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Istanbul and Athens: A tale of two Mileage Runs (and photos)
Over the Christmas holiday, for the first time in four years, I was facing the prospect of not re-qualifying for my airline Gold card; a prospect that, quite frankly, