TLV-> IST ->ORD (Turkish AIr)

My first time on Turkish.

TK1193 took of a little late. Surprisingly it was a widebody, and quite full.
Getting close to the Passover season. There was an exit window (row 13) open
so I switched right before take off. Arrived about on time.

The Jewtways could not get high enough to use, so we exited from the back in a
bus. As Mr. T might have said, I pity the poor C class passengers that didn't
get off until the end.

Quite interesting security for the Chicago connection, First there was the
basic question and answer, which was unusually long considering that I have a
US passport. My belt set off the metal detector - it has never set it off
anywhere else.

Then there is the "gauntlet", where there are four places, each a few feet
apart, where they checked my ticket and passport. Not a clue why they can't
combine it.

Turkey, despite being a Moslem country, appears quite open and friendly
(despite me being a Jew coming from Israel). There were even men working for
female supervisors. Might do a visit there for a day or two in the future,
though I would use my Israeli passport to avoid the $100 fee.

Chicago leg (TK 5) had open seats, I was in the aisle of the middle four
section, and the middle seats were open.

11+ hour flight, with about half an hour spent circling around lake Michigan.

Looks like the immigration area was redone in ORD. A snake line for visitors
and individual lines for US citizens. Unfortunately I chose the line with a
chatty inspector. Bags collected within 35 minutes from landing.

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com