franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
We’re on our flight from Washington DC to Istanbul, and so far I’ve been about 24 hours in transit, Jill has been traveling for about 18 hours. I slept for a couple hours, not exactly sure how many, but when I woke up there was still about five hours to go before we landed. I tried to go back to sleep, but I finally gave up and put CNN on the TV. I was able to sign on to WiFi and worked on the TR while listening to the news.
Pretty soon they brought me a glass of orange juice which tasted fresh squeezed. So yummy! Epic fail. I got no picture. Trust me it was good, and in a fancy glass! Then I was served a platter of Fresh fruit, cheeses, honey, turkey and chicken, bircher muesli, and butter.
Later they brought a plate of pastries and I chose a chocolate croissant. And they brough a cup of coffee. I ate most all the fruit, tasted the muesli (I don't like it), verified that one of the cheeses was cottage cheese, and skipped the Meats all together.
I had read on the menu there was a waffle. There was! This was super tasty. It had a crunchiness to it not from the crispy waffle but like they had put some sort of sugary coating on it that cracked like brulee when you bit into it. Alas, I had eaten too much of the fruit and as I tried for each and every last bite, I knew I couldn't finish it.
Jill wasn’t feeling very well. She ate about two pieces of her fruit and sent the tray back. She didn’t want to feel any worse, so she just attempted to sleep for the rest of the plane ride.
And I realized I didn't get a lot of pictures of the little pod. Here are some from my perspective.
Pretty soon we were landing and they took our headphones and had us put on an extra shoulder belt. We alo did this for takeoff. Once we were on the ground it took forever to taxi to the terminal, but we made it. Once we got off the plane, we decided to check out the lounge here. Jill had heard it was huge, and it was! Like five or six times the size of the DC lounge. Neither of us were hungry. I grabbed a bottle of water and a Cappuccino.
I took advantage of the free wifi for posting on instagram and facebook, and then we left because the signs said we had a good 20 minute walk to our gate. This airport is HUGE and it's like one big over sensory shopping mall! There were duty free stores everywhere. I should have taken pictures but I was just so overwhelmed and focused on getting to our destination, I just marveled at the sights.
After a lot of waiting we were finally on the plane.
It was after 12 noon and both of us were getting hungry. We got another refreshing beverage. This time we traded. I got the lemon mint and she got the raspberry. I think the raspberry wins by just a touch.
We were given menus, and asked what beverage we preferred with our meal. I went with a Sauvignon Blanc, Jill went with a cola.
There was not a ton on this menu that appealed to me. I tasted the smoked salmon, but nope, I still don't like salmon. I did eat both mine and Jill's shrimp. I ate the cheese but skipped the eggplant salad.
Then they came by with the main courses. Jill had the ravioli with the lentil bolognaise.
I had the swordfish with potatoes, grilled vegetables and roasted red pepper. It looks like a small piece, but I couldn't finish it. I did eat all my potatoes!
I saved my room for the chocolate eclair, which was quite tasty! If I hadn't been on a plane when I ate all this food, I never would have known it was airplane food. Everything was so tasty!
It was about an hour and a half until we landed. The trip took a little longer because the pilot took us farther south than normal, presumably to fly past Israel and not pass through their airspace, which was fine by us. We flew over the Sinai peninsula and then back north to Amman through Jordanian airspace. We were about 15 minutes late landing, but safer is always better.
When we came up off the jetway there was a gentleman standing there with a sign that had my name on it. This was odd because Jill was the lead person on the booking. He whisked us through customs and out to meet our driver for the next three days. His name was Moafa. I remembered it as "like Moana with an f". Jill heard a version that I can't really repeat here on a family board.
We asked about stopping to buy some wine and water on the way to the hotel, and I don't think he completely understood the concept of "beverages for the room." He stopped at a little roadside market and picked us up two 500ml bottles of water.
In reality we were kind of looking for a six pack or maybe more. He told us that the hotel might frown on us bringing our own wine, so we just resolved that we would drink it at the restaurant with dinner.
The airport was a good half an hour from our hotel and we saw all sorts of things along the way. Jill spotted her first camels, I only briefly saw them. But it was too quick of a drive by to get a picture. The driver mentioned that we had just passed a camel farm where they sell camel milk. He did not care for camel milk, saying that it causes water in the stomach. We decided that was his polite way of saying it causes diarrhea. I saw herds of sheep alongside the road. Something that would become commonplace.
When we finally reached the hotel, we had to send our luggage through a scanner and we had to pass through a metal detector. Our room was ready, it better have been since it was nearly 4:30PM. We made arrangements to meet up with the driver at 9AM and headed up to the room to await our luggage from Bell Services.
The room was very nice and we were pleased with it.
Both of us were dying to take a shower after being in transit for so long. I went first since I'd had the longest travel time. After Jill showered and changed we headed down to dinner.
This isn’t our view, but the view from the window outside the elevator.
There was some confusion about where which restaurant was. We knew the menu we wanted to order from (there were two). And it seemed that the menu we wanted was being served outside near the bar. The thing was a lot of people were smoking out there and neither of us wanted to smell that. So we went inside to the lounge. There didn't seem to be anyone taking orders, so I checked with a restaurant that wasn't on the website. Turned out that was actually the restaurant where we wanted to eat. They had the menu we were looking for and we sat down for dinner.
We ordered a bottle of wine (since we didn't have any in the room for pregaming). Jill got the burger with beef bacon. With what? What the oink?
I got the Mezze platter. All kinds of fried Middle Eastern goodness. Lamb Kibbeh, Spinach Fatayer, Cheese Fatayer, Fried Chicken Mosakhan Roll Served With Mint And Yogurt Dip.
Look at that yummy lamb in there.
