Disaster Averted

Disaster Averted

There’s a saying that Sailing is hours of bliss interrupted by moments of sheer panic. Kind of like flying.

We arrived at PVD last night to find that my flight, the last one from Providence to DC, was canceled. Mechanical problems. I would not make my connecting flight to Frankfurt or go on to Istanbul. The male counter clerk was kindly and sympathetic but nothing could be done, my trip would be delayed, by the very least, a day.

He then turned me over to Lauren (later known as Super-Lauren) to re-book me. Hey, says Lauren, there’s a flight leaving now for Chicago and I can connect you directly from there to Istanbul. Wow! Leave it to a women to think outside of the box.
So, Chicago or Bust. Getting from O’Hare’s National to International terminals and through security again takes almost two hours. I was wearing my Shape Up RI pedometer and really racked up the steps…about 1.5 miles. There's a beautiful connecting tunnel between the terminals, almost psychedellic, with streamers of overhead neon lights contrasted by undulating walls of translucent muted glass. Enjoying the view,I took my time, since I had almost 3 hours of layover.

Going through security again was another story and turned out to be a nerve-wracking cattle call--probably exacerbated since it was 9:00 and I hadn’t eaten since noon. No matter, I figured I’d enjoy a meal once I checked in. When I finally arrived at Turkish airlines my new BFF Super-Lauren fell from grace. She had issued me a boarding pass but no ticket. No ticket = no seat. Basically, when Lauren booked it she hadn’t said that United would ‘pay’ for the ticket, and I wasn’t boarding unless someone paid…and, said the clerk, it’s kind of late to get this resolved but I’ll try. Normally I’d find the nearest bar/restaurant and ply myself with a nice wine and some desperately needed food while waiting to hear about something I had no control over…but the International terminal has no restaurants or bars. So I did the next best thing and called Bill who tried to cheer me up. He did cheer me, but what REALLY cheered me was the Turkish reservation clerk telling me that all was resolved.

Turkish Airlines - If you’re going anywhere…Fly Turkish Airlines, even if your flying Providence to Boston. :-) The plane is beautiful with large roomy seats and lots of leg room. There’s a little TV screen and remote for each passenger and you can select from news, about 20 different movies and all types of music from Classical to Turkish to Turkish Classical to pop…the list goes on and on. The staff never stopped working during our 11 hour flight. They gave each passenger a 'goodie bag' that held warm sox, an eye cover for sleeping, a travel toothbrush with a tiny toothpaste, and even a set of ear plugs. Food was plentiful and yummy and I ate everything including a fresh, crispy salad, marinated beans, nicely done fish and a real French roll. Did I mention that wine is free? Yippee. The only drawback to the flight, and this seems to be all flights these days, were the many, excitable tykes traveling wih their parents. They loved flying and shrieked with joy (or something else) at all hours, 2 a.m….3 a.m…4 a.m…and every minute in between. Turkish Airlines showed great forethought by giving us earplugs. There were some problems with the heat in our area and while I was sleeping the attendant came by and covered me with two more blankets. What a nice trip!

O'Hare could take a page from Istantbul's airport. Like O'Hare, it's beautiful and clean. Unlike O'Hare, it's well organized with lots of clear signage and TONS of friendly personnel to help any traveller who looks confused...i.e., me. People were so nice and before long I arrived at the Sheraton Atakoy (pronounced Atakay). I was taken by surprise, though I suppose I should't have been, when my taxi approached a checkpoint at the entrance and a guard stepped out, wanded our taxi for explosives, and checked the trunk and my luggage for the same. Perhaps this is the norm at high-end tourist hotels now. I don't expect to be looked at twice when I transfer to the low-budget hotel on Monday. :-)


My hotel room is beyond spectacular! Wow!!! I'm on the 9th floor with huge bay windows that overlook the Bosphorous. It's just beautiful and for a few days I'll be in the lap of luxury.

Sightseeing tomorrow and I'll begin meeting dancers from around the world as they arrive for our opening night Gala. I wish you were all her with me.

More tomorrow.