Arrival

4.00 am.

Alarm.

Pick up bags.

Lock the keys in the house.

Final march up Istaklal with all our gear.

Half way up we got a cab to the Havas.

The security was tight but typically disorganised.

Finally we got on a plane.

Seventeen hours from Istanbul to Chicago.

Because of the two hour delay taking off we missed our connection to Orlando.

I was delirious as we were waiting in the queue to get a new flight.

My immediate impression of Americans is that they are very chatty.

I cannot say that I was in the mood.

Three hours later we were on the plane for Florida.

While waiting a woman in a pink jumpsuit sat next to me.

She seemed more interested in talking than I did.

All the time in the background there was a booming voice:

"The Department of Homeland Security has raised the threat level to ORANGE!!"

By this stage I was laughing hysterically.

Luckily we made it our destination without incident.

The next day we recovered for the Disney onslaught ahead.