When we got back to the room, I took a tub. I was so thrilled to have one in the room to soothe my aching body physically. I hoped it would help me sleep.
Next up: a long trip to the desert.
Pretty soon they brought me a glass of orange juice which tasted fresh squeezed. So yummy! Epic fail. I got no picture. Trust me it was good, and in a fancy glass! Then I was served a platter of Fresh fruit, cheeses, honey, turkey and chicken, bircher muesli, and butter.
Later they brought a plate of pastries and I chose a chocolate croissant. And they brough a cup of coffee. I ate most all the fruit, tasted the muesli (I don't like it), verified that one of the cheeses was cottage cheese, and skipped the Meats all together.
I had read on the menu there was a waffle. There was! This was super tasty. It had a crunchiness to it not from the crispy waffle but like they had put some sort of sugary coating on it that cracked like brulee when you bit into it. Alas, I had eaten too much of the fruit and as I tried for each and every last bite, I knew I couldn't finish it.
Jill wasn’t feeling very well. She ate about two pieces of her fruit and sent the tray back. She didn’t want to feel any worse, so she just attempted to sleep for the rest of the plane ride.
And I realized I didn't get a lot of pictures of the little pod. Here are some from my perspective.
Pretty soon we were landing and they took our headphones and had us put on an extra shoulder belt. We alo did this for takeoff. Once we were on the ground it took forever to taxi to the terminal, but we made it. Once we got off the plane, we decided to check out the lounge here. Jill had heard it was huge, and it was! Like five or six times the size of the DC lounge. Neither of us were hungry. I grabbed a bottle of water and a Cappuccino.
I took advantage of the free wifi for posting on instagram and facebook, and then we left because the signs said we had a good 20 minute walk to our gate. This airport is HUGE and it's like one big over sensory shopping mall! There were duty free stores everywhere. I should have taken pictures but I was just so overwhelmed and focused on getting to our destination, I just marveled at the sights.
After a lot of waiting we were finally on the plane.
It was after 12 noon and both of us were getting hungry. We got another refreshing beverage. This time we traded. I got the lemon mint and she got the raspberry. I think the raspberry wins by just a touch.
We were given menus, and asked what beverage we preferred with our meal. I went with a Sauvignon Blanc, Jill went with a cola.
There was not a ton on this menu that appealed to me. I tasted the smoked salmon, but nope, I still don't like salmon. I did eat both mine and Jill's shrimp. I ate the cheese but skipped the eggplant salad.
Then they came by with the main courses. Jill had the ravioli with the lentil bolognaise.
I had the swordfish with potatoes, grilled vegetables and roasted red pepper. It looks like a small piece, but I couldn't finish it. I did eat all my potatoes!
I saved my room for the chocolate eclair, which was quite tasty! If I hadn't been on a plane when I ate all this food, I never would have known it was airplane food. Everything was so tasty!
It was about an hour and a half until we landed. The trip took a little longer because the pilot took us farther south than normal, presumably to fly past Israel and not pass through their airspace, which was fine by us. We flew over the Sinai peninsula and then back north to Amman through Jordanian airspace. We were about 15 minutes late landing, but safer is always better.
When we came up off the jetway there was a gentleman standing there with a sign that had my name on it. This was odd because Jill was the lead person on the booking. He whisked us through customs and out to meet our driver for the next three days. His name was Moafa. I remembered it as "like Moana with an f". Jill heard a version that I can't really repeat here on a family board.
We asked about stopping to buy some wine and water on the way to the hotel, and I don't think he completely understood the concept of "beverages for the room." He stopped at a little roadside market and picked us up two 500ml bottles of water.
In reality we were kind of looking for a six pack or maybe more. He told us that the hotel might frown on us bringing our own wine, so we just resolved that we would drink it at the restaurant with dinner.
The airport was a good half an hour from our hotel and we saw all sorts of things along the way. Jill spotted her first camels, I only briefly saw them. But it was too quick of a drive by to get a picture. The driver mentioned that we had just passed a camel farm where they sell camel milk. He did not care for camel milk, saying that it causes water in the stomach. We decided that was his polite way of saying it causes diarrhea. I saw herds of sheep alongside the road. Something that would become commonplace.
When we finally reached the hotel, we had to send our luggage through a scanner and we had to pass through a metal detector. Our room was ready, it better have been since it was nearly 4:30PM. We made arrangements to meet up with the driver at 9AM and headed up to the room to await our luggage from Bell Services.
The room was very nice and we were pleased with it.
Both of us were dying to take a shower after being in transit for so long. I went first since I'd had the longest travel time. After Jill showered and changed we headed down to dinner.
This isn’t our view, but the view from the window outside the elevator.
There was some confusion about where which restaurant was. We knew the menu we wanted to order from (there were two). And it seemed that the menu we wanted was being served outside near the bar. The thing was a lot of people were smoking out there and neither of us wanted to smell that. So we went inside to the lounge. There didn't seem to be anyone taking orders, so I checked with a restaurant that wasn't on the website. Turned out that was actually the restaurant where we wanted to eat. They had the menu we were looking for and we sat down for dinner.
We ordered a bottle of wine (since we didn't have any in the room for pregaming). Jill got the burger with beef bacon. With what? What the oink?
I got the Mezze platter. All kinds of fried Middle Eastern goodness. Lamb Kibbeh, Spinach Fatayer, Cheese Fatayer, Fried Chicken Mosakhan Roll Served With Mint And Yogurt Dip.
Look at that yummy lamb in there.
When we got back to the room, I took a tub. I was so thrilled to have one in the room to soothe my aching body physically. I hoped it would help me sleep.
Next up: a long trip to the desert.
Sorry to hear that. I suspect from travel and lack of sleep?
