Our flight from Abuja to London was meant to be for 19hrs in total, inclusive of a 9hr layover in Istanbul, Turkey. From getting our boarding time extended, to sitting in the plane for over two hours before before takeoff, it was obvious this was going to be a very tiring experience. The weather was the major reason for the delay and the plane was also fueled while we were inside.
We had been in the usual airport queues for some hours and checked in our luggage successfully without any excess luggage issue. We also had a quick meal and changed our Naira to Pound notes at a Bureau de change. All of these movement around the airport got me knackered by the time we boarded.
I was hungry before we eventually took off and it was worse because Belemo and I didn't sit together. I tried to distract myself with a movie and chose to watch The Man From Toronto but I got bored. It was Kevin Hart in the same stereotypical role as always and I realized I was sick of it in the middle of my frustration.
I switched to playing games instead but that got boring, then I tried to sleep, that didn't work either. We took off and about an hour later, food arrived. I had pasta which wasn't bad at all, I also had bread, tea and some other stuff I don't know but I enjoyed it all.
The view at sunrise was the one single thing that truly made me smile since the flight started, it was my first time seeing it from up there and it was one to behold. Sunrise also meant we were getting closer to arrival which everyone very much looked forward to ofcourse.
We arrived Istanbul Airport and moved around a bit until we figured out our connecting flight. After that, we walked around the airport and I must say, it was really beautiful. We changed some money to Turkish Lira just for the fun of it, Pound notes were accepted in the shops anyway.
Belemo got red wine which wasn't as good as the one I had in the plane, and I had an Espresso macchiato that makes all the coffee I've ever had in the past seem not so great.
We walked around a bit more and we got to a shop were we met a lady that spoke little bits of Nigerian pidgin to us. It was so funny to hear it from her and she confirmed she had a Nigerian friend she learnt from.
The rest time at Turkey was refreshing and when we were offered a free hotel and €400 each if we'd give up our seats for other passengers, it looked like a delicious deal and chance to explore a bit more. However, I didn't think it wise to make a spontaneous decision on such an important flight. We declined and continued boarding, 3+hrs later, we got to our destination.
