This morning I kept waking up and checking the video from the front of the ship on the TV. When I did actually wake up I finished packing my bag and went to the buffet for breakfast. I had some more of the delicious ham for breakfast and some cereal.
I took one last picture of Amsterdam from the ship.
I went back to the room and took my bags off the ship. Normally I put my large bag out, but they wanted it packed and out by 10 PM. I figured if I can walk from the train station to the ship I can easily take my suitcase off the ship myself.
I took a picture of the Welcome to Amsterdam sign at the entrance to the terminal.
I decided not to wait for the tram and walk directly to the train station. The elevation looked more gentle in this direction. I took a couple of more photos of the buildings across the canal from the train station.
I bought the train ticket for the IC train which was non-stop between Amsterdam Centraal and Schipol airport. It only arrived a few minutes after an earlier train that left earlier but made more stops.
When I got to the airport the mayhem was quite apparent. I have no idea what happened here, but there were tons of people trying to check in. I somehow managed to find the business class check in entrance for Turkish Airlines in the mess and checking in was quick. However they mixed everyone together for the security screening to get upstairs. It wasn’t too impossible, but it did require a 50-60 minute wait (maybe longer) to get through security.
After security I went through the automated passport control system. At first I was worried I wouldn’t get a stamp, but an immigration office at the exit stamped my passport.
I didn’t find the Star Alliance lounge, but did find the Aspire lounge which is supposedly accessible with Priority Pass, but they had a sign saying they were full and weren’t letting in Priority Pass clients.
I went with plan B – McDonalds to cure my Big Mac attack.
By this time is was the scheduled time to board my flight, but the plane hadn’t arrived yet. After a nearly hour long delay we were able to board the plane.
The widebody had the old lie flat seating I was used to on Turkish Airlines.
I was able to watch most of a movie and take a nap. The food was okay, I chose the kebab,
I arrived at the new “Istanbul” airport. I put “Istanbul” in quotes as the airport seems closer to Russia than Istanbul. The airplane also arrived at the furthest most point from the airport lounge. The new airport is nice, but ultimately they would have been better to have multiple terminals and transport between the terminals than one giant terminal a mile long (I measured on Google Maps and it was actually about 3/4 of a mile I walked to get to the lounge). To make things worse the signage for the lounge was not clear and the entrance was hidden.
The lounge had quite a few tapas like food options, I got some of the grilled beef and a simit. I really enjoyed the simit, the beef was okay.
After a short time it was now time to board my next flight. Of course like the previous flight the boarding was delayed. Eventually I managed to get on the plane. It was a considerable disappointment that the seats only reclined for a longer and night flight. They did give me a nice amenity bag with Istanbul architecture on it.
For the meal on this flight I chose the beef filet, it was good, although a bit tough. I did manage to get some sleep on the flight by wedging my head between the movable head rests.
After arrival I got yet another stamp on my passport and picked up my checked bag.
I checked into the W hotel on the beach. The nice employee attempted to upgrade me to a suite, but none were available. The room was good enough for a short stay.
