Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The Suitcase Fiasco

When I last left you I was patiently waiting to board the plane to Istanbul. We did eventually board the plane, an hour later.
Our connecting flight from Istanbul to Dublin started boarding at 12:15, our plane landed in Istanbul at precisely 12:55. That was a lot of shouting and pushing as everyone attempted to rush off the plane to their connecting flights. We finally made it off the plane and found the security guard who was in charge of getting the Dublin crew to the gate as fast as possible. Once everyone was more or less off the plane, the security guard took off waving her arms above her head and yelling for us to follow as quickly as possible.
We trotted along behind her until we came to security, they opened up two new lines and tried to hurry us through. It turns out that Istanbul has rather thorough security, laptops came out of their cases, shoes came off our feet and their were free pat downs all around.
The security guard in charge of us seemed unfazed by the fact that we were shoeless and confused, she waved her arms around some more and told us to hurry up. Semi assembled with shoes in our hands, we took off through the airport once again. Security guards were strategically placed along the way to shout what I can only assume were words of encouragement in heavy foreign accents. We made it to the deserted gate and threw our passports at the man behind the desk, he barely glanced at the passports as he hurried us onto the plane.
We found our seats, stowed our handbags and sat down feeling like we had just run a marathon.
The pilot announced that there would be a slight delay due to the fact that they were transferring luggage on to the plane. I watched them toss a bunch of suitcases onto the ramp and even managed to convince myself that I saw our bags going on.
The flight was more or less uneventful, we scrolled through the movies, ate some of our provisions and annoyed the person sitting in the isle seat.
After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived in Dublin. Exhausted and relived we made our way to baggage claim to find our suitcases. We watched the suitcases go round and round on the conveyor belt, patiently waiting for our bags to show up. The room emptied out, save for six or seven other passengers that had come with us from Israel. The nine of us watched one lonely brown suitcase go round until someone piped up and asked the question that we were all thinking, "Where the hell is my suitcase?". We all turned to look at the help desk debating whether or not all hope was lost. Finally, a brave soul went to the desk to ask what was happening. The helpful man behind the desk checked the computer and informed us that our luggage had decided to take an extended stay in Turkey. We all filled out our forms and were told that the luggage would be sent over on the first flight tomorrow morning.
The Crazy Lady and I grabbed our precious handbags and headed out into the rain to catch a cab. A cab driver named Alan drove us to our apartments pointing out various attractions along the way.
The receptionist was overjoyed to see us as we were the last people to check in. They were all out of single bedroom apartments (which we had initially booked), so she upgraded us to a double and sent us on our way.  The apartment is really nice and we each get our own room.
Luckily we shoved a pot and a pan (as well as a ladle and some other serving utensils) into one of the carryons. We made a quick stop at the grocery store where we bought potatoes, an onion, salt, and some eggs for breakfast tomorrow.
The crazy lady made potato soup for dinner while I futzed around on the interwebs. It's getting late and we haven't slept in a couple of days so I think we're gonna head to bed.
Hopefully the suitcases actually show up tomorrow!!!! :P

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