MEDIA CENTRE - Off The Wall

Phil’s Travels – Istanbul, Turkey (10.24)

Phil’s Travels – Istanbul, Turkey (10.24)

Never mind sparrow fart o’clock. I was up and at it well before any kind of sparrow was contemplating any kind of flatulence. It was too early even for security at Heathrow T4. I had to wait with dozens of other early starters on the concourse for the security folks to clock-in. At the gate, our ID gave me a heart attack with a surprise ‘Hello!’ and we flew to Paris for the first leg of our journey.

Note: our T4 baby was resplendent in the early morning. Less resplendent was the car drop-off at T4. It had no cover and it is a long walk to the terminal building. This security set-back was all very well but not well coordinated, as it did mean passengers (such as yours truly) got wet in lousy weather.

Our Paris hop was alongside a flame red sky to the east as we raced to the City of Light ahead of sunrise.

At Charles de Gaulle we fell victim to France’s most consistent faux pas – signage. Road signage in France is notoriously confusing and illogical. It was just as bad in Europe’s most confusing and poorly laid out airport, CDG (nothing is level or straight). We landed at Terminal 2E and the connection monitors indicated our next flight would leave from Gate L21 in Terminal 2F. So, we followed the intermittent signs to 2F and at 2F the security lady told us we were in the wrong place and that there was no L21 in 2F. L21 was in 2E, so we had to retrace our steps back to 2E, find a shuttle train from 2E to L gates in 2E. Confused? We were.

Back in Terminal 2E, we ignored the deluge of uniformly luxurious shops and had some breakfast and worked for a few hours before the second flight to Istanbul. We took off in glorious sunshine and just a few minutes later were enveloped in the most perfect whiteness. No more blue sky above and no more green fields below. Just white, above and below. It was like flying through a perfectly pristine Parisian meringue of the purest white.

Lunch on the flight was a collection of gloops on a plate. Designed by a signature chef from France, it was very tasty but visually questionable.

The airfield at the new Istanbul Airport was vast and the taxi from runway to terminal felt like drive from runway to the city centre, it took so long. Thanks to a clever Uber app, we caught a minicab to our hotel and caught up with other members of the team.

My hotel room was effectively at basement level, with a limited view of the wispy Chef’s Garden – a series of garden beds under pergolas planted with nearly dead green stuff. My room was on the lowest floor, whilst reception was some six floors overhead with amazing views of the Bosphorus. That said, I did have a view into my neighbour’s room, which I quickly blocked with the curtains. The lighting controls were electric, confusing and offered an all or nothing service (either all the lights or no lights; selecting lights required a PhD in advanced electrical engineering or sheer luck to succeed). Still, the room was large and comfortable and suitable for my limited purposes.

After an adventurous and fruitless walk around Besiktas Stadium in search of an authentic local restaurant, we ended up back at the hotel and ate dinner at the rooftop diner. Great night-time views of the Bosphorus and the Asian side of this incredible city.

Over the next couple of days, we had meetings and visited relevant places in a very comfortable minibus. The university was fascinating from a construction and technical point of view – after many visits to the city over the years, this was my first time to the Asian side. Emaar Square was super impressive. Massive and busy. We had a full tour of the Address, the rooftop Viewing Gallery and the enormous shopping mall (125,000sqm, six stories underground, including a subterranean zoo-aquarium in which we met Silky, the 65-year old, 350kg Saltwater Croc, who loves chicken).

On day one of our tour, I wore my new suit. It seemed to have assumed the same powers as my old suit. No matter where I am in the world, every time I wear a suit it rains. It poured across Istanbul for much of the afternoon of our first day, with some broken cloud and glorious sunshine on occasion. Similar weather to London in fact.

Our second day was very much more of a hotel tour and we visited Raffles (magnificent lobby), Ciragan Palace (magnificent all over) and St Regis (good reference rooftop venue). Driving around town, I noticed dentistry clinics on every street corner (Turkish Teeth are big business) but no trichology joints (hair transplants also big business here but clearly secreted away out of sight).

After work each day, we were treated to some delicious and memorable meals and drank some great local saraps. The grills were amazing and highly recommended. The one nearby our hotel was so good, we went there twice in one day.

Did you know?

• Istanbul covers 5,000sqkm and population over 15m
• Mauritius covers 2,000sqkm and population 1.5m
• London covers 1,500 sqkm and population 9m

Istanbul is truly huge, busy, hectic and wonderful. Go visit!

Our return flights also avoided any birds passing wind and the approach into London was stunning. It was sunny and big gaps in the clouds meant we had the most incredible views of the city. Surely the best approach into any airport anywhere in the world. I was in seat 1F, so had the best front seat of all.