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Frankfurt to Adana

There are roughly 5 things I like to eat/drink every time I pass through Germany: Pastries, gummi bears, Haribo cola gummis, apfelsaftschorle, and bratwurst. I picked up the first four as I transited the airport. Since I did so at 8am, the bratwurst wasn't really an available option. OK, I suppose I'd also try to get a a pint of radler or spezi or zigeunerschnitzel as well...as some dozen other German staples. Man, do I miss the food here.

A couple of unusual things: it still surprises me when people in the exit row don't know that they can't block the emergency exit during takeoff/ landing. While I'm not sure how often it really happens, this was the first time I've seen a flight attendant relocate a non-english speaker (a requirement to sit in the exit row).

Also, flight #1 made a point to say we could use our phones the entire time (pre-take off to post-landing) but flight (same airline, different jet) #2 kept old rules. Then again, flight #2 also lacked any entertainment system, so maybe the plane was destined to be boring for the rest of its existence. I fell asleep pre-taxi, waking up 20 minutes later for breakfast...then back asleep for the remainder of the flight. Even the breakfast on this flight was boring. Perhaps the only interesting thing during the entire flight was an article in the in-flight magazine basically saying that I shouldn't be going where I'm going.


But what if the warning directly applies to the specific region you're headed to?
Upon arrival in IST, I breezed through passport control since I already had a visa. Once in the domestic terminal, I had a semi-serious debate with myself about getting something from Starbucks, again. On one semiconscious hand, I can barely keep my eyes open or focus on my smartphone while I write this. On the other cheapskate hard, why buy a boutique cup of coffee in a land that has a type of coffee named after it? Also, being loaded up on caffeine would interfere with catching up on my sleep. Back to the first, drowsy hand, being alert might allow me to notice more things like the Otisabi comic books that seem far too adult to be placed in plain sight right next to some über-pink Disney and Barbie books. 
Barbie on the left, half-clothed woman on right.
Ultimately, I opted to push through without coffee, even though the sheer volume of typos  was ridiculous...and the corrections were for naught as I misread the "Keep/delete" pop-up of my app-based writing tool which resulted in discarding all changes I had just made. Several times. But I got everything edited and same slightly before the flight information board showed "Go To Gate".

The flight from IST to ADA might have been eventful, but I have no idea. I was approaching 20 hours of travel after already being awake for 10 hours before I started. I only remember being awake to see sunlight breaking through overcast clouds just after takeoff, and the water and clouds merged together into a blurry gray background while a solitary cargo ship was illuminated by a brilliant golden ray. Upon landing, there was a Saudi 747 at Adana, which I thought was odd because--in my mind--it's a small airport and no place for a large plane like that. 

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