Globe Trotting J's 2019 Trip Day 1: Vacation Mode Engaged
I’ve been fortunate enough to write from all over the world, but I cannot think of a more awe inspiring view then the one I’m currently viewing. We’re currently on the seventh floor of the Four Seasons Cairo Hotel First Residence with a huge array of windows leading to our balcony that looks out over Cairo and in the distance you can see the majestic outline of the pyramids. But we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. Let’s start at the beginning.
Yesterday (Thursday, June 27) we left our Manhattan apartment and jumped in an Uber at 8:30 AM in the morning to go to JFK. We arrived about an hour and a half later (quick in NY terms) and went to check-in at the Turkish Airlines counter. This is actually the first time that we’ve booked business class ahead of time (we’ve asked for upgrades many times) for a trip. We made our way to the business counter quickly dropped off our bags and made our way to the Luthfansa First Class Lounge where we waited for our flight for a little over an hour. When we arrived the lounge was packed but after ten minutes it cleared out and we had the lounge almost to ourselves. Jenn snacked on bread while I had a beer and some cheese. We got the call over the loud speaker that our flight was about to board so we grabbed our backpacks and were off to fly to Istanbul.
This is only the forth time we’ve flown business class and the feeling of awe and amazement hasn’t gone away. I’ll never forget turning to Jenn a few minutes after we boarded and got done taking photos and saying to her that I hope for as long as I live I never take this for granted. I know how few get to experience it, I know how lucky and fortunate I am to not only be able to travel as much as we do but to get to do it the way we do. The flight was like a dream. We came on board and had their signature welcome drinks, Jenn had a raspberry juice and I had their mint lemonade. We then put our shoes away, put on some of the provided slippers, and grabbed a glass of champagne and waited to take off.
After take off we sipped our champagne, talked about our upcoming trip and looked forward to the next nearly ten hours of travel. Once the plane leveled off we had about two hours of food service. We started with three canapés, cheese, beef skewer, and a cracker with a spread. They all were great but the beef skewers were to die for. They then set out table with a nice table cloth and these small little candles and we were given the appetizers. Jenn and I both chose the shrimp, salmon, and mozzarella sticks. They then offered up a mushroom soup which was out of this world. For our main entrees Jenn had the swordfish and I had the chicken which were both really good although not our best business class entree. For dessert they had quite the dessert cart, we chose to go with the Turkish cake, the strawberry ice cream, and the chocolate cake. I even added some fruit to wrap it all up. The meal was phenomenal, it was well paced, and it occupied the first two hours of the flight.
When dinner was finished for the cabin they came by and made up the beds for each seat. At this point I was just about to settle in with a “Sunday Brunch Champagne Buzz” and within seconds of laying my head on the pillow I fell asleep for at least the next two maybe three hours. I woke up with Jenn sort of just staring at me so we both watched The Upside with Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart and relaxed. We fell back asleep after the movie until the lights came back on and breakfast was served. Jenn skipped most of it (just eating the pancake portion of my meal) while I mainly stuck with the fruit and juice.
After almost ten hours of pure bliss we walked right off the plane into the brand new Istanbul airport. We seemingly walked from one end of the terminal to the other side to catch our flight to Cairo. After at least twenty minutes of walking (with a couple of short detours) we made it to our flight and walked right on. We grabbed our two seats and were whisked away for the two hour flight to Cairo. We were both starting to feel the effects of the travel so we both slept on and off for the flight.
We arrived in Cairo a little after 8 AM local time and after going through customs (who really didn’t care we had our visa) we grabbed our bags, made our way through the onrush of people asking us if we need a taxi to our driver for the Four Seasons to take us to the hotel. A lot of times when you arrive this early your room isn’t ready but when we got the hotel a little after 9 AM they took us up to our room where we unpacked, recorded a room tour, took showers and fell asleep for a couple of hours.
To try and help with the jet lag we booked ourselves a spa treatment. We showed up at 12:30, spent some time in the relaxation room (which was close to becoming the nap room) and then were both taken back for our hour Swedish massages. I’m not sure if I was just tired or what, but this was one of the better massages I’ve had, and Jenn came out feeling the same way. We left the spa after spending some time in the sauna, steam-room, and jacuzzi about two hours feeling refreshed and ready for our first day in Cairo.
At this point we heard from Jake who had just landed on his stop over in Vienna before boarding his last flight Cairo. While we waited we went and grabbed a light lunch down by the Four Seasons pool. We both ordered kebabs, Jenn got the lamb and I had the kafta. They brought it out on a charcoal grill with pita and Egyptian bread, rice and fries. It was the perfect simple meal that we needed after such a long day of traveling. One of the surprising things to note about lunch was that we sat outside and although it was 100 degrees out, it was really pleasant out by the pool.
After lunch we took a quick stroll along the nile river. The first thing I’ll say about the Nile is that its far bigger then both Jenn and I ever pictured in our heads. For whatever reason we both pictured it more like a stream and less like a major river. But we were able to walk up and down the shore, taking in the sunset and enjoy the dropping temperatures.
We came back to our room a little after 6 PM and fell back asleep waiting for Jake to arrive. His plane, slightly delayed came in at 8 PM and he made his way to meet us at our hotel after 9 PM. Jake was dropped off by the driver, we said our hellos and got him settled into the room. We went downstairs to the “First Bar” had some cocktails and some light food. Jenn had a French 75 and some cheese fondue, i had two dirty martinis and sliders, and Jake had fish and chips and one of the house cocktails. The staff was so friendly and nice the entire time, we had such a great kick off to our trip. We got back to the room a little after midnight and are going to attempt to sleep
