sisters by chance : travel buddies by choice
In transit – August 26-27
Last year, we planned on taking the Orient Express from Venice; however, a mandatory Covid test required by Belmond the day before the train ride started eliminated us and about half the passengers. Belmond was most honorable and immediately refunded everyone (and their companions, even if they tested clear for Covid) 100%. When we were ready to book the Orient Express again, we decided to take the longer trip from Istanbul.
We are flying United Denver to Frankfurt, Germany, then changing planes and on to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, scheduled to arrive a little before 4 in the afternoon of the 27th. That didn’t happen.
A few days before our flight from Denver to Frankfurt, we had the opportunity to choose our evening meal; the Cajun Shrimp sounded appealing and that’s what I went for while Trish chose the BBQ Chicken.
Here is my suitcase just before it goes on the belt at DIA. Very full of gifts for friends and relatives, and fancy outfits for the Orient Express evenings and formal/theme nights on the journey home on the Queen Mary II.
Our flight was originally scheduled to leave DIA at 3:40 p.m. As Trish and I feel we can either dink around at home or get to the airport early, we’d been there since about 12:30 p.m. to enjoy an excellent lunch in the United Lounge. This photo shows when our flight delay was “only” a couple of hours:
Finally, around 8:30 p.m., our flight left. Eight hours is a looooong time to wait at an airport. United finally decided they couldn’t fix the plane and subbed in another. They said it wouldn’t have wi-fi, and one of the other passengers wondered where United had managed to rustle up such an old plane that it didn’t have wi-fi!
At Frankfurt Airport there was great confusion – for us and everyone else on our flight who were transiting on. The staff in Frankfurt airport didn’t seem to know how to help the more than 300 passengers on our flight, lots of standing in lines, wrong advice, then told to go stand in a different line. Trish finally collared a United staff member, Betta, who, after appearing very grumpy, helped us enormously to finally get on a flight to Istanbul (our old one was long gone, even though it, also, had been delayed). It turned out she was angry at the disorganization and lack of help everyone was experiencing with this very late flight.
Finally arrived in Istanbul in the wee small hours of the morning. Phew.
All pages: In Transit; Istanbul; OE Day 1: All Aboard; OE Day 2: Bucharest; OE Day 3: Romania to Hungary; OE Day 4: Budapest; OE Day 5: Hungary to France; OE Day 6: Adieu; London & thereabouts; Hampshire; QM2 So’ton to NY; New York; Journey Home