 969
Munich, Germany (MUC) to Newark, New Jersey (EWR)
Depart 9:20, Arrive 12:45, Flight Time 9:25
Boeing 767-300, Registration N651UA, Manufactured 1992, Seat 6H

This was a former-United three class 767, with a rather surly crew. There were several empty seats in Business class, and when we moved from window seats to centre seats we got admonished, even though we’d asked one of the flight attendants if it was ok. Other than that, things were fine – meal was pretty typical for these days, crew was not very friendly and below average, but the comfortable seats allowed us to catch up on sleep so that’s good.

My friend was leaving in Newark, so it was through Global Entry quickly (we actually arrived Terminal B of Newark – is that common these days? It was a first for me) and a tram to terminal A for my connecting flight to DC.

United Express (operated by ExpressJet) flight 4372
Newark, New Jersey (EWR) to Washington DC, National (DCA)
Depart 14:37, Arrive 15:47, Flight Time 1:10
Embraer ERJ-145, Registration N12160, Manufactured 2004, Seat 12A

Only 8 people on this flight – the lightest load I’ve seen on a DC-Newark flight ever. Not sure the reason – it was mid-afternoon on a Monday, but I wasn’t complaining. We were almost 20 minutes early on arrival.

Overall it was a great trip. Nowhere near long enough, but when I’m presented to join a friend on a trip to see new countries I’m never going to turn it down! I feel like we really maximized our time there, and I’d love to return now and see more of the smaller towns and countryside in the region. I still have to get to Macedonia, Bosnia, and Serbia in the region so I definitely have an incentive now to go back for an extended trip!

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