A lot happened on the trip to Greece. On the nerve, we had a stopover in Istanbul and we didn't want to sit in an airport for three hours. Me (Peter) and my two blogger friends checked that there was a five-star hotel 12 minutes from the airport. Done and done, here we go! I will also tell you how I forgot my iPhone in the aircraft.
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Better to be in the sun than in an airport
Through passport control to enter Turkey, out to a taxi and after exactly 12 minutes we were on the spot in a five-star hotel in Turkey. We went to the pool and had a couple of beers and just enjoyed the heat and sun. We had an hour before we had to go back and then that stopover was gone.
Returning from Greece
On the way home from Greece there was a stopover again in Istanbul. Out of the plane, bus to the terminal and into the airport and, and, and, and, where is my phone? With all the credit cards, driving licences, the phone and all the videos from Greece that I hadn't transferred to the computer yet. Shiiiit in the lingons! How could this happen?
I was very tired with 5-hour nights and a lot to experience in two days and three nights. There were covered pockets on the back of the aircraft seats instead of nets, and I forgot my mobile phone in a hurry.
Forgot my iPhone in the aeroplane
I rushed back to where I came from but they wouldn't let me in. They just said to go to lost luggage. I ran with my heart pounding and followed the signs. Istanbul is not a small airport and apparently I had to go out again through customs to enter Turkey and there was a queue. Now my heart rate went up even more because I didn't want the flight to leave again, because my iPhone was there on the flight.
Stress
Fuck, fuck, fuck! I swear to myself when I get stressed and it's not often that I do. Why the hell does it take so long to show your passport and enter Turkey? Obviously for all acts, but my brain wasn't on that planet at the time. STOP THE FLIGHT was the only thing on my mind.
Finally through and I ran after the signs and arrived at lost luggage. I got a "sorry you're in the wrong place and it's on the other side over there". I turned round and ran again. Time passed and now the plane had been on the ground for 25 minutes.
More stress
I finally arrived and they said that Turkish Airways is not here so you have to go to the "Domestic hall", ten minutes away. Thank you and hello! I ran off and got lost, asking everything from car hire to security staff.
I was drenched in sweat, 30 degrees centigrade heat and now 40 minutes had passed. I started thinking that if some kind soul on earth finds it, and hands it over to a flight attendant, maybe I can get my best mate back.
Even more stress
I came to a new place that had forgotten luggage and this must be it. Everyone was drinking coffee and talking to each other but no one saw me. I interrupted them with panic in my voice "I forgot my iPhone in the aeroplane", can you help me? You are in the wrong place! But what the heck... what's wrong with the world?
It was just me against an airport and someone should see the panic in my eyes. Where the hell ... hell ... is there anyone who can tell me where to go? It's over there!
Happy Friday
I came to a small hatch in the wall of the domestic hall and I looked like a sad dog after almost an hour. I forgot my iPhone on this plane and I showed the ticket. Is it an iPhone 5 they asked and took it out.
Resignedly, I said that it is not mine and I wanted to report that I had lost my precious phone. They brought out another sealed plastic bag with a phone, and asked if it could be mine. It's MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE!!!
Totally exhausted and sweaty, I said thank you for a three-hour stopover. I went through three security checkpoints with a smile on my face, people were crowded and I stood with a smile and let them crowd, mess, well, mess in many ways. It took me 45 minutes to get back and I didn't mind. I slept like a baby from Istanbul to Stockholm. Happy Friday, dammit!
Did you miss the last Happy Friday? Read the Temporary jetty and salvage of houses
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Lennart says:
How lucky it was that it came to the right place!
29 September 2017 - 6:39
Peter says:
Right Lennart! a real Happy Friday story.
29 September 2017 - 13:18
Lena - good for the soul says:
Shit what a pain! I lost my phone here at home in the street/parking lot (found it after an hour of panic under a car) so I can imagine your stress in that situation!
Have a good Friday!
Hug Lena
29 September 2017 - 7:09
Peter says:
Hi Lena! Those of us who have given away our properties are standing with our hearts in our throats. It is really panic and I was lucky I think there were honest people on the plane. Have a nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:20
åsa in åsele says:
OMG horrible experience. Panic!!! Luckily it worked out.
29 September 2017 - 7:26
Peter says:
I almost kissed her in the spa when she brought the phone, but only almost. That relief is unbelievable. Have a nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:21
Kenneth Risberg says:
What a horror, and then hunting around to find the right place. Probably a lot of thoughts in the meantime. Wouldn't have traded places with you...that time anyway...
Fortunately, it worked out well in the end.
