23.9.24
Firstly apologies to anyone who has ended up on this site expecting girl on girl action.
Lets explore Central Europe looked like a good domain name until all the gaps between the words were merged into one long word. I’ve since changed it but now have the word tit in the middle. Sorry to any birdwatchers.
Having said that Carol thinks we may have inadvertently booked a double bed at one of our stops.
Off to Dalaman airport on the 5pm Muttas bus from Fethiye, with only one close shave when some nob decided to put his hazards on and stop just in front of us. Pretty good going as most days we read about at least 3 nasty crashes, sometimes involving buses.
So, we arrived at the airport, queued for 15 minutes only to find out we could go straight to passport control as we’d checked in online and only have cabin bags.
Ryan Air get such bad press, we had literally measured every bag twice, and I even packed a tape measure in my handbag and was prepared for battle.
The queue for passport control was horrendous. We’ve never seen it like that before.
After 40 minutes we decided we had no choice but to be those people who barge through the queue. A man behind me tutted and said we’ve all got planes to catch.
Instead of coming up with a witty reply I found myself trying to limbo under the barrier and then being unable to stand up.
I had to use the handle of my case to propel myself into an upright position. Thank goodness it didnt retract or I’d have needed another nose job.
I bet the man behind me would have been laughing his head off.
In my best Turkish I told a staff member that our gate would be closing in 15 minutes, she rushed us forwards.
Bet that wiped the grin off his face. I make that 2-1 to me.
Some great people watching while waiting. There was a young man wearing a fez in front of us. They were banned in Turkey in the 1930s I think. In all the chaos we didn’t get to see if they told him to remove it. Actually the lady with the white toupee on top of her brown hair was far more offensive, slightly outdone by the lady with an enormous tattooed bosom.
Next, another security stop. By the time that was finished I’d been frisked twice, had my ipad under 1 arm, passport and its cover, Turkish ID card, backpack and sleep apnoea machine in my other hand.
“take your watch off and go back through.” I think I might take up juggling when I get home.
We literally ran to gate 36, straight down the ramp where we waited for the arriving passengers to finish getting off.
I don’t even know what my heart rate was, as I didn’t have my watch back on, but it was high.
Once boarded we waited 20 minutes for everyone else that hadn’t limboed under the barrier to get on.
If any company was going to close the gate it would be Ryan Air.
No one even checked if our bags were too big or too heavy.
Sorry Ryan Air we totally misjudged you.
We landed on time after an uneventful flight.
The public transport routes looked complex, so we opted for a Bolt taxi.
After 3 attempts with vahttps://brettispaghettitravels.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/woman-traveling-in-france-2023-11-27-05-16-47-utc_Easy-Resize.com_.jpgus cards I got cash while Carol looked for our driver. Revolut would have been a perfect option if I had of sent money to them instead of Halifax bank by mistake.
Today’s lessons..
- Always check you have loaded the right bank card
2. Always look downwards not just up. After all the palaver we could have just followed the huge green arrow on the ground, next to where we sat that said ‘Bolt’.
Meanwhile John was getting messages from Revolut and sorted it all out for us.
It was only a 15 minute drive to Ibis Centrum and the driver was smiley.
A great first impression.
We went down to the bar area with our coffee sachets and the young reception guy gave us hot water while we bombarded him with questions.
Apparently we can see everything in Bratislava in 8 hours. He’s not a fan, but apparently the rest of Slovakia is stunning.
We’re very excited to see what we wake up to tomorrow.