World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas
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Thursday 04 May 2023
Highlights: Visiting Şirince Village, Exploring Selçuk, Visiting St John’s Basilica, Enjoying a Wine Sampling afternoon.
Today was a day of options with no travelling between hotels. Isik started the day with a quick orientation walk around to the key points of Selçuk so we knew were our major options where. From year it was off to the picturesque Şirince Village.
Wednesday 03 May 2023.
Highlights: Learning about Turkish Carpet making, exploring Izmir, exploring Ephesus ruins in depth, visiting the ancient Library of Celsus
A very big day started with a visit to Carpet and Kilim Weavers Association based near Bergama. We got a detailed explanation of how Turkish carpets are made starting with the vegetables used to create the colouring, to how the silk is harvested, to how the double knot system works (on Turkish carpets use double knots) and watched some local woman creating new carpets.
Some of the larger carpets take up to 18 months to create. I was amazed at the craftmanship on display. Several group members purchased some smaller carpets.
Tuesday 02 May 2023.
Highlights: Exploring the ancient city of Troy, Exploring Ayvalık, Exploring by boat the archipelago of the Ayvalık Islands.
Today we set out to explore the ancient city of Troy. Isik explained on the way to the site the history of Troy (as called Ilion). While most people know of Troy from the 2004 Troy movie which was based on The Iliad by Homer, Troy has a deep history before and after the story of The Iliad.
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Monday 01 May 2023.
Highlights:
Gallipoli Peninsula – Gabatepe Beach, ANZAC Cove, Ari Burnu Cemetery, Lone Pine Cemetery and Memorial, 57 Piyade Alayi Sehitligi (Turkish 57 Regiment Memorial, Chunk Bair (site New Zealand Memorial)
Çanakkale – Ferry crossing, exploring the waterfront city.
Today was the first full day of the G Adventures tour and it saw the group visiting the emotional Gallipoli Peninsula area site of the Allies land invasion of the then Ottoman Empire that began on 25 April 1915 with the full withdrawal on 9 January 1916.
It’s a site on probably the greatest defeat for Australian and New Zealand armies (ANZACs) but also the site where our countries spirit of sacrifice and mateship was sparked.
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Sunday 30 April 2023.
Highlights: Business Class flight, getting lost in Istanbul, exploring the historic Istanbul (Fatih district), meeting my tour group.
To effectively started at midnight while transiting in Singapore. I luckily got to use the Singapore Airlines SilverKris (Terminal 3) Lounge (review here) has it was so close to my departure gate. Nothing like a shower to rehydrate you.
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Singapore Airlines
Date: Sunday 30 April 2023
Gate: A1
Seat: 14A (Business Class Seat | Window)
Plane: A350-900
Boarded: 01:50
Pushback: 02:03 (Scheduled 02:05)
Departed: 02:25
Arrived: 07:45 (Scheduled 07:45)
Scheduled Duration: 11 hour 0 minutes
Distance: 8,680 kms
This was the second leg of two flights on two different airplanes to get to my final destination in Istanbul, Türkiye. The first flight was Melbourne to Singapore on SQ208.
This flight was from Changi (Singapore) Airport to Istanbul Airport (Türkiye).
(more…)When visited: 30 April 2023
Time of day: Midnight
Rating: 4.5 / 5
SUMMARY
The Singapore Airlines SilverKris (Business Class) Lounge in Terminal 3 of the Changi Airport is an excellent business class lounge in Singapore Airlines home port.
The lounge is a huge area with multiple hot and cold food options with an Asian focus but also western style food. A brilliant way to refresh before a long flight.
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Saturday 29 August 2023.
Highlights: Farewelling the cats, the Air New Zealand Koru (Business Class) Lounge, Business Class flight
After years of planning, multiple delays due to COVID-19 restrictions and today is the first day of my first international trip since August 2019.
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Singapore Airlines
Date: Saturday 29 April 2023
Gate: 14A
Seat: 12K (Business Class Seat | Window)
Plane: B777-300ER
Boarded: 18:14
Pushback: 18:56 (Scheduled 18:25)
Departed: 19:11
Arrived: 00:17 (Scheduled 00:15)
Scheduled Duration: 7 hour 50 minutes
Distance: 6,025 kms
This was the first leg of two flights on two different airplanes to get to my final destination in Istanbul, Türkiye. The next flight is Singapore to Istanbul after a scheduled 1 hour 50 minute stopover.
This flight was from Tullamarine (Melbourne) Airport to Changi (Singapore) Airport.
(more…)When visited: 29 April 2023
Time of day: Late Afternoon
Rating: 3 / 5
SUMMARY
The Singapore Airlines SilverKris (Business Class) Lounge is an okay way to spend some time before a flight and especially good for a shower before your flight for hydration. It has an okay food and drink selection range. It’s not that big, and it feels a little outdated and, like most of the Business Lounges in this area of the Melbourne Airport, has no views or direct sunlight.
If you can it is better to access Singapore Airlines’ Star Alliance partner lounge the Air New Zealand Koru (Business Class) Lounge instead which I found to be a gem.
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Nathan's Insights 