Overnight, we had cruised through the Dardanelles and across the Sea of Marmara, heading towards our final stop in Istanbul.

Suddenly our wonderful cruise was history. We were off the ship for the last time and in a coach on the way to the airport.

We did, however, manage to catch one last glimpse of the ship as we were leaving the city.
It looked so much smaller than some of the other ships in the port. We will remember it forever!

Negotiating Istanbul airport is not for the faint-hearted. Perhaps we were so used to being pampered over the past twenty four days, that we had forgotten what the real world was all about.

The tedium began with us having to get all of our baggage x-rayed before we could even get into the airport building and watching the less able among our group having to lift their own heavy baggage up onto the x-ray belts. We tried to help some of them. We fully understood the need for high security, but we weren't convinced that the first stage x-ray process was being done that effectively. The check-in process was slow, the immigration process even slower and by the time we got to the second security check and more x-rays, some people had lost the will to live!

Even the business class lounge, when we eventually got to it, was overcrowded, badly supplied and had only one toilet, for which there was a long queue! After that experience, we had to fight our way across the concourse, which was teeming with people. They were milling about aimlessly, many sitting on the floor and blocking the way. Dozens of people were even lying asleep exactly where large numbers of people needed to walk! Eventually, we got to the right gate but then there was a disorderly queue to get on buses taking us to the aircraft.

Thankfully that was the end of the ordeal. The flight home on British Airways was wonderful and that first glass of champagne was sooo appreciated!