In the morning, we made our way to IST and caught our flights to LHR. Karen was returning to PHL, and I was on BA49 to SEA. We got in a little late, so Karen had to catch her connecting flight pretty quickly. LHR being LHR, we had to rush to her flight and we got to the gate just in time. I on the other hand, had three hours to kill, so I made my way back to the main T5 area to check out the lounge. I’ve taken this flight about six times for work, but it’s always been on a 747-400, and in Club World. This was the my first trip across the pond in one of BA’s 777-300ER’s, and I was also flying in First, so that was gonna be a nice little treat. The lounge had a slick champagne lounge that rivaled Cathay Pacific‘s, but the rest of the lounge didn’t match up. I was still feeling a bit crappy, and was unsure about boozin’ and whatnot, buuuuut I ended up dabbling in their offerings…

One cool thing is that BA takes their planes somewhat empty, and they install their own custom interiors. Check out those sidewalls and windows

…and those freaking electro-mechanical window shades!!!

The side table had a neat pattern and suuuuper glossy finish

The service was spectacular, and I ended up sleeping most of the flight after meal service. I woke up just in time for the approach to SeaTac, and was very happy with these views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan

I can’t decide which I like better (portrait vs landscape), so here’s both!

Reasons why the North Cascades are my favorite

The bird that brought the trip to an end… G-STBH, Line Number 1143, delivered on 20-October 2013.

^No wonder it was so clean!

So it’s been over a month since I returned… so I’ve had some time to gather my thoughts

• Japan was its responsible and consistent self, and remains a wonderfully easy place to visit
  • Driving on the RH side of the road was tricky, but it’s doable!!! and everyone in Japan drives so well! unlike the folks in Seattle…
• Turkey is a mixed bag like many touristy places. There’s a ton of culture and history, but the tourism industry can be a bit annoying a take away from the experience (although I understand it is kind of a necessary evil?)
  • Many of their wonders are protected by UNESCO which is awesome. However, the infrastructure there is a bit messy.
  • Cab rides are an adventure.
  • Walking through Istanbul while constantly being harassed by selfie stick sellers, and hundreds of folks that just yelled “ni hao” or “konichiwa” at you got kind of old after 2-hours…
  • Istanbul is beautiful. Go to there!
  • Turkish food is wonderful! Eat everything!
• I brought two cameras along this time, my mirrorless camera, and a Sony RX100 Mk2 point and shoot, which was a lovely little camera. Can you tell which camera took which photos?
• I was expecting Singapore First to blow away British First, but both were excellent.