29 September 2017 - 7:49
Peter says:
Hi Kenneth! It was a while ago:-). I would have liked to swap with you, haha. No, I do not want that feeling many times in life. Nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:22
Nilla says:
It's good that you exercise sometimes so you could run. I'm glad it worked out?
29 September 2017 - 8:00
Peter says:
Haha! I'm in even more now, but you get tired of the panic. I think I was lucky actually. Nice weekend Nilla.
29 September 2017 - 13:23
pilla says:
A sunshine story at its best! I forgot my favourite scarf on the perfect forgotten items shelf in Thai's business class on the flight from ARN-BKK. The one from Thai who did everything in his power to get my beloved scarf back on the stopover, I am eternally grateful. No phone but a dear shawl 🙂
29 September 2017 - 8:04
Peter says:
Another sunshine story with a happy ending. What a great Friday! Thanks for sharing and have a nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:25
Lanclin-Linnea says:
I recognise the story somehow ... I may have done the same race when a small backpack full of stuffed animals was left on a plane in Munich. Of course, that time I was travelling alone with two small children ?
29 September 2017 - 8:18
Peter says:
Hi Linnea! Those plans and that you do not learn. We fly all the time but it still happens anyway. Maybe we get drugged on aeroplanes to make the journey easier, haha. I have to pull myself together. Have a nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:27
Anonymous says:
Speaking of your post the other day. This is what I call a real adventure.
29 September 2017 - 8:24
Peter says:
Haha, you are so right. That an hour can be so hard and to just work against time. I had given up when I came to the cure and then everything turned around. Lucky me! Nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:29
Mr Nils-Åke Hansson says:
Luckily it worked out and you got it back.
29 September 2017 - 9:38
Peter says:
Well, hello there. I guess I had expected to block everything I had and was getting tired of all the film I had made. The goddess of fate was smiling this day. Have a nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:30
Ama de casa says:
What a panic! I may have to take a blood pressure medication just after READING this. Gosh ... It is for such reasons that I prefer to be at the airport about 10 hours in advance and it is not on the map that I leave it to have a beer at some hotel ... How nice that you got your mobile phone back! 🙂
Have a continued Happy Friday!
PS: Once Anders managed to persuade me to go and see Brasilia instead of spending 8 hours at the airport for a stopover. We managed to get a ride with Mr Magoo (as we called him), a half-blind taxi driver. An exciting ride in many ways - especially when the darkness fell and he seemed to follow the white street lines to see the road... 😀.
29 September 2017 - 9:52
Peter says:
Haha, I'll jump on that journey, haha. What a pain. We were quite excited when we came down and we are bloggers, so we want to maximise everything we do. If there are a few hours, we take them because there might be more to write about. I know we're a bit of a pantywaist who doesn't want to miss a second. I'm very, very glad I stuck with it and good luck along the way too. Have a nice weekend Ama.
29 September 2017 - 13:34
Goatfish says:
I felt the stress building up inside me as I read. Help!
Ah, so easy to forget your mobile phone, sigh. Lucky you!
We had a little trouble on the return journey with the bus from Germany, but it was the passenger's fault, who complained about the wrong carton and then forgot his mobile phone in the bus. But everything got sorted out, although time is delayed.
Wishing you a very good Friday and I myself am happy 😀.
29 September 2017 - 10:40
Peter says:
Great to hear Gerd! Positive all the way and I love that most of all. I bow and bow to the goddess of fate for taking care of me. Have a wonderful weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:36
Ditte says:
What a pain in the arse! Phew! And it was lucky that you got the telephine back and that the contents were there. I can imagine that you slept on the journey home.
But a wonder why Istambul when you were going to northern Greece. It felt like walking across the river... But maybe there are few air connections there nowadays).
Here it is a great Friday with nice summer weather and a meeting with the gang.
Wishing you a great weekend.
29 September 2017 - 11:22
Peter says:
Jadu Ditte! Those who booked made it very crazy. It took us 10 hours to get there, but with Ryan air it would have taken 5 with the bus ride to Skavska. We sometimes get put on planes that we don't really understand. I am grateful and I am smiling. Have a great weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:38
Veiken says:
Istanbul's Ataturk airport, is one of the worst airports I have been to. Except for the lounge which is great!
I can only imagine how awful it would be to run around in panic after a lost iPhone right there. Good thing no one took the blood pressure or pulse of the stressed-out Swede running around!
Good that it came back, intact!
29 September 2017 - 11:51
Peter says:
Haha! I probably had closer to 200 in blood pressure and I felt very powerless. Being thrown around and never getting right and the clock just goes, phew. I don't even want my enemy to do this, haha. Happy Friday.
