Finally Home for Christmas!

I had decided to wear my understated coat for the
flight, despite the risk that Loopy might not spot
me coming through into arrivals

Greetings blogwatchers and a very Merry Christmas to you all!!  Its Christmas Eve, the turkey is roasting in the oven and I'm finally here in Cyprus celebrating the holidays with my folks, so I thought I'd catch you up on all the festive happenings since I arrived!

I got here last Thursday, having left Chicago on the 10pm flight on Wednesday night.  I'd decided not to pony up the $6k to travel in business class, so had the delights of Turkish Airlines economy to look forward to, for the first leg in my Epic Journey Home.  Fortunately, what with being a Star Alliance Gold member and all (given all the flying I do with United Airlines), I still got a few of the perks such as access to the lounge and priority boarding.  The lounge was pretty basic (oh for the days of the Virgin lounge at Heathrow!) with floppy sandwiches of unknown provenance, but it was showing the Walking Dead on telly and had enough little bottles of Friexinet sparkling wine to keep me happy til it was time to board.

Not sure whether Turkish Airlines is being ironic
by showing back-to-back episodes of the Walking
 Deadin its departure lounge in Chicago....

I'd been dreading the long flight, but - as it happened - the 1.5hr flight from Chicago to Istanbul was totally fine.  Not a problem at all. I guess that's what happens when you get the combination of pre-flight champagne and Xanax and in-flight Ambien and red wine just right.  (I knew that Pharmacology PhD would come in handy one day). Helped along by the Most Comfortable Neck Pillow Ever Invented, after the meal service, I was totally sparko.  Fortunately I had the aisle seat and the guy on the window seat (who must have been at least 6ft 2 so am sure was having a pretty miserable flight) either slept the whole way too or had tried to rouse me from my profound slumber and given up, so I had a good seven or eight hours unbroken sleep!

Last bits of festive packing are also done

I came round bang on time for the breakfast service, so had another indeterminate sandwich, dug the earplugs out of my ears and rubbed the eyeshade elastic crinkle out of my forehead.  A quick trip to the loo to de-Pandarize my eyes and check the hair hadn't become alarming overnight, and I was ready!  From there on in, it was plain sailing for the rest of the trip.  I only had a 2hr layover til my onward flight to Ercan, which only then gave really about 45mins inside the terminal.

Final bits of Christmas shopping done

In case you've never been to Istanbul airport and, in particular, the Turkish Airlines lounge, it is probably one of the best airport lounges I've ever been too.  Its architecturally beautiful and it has some of the finest food you'll ever enjoy in that setting,  There are multiple food stations set up throughout the lounge, offering a wide variety of both local cuisine and international choices, plus lots of wines and champagne,  In addition to the catering choices, there are plenty of places to chill out and relax in, plus shower facilities and somewhere you can store your bags, so you don't have to keep hauling them round with you as you graze from food station to food station.  No wonder I was determined to at least set foot inside the lounge, even if I was in there for less than 10 mins during my layover - to scarf down a quick bowl of pasta and glass of wine - before turning round and heading back out into the concourse.  A quick purchase of Toblerone and Kinder chocolate later, and we were boarding for the (in-real-time, this time) 1.5hr flight to Ercan, Cyprus.

The Reindeer Honda Sleigh.... guess it runs in
the family, huh?

All was fine, I "enjoyed" my third Mystery Sandwich, and in no time, we were landing in Cyprus.  Huzzah!!!  The airport used to be set up such that, as you waited for your luggage by the baggage carousel, you could look up to the glassed-in balconies above and spot the folks who were waiting for you, who would wave down excitedly.   Unfortunately, that's changed but - as I waited for my bags to arrive (3 mahoosive suitcases containing all the pressies, Santa outfits and reindeer costumes you could ever need), I could still catch glimpses of Da Family waiting for me out through customs.

My first thought was - bloody hell, Thomas has grown!!  Last time I saw my sister Loopy and her two sons Eren and Thomas was over two years ago - Eren is now 5 and Thomas is 17 - and they've certainly changed!  Eren is now talking 19 to the dozen, switching effortlessly between Turkish and English, and Thomas has properly grown-up into a 6ft 2 strapping young man!  Loopy is still her fabulously funny, batty self and it was just brilliant to see her and Thomas waiting for me!  To my relief, all my bags turned up, I wasn't stopped going through customs and questioned about the amount of plush velour I was bringing into the country and before long, we were pulling up outside Villa Ten Ten in our fabulous Reindeer Honda Sleigh.

Pre-flight preparations the night before, Brit-style -
LP rose and a cheese and salad cream sandwich

My folks live in a little town called Catalkoy, in two villas next to each other, about 100m from the sea on one side and bordered by the mountains on the other.  There's a swimming pool (alas, covered for the winter) and a hot tub (sadly defunct) and a lovely orchard filled with citrus trees and almond bushes.  Like all of us, the villas are starting to show their age just a little bit but are still magnificent and a very welcome respite from the Chicago winter! Mumsie was also there, babysitting Eren, so it was great to see her too, and Dad came home a bit later, after coming back from a Children in Need charity event - so the whole gang is together for Christmas!!  Loopy's hubby, Sniper, was at work and I didn't manage to catch up with him for a couple of days, until the Battle of The Conkers - but more on that later!

So, after almost a day of traveling, I finally made it home for Christmas - and I can't think of any place I'd rather be.  Bring on the festive carnage!

Mumsie!  Finally a non-annoying use for a
Mason jar!!