Around The World- The Last Five Legs

 

First of all before we start I just want to thank everyone for reading... especially the readers who joined me on 8, September 2015 for my first of many entries... and the rest of you who found me somewhere along the way... If you have not read some of the past entries I hope you will take a look at the archives when you have a chance.

I realized when I started outlining this "Round The World" itinerary that I could have devoted an entire blog to each city and experience...in the interest of time and length I'm going to be recapping this part of the voyage a bit more concisely. 

As I said before... none of us wanted to leave Beirut... and we got our wish for an extra day because of mechanical problems with the aircraft... when we finally left we flew on to Istanbul on the relatively short 2 hour flight to the then Istanbul Ataturk Airport (ISL) now Istanbul International Airport...and proceeded to Customs and Immigration with our Passports and Visas. 

This is a part of the trip that I was highly enthusiastic  about... It was at a time before it was built up to how it is now... The Bosphorus Bridge was not even built and you had to take a ferry to get around... I found this very exciting... truth be told the bridge makes getting around much easier..

It took us about ninety minutes to get the the Bosphorus Hilton... it was not this fancy when we were guests there... the building behind the now grand entrance is largely the same...

You may have noticed a slight pattern in our accommodations up to this point... Juan Trippe the founder of Pan Am was the founder of The Intercontinental Hotel Group in 1946... he built wonderful resort hotels in Pan Am base cities (the one in Istanbul was not open during this trip)... in1998 Intercontinental became part of UK Intercontinental Group in 2003 it became IHG and they still operate about 200 glorious luxury hotels.

Back to the trip... I fantasized about buying a rug, spices and other equally exotic and dazzling things I saw in the markets and bazaars... suffice to say I bought a woven leather bag and a straw hat... (I did get the rug on a subsequent visit)

In our two days here...in addition to shopping sight seeing and eating... we did take a river cruise tour... I learned on this trip one of the best ways to see a new place is from the water... I still do this whenever it's available.

This is the last YouTube clip... but I feel lucky to have found them to include... it really gives you a feel for what it was actually like..Istanbul 60's You Tube

Onward to Frankfurt (FRA)...on our roughly 3 hour flight... If you've been to the International Airport in Frankfurt... it was in it's infancy stage of being built on our trip... 

Since our stay was short (under 90 days) we did not need a Visa... customs seemed to go much more efficiently  (about 30 minutes)... all of us who started this together became very close (and I noted we kept in touch) a few new people joined us along the way but no one was very interested or inclined to join in our camaraderie... and sadly here is where we said "Auf Wiedersehen" to the honeymooners...Michael and Susan who wanted to spend part of their honeymoon in Paris... and we assured them as much as we hated them to go we understood completely.

I was not prepared to enjoy Frankfurt as much as I did... we had a break in the weather and it was actually quite balmy and pleasant... I actually got to put on a sweater instead of tying it around my shoulders or waist.... The Intercontinental Hotel in Frankfurt is wonderful and at the time relatively new... (We met up in the bar to plan our 2 days ahead.

We took a one hour boat tour on The Main river...

We shopped a little... but we found our niche when we got to...

We did a food tour of Kleinmarkethalle... and took a cooking lesson... this like the many of the other  food markets around the world needs at least a full day...

Above all else I highly encourage you to have a Frankfurter while you are in Frankfurt... you won't be sorry (I promise)

All of us largely over served ourselves in every way way possible... so the boisterous plans we made for the remaining day... we largely nursed hangovers and indigestion quietly in our rooms... I got may hair shampooed and blown out and a manicure and pedicure at the hotel salon and spa... it was about the peak amount of effort I could put in that day... but I looked fabulous at the airport the next morning.

It was about an hour and a half flight to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR)... I did not get a single baggage tag on this trip... I'm proud to say I hand carried... up to this point... a habit I still continue if I can...

... we were back to Clipper Clubs 

and Pan Am Coaches to wisk us off to...

The Parklane Hotel in Mayfair... almost everyone in our group had already been to London... and I was happy to play tour guide... we did the normal things

 

But the other benefactor who was largely responsible for financing this trip... hosted a small but elegant cocktail party in his home not far from the hotel... it went on until quite late...

The next day we moved out of the hotel and stayed here (our other home away from home) for an extra week... but we did go back to the airport to say Bon Voyage and thank you to everyone who made this trip one of the most memorable of our life.

I'm pretty sure anyone who was lucky enough to have taken this trip will say... "We had the best group and crew ever..." (but we actually did)

We had a blast in London before heading back... New York (JFK) was the last layover... we only spent  a day and a night.

So... I finally had to check a bag from London to New York (back to school shopping)... Customs was easy... we rode in the van with another Flight 1 crew and checked into The Intercontinental Barclay Hotel...

Meanwhile after a two city respite from the heat... we were in The Big Apple during record breaking heat... oppressive feeling is an understatement... but considering where we had been and what we had experienced... I think it's the last time I've ever really complained about the heat and humidity.... meanwhile we did a little shopping mainly because it was air conditioned... and I still had a tiny bit of room in my nearly full new suitcase...

We went to The Sign Of The Dove pre-theatre...

And later to an exuberant nude improve... you guessed it... "Oh Calcutta"...

Back to JFK and about a 6 hour flight to LAX... and back to life as a student at UCLA... I was pretty tight lipped about what I did that summer... I just said... "spent some time with family and friends."

I've really never discussed this trip in this much detail before... I hope you enjoyed it at least half as much as I did relieving it. This trip was the beginning of me understanding that travel and the experiences and memories you accumulate are all part of the best education you can get... that's why I went as far as I could and did as much as possible... one of final things I'll share is someone not part of our group said to me in Bangkok... "if it excites you and scares you a little at the same time... you probably should do it"... I've carried those words with me to this very day! Lastly... this trip was the beginning of me finally starting to discover who I am... sometimes you have to go all the way around the world to find the best answers...

Thanks for reading... Please join me again next month!