29 September 2017 - 13:40
Annika in Spain says:
Oh, how stressful! And these runs for the right door... Of course, I think of Asterix and Obelix here, who went through something similar, even if it wasn't a phone... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtEkUmYecnk
Great to hear about the first stopover! I am also happy to go when there is time!
29 September 2017 - 11:57
Peter says:
What lovely people they are Annika! I had intended to experience the launch in Istanbul, but I will save it for next time. Have a cosy weekend
29 September 2017 - 13:44
Across the board says:
Phu what a pulse you must have had! I'm glad it got fixed
29 September 2017 - 12:44
Peter says:
It's so nice to have great endings. I won't forget this and I will be more careful in the future when it comes to checking when we land. Have a nice weekend.
29 September 2017 - 13:45
Mr Steve says:
Speaking of the post the other day, this was a real adventure.
29 September 2017 - 13:39
Peter says:
Adrenaline is what we call this steve. You are so right because I am looking for such kicks, but preferably without panic, haha. Have a nice weekend and greetings.
29 September 2017 - 13:47
BP says:
OMG!!! You were lucky here, and you really deserved it. Losing your phone is one thing (=a handicap), but losing your credit cards is even worse. Oh what "luck" that you had three hours, which you could have spent in a much more fun place without stress ...
PS. Here you experienced a "real" adventure, which you should put on your adventure list;-) DS.
29 September 2017 - 15:51
JoY says:
Stressful is just the first word after reading your round at the airport. Can you get a bag of string to wear around your neck?
Hugs
29 September 2017 - 16:01
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
As is often the case, there is a fine line between success and failure! All the more wonderful when it ends in success.
Ataturk airport is huge. We went there for 8 hours to wait for the plane to Johannesburg.... Didn't even have the idea that you can actually leave it!
29 September 2017 - 16:25
Husis blog says:
My owner was not so happy last year on their trip to Lanzarote. There the owner was playing with his nephew. The owner shared data with the nephew and sure enough, the queue started to move. The distraught owner just stood up, his phone was charging so nicely. Once on the plane he realised his mistake, but by then it was a bit too late, unfortunately. Luckily there was only a prepaid card in the phone, but the whole thing was a bit embarrassing.
But the owner is happy for Peter, who got his phone back after all the work and hustle and bustle.
29 September 2017 - 19:13
Matts Torebring says:
Poor thing, but can get stressed for less. A girl at work came sobbing one morning this week. "I left my iPhone in my clothes and now I've washed it in the washing machine". It no longer works....
29 September 2017 - 20:17
Ruth in Virginia says:
You are a great storyteller. I actually felt sweaty
with a hard pumping heart after reading about your adventure.
Yes, it was an adventure you didn't have to pay extra for. 🙂 Better
than any adventure in the blog the other day.
My husband and I were travelling from Bangkok to Khatmandu on a train.
7-hour stopover in New Delhi. Thought we'd do a
short sight-seeing of Delhi, but a couple of experienced fellow travellers
warning us of the time it would take to get back into the airport,
so we sat on plastic chairs with huge fans placed here and there.
As entertainment, we were able to observe a group of Muslims on their way to the centre.
Mecca, who lived in a corner and cooked on Primus kitchens or similar.
You certainly had a guardian angel watching over you there in Ankara.
29 September 2017 - 20:27
Christina Löfgren says:
What an adventure and how lucky you were to get it back. You did well?
30 September 2017 - 9:36
Role o Carina says:
What a pain in the arse to forget the "Teddy" and lucky you got it back!
Take care......
30 September 2017 - 15:01
Anna, Travel on a Cloud says:
What a terrible ordeal! It was really sweaty just reading this. Recognise so well how it just gets worse and worse once it starts to mess up. So incredibly nice that you got your mobile phone back!
Have a nice Sunday. 🙂
01 October 2017 - 10:13
Ms M says:
Jesus, I would have died. This is my terror of losing my wallet or something.
Daring to go on a 3 hour stopover as the queues can be enormous but very inspiring too.
01 October 2017 - 10:19
Lena & Jan says:
Peeter, time for the old senile cord type, used for glasses in the past... ?
We have always wanted mobile phones to be so small that we can wear them in our clothes, but who knows if it is small enough? Was involved in development meetings (several years ago) when we brainstormed about how clothes including IT gadgets should be sewn up but then the ideas fell flat because the gadgets were too big? In principle, there were sketches that resembled a cross between cowboy floor layers, who would be admitted to a security-area airport today? At most, you see clothes now for iT gadgets with like ONE X-tra pocket... Wrist holders with a pocket might be something, or on your camera strap because you don't move the camera easily... Ideas for not forgetting iT gadgets = new blog topic?
02 October 2017 - 19:57