In Transit at Ataturk

Slightly different plane seats than on the way out, it lacked the small cubbies for glasses etc. And the was a gap between the single seat side stowage bin and the seat cushions....
Food was good again but by the time we had been fed it was about 1:30am. Once the bed was made I stashed my glasses and phone and snuggled down to sleep. The cabin felt very blokey.. Hideously loud snoring from a couple of seats... Has to be good to be audible over the engines and across the aisle. There was also the bloke on the aisle opposite Dad who repeatedly rearranged his goolies whilst facing across towards me.. Urrrgh

In the middle of the plane night my phone alarm went off (I hadn't reset the time or turned it off). I dealt with it and went back to sleep... When I woke 2hrs later it was nowhere in the bin.... After a good hunt round I talked to the steward.. He couldn't see it either... So he organised techs to be ready at Istanbul to take the seat apart.

After a short fret I settled with breakfast and my Kindle, finally finished the Mandibles! The steward had told me not to move my seat to reduce the risk of crushing the phone and so when it came time to put the seat in the upright position I was stuck...
But the steward has obviously received additional instructions and he returned and removed all the cushions /padding from the seat and then the phone was revealed down below the mechanism... He wiggled his arm through the narrow gap and my phone was returned to me 😀.

Last time we landed at Istanbul we just went through a door into the main departure area.. No arrivals formalities. This time we were piled into a security screening area again.. More bag/shoe/intimate corners of my anatomy investigation and we were released to the lounge.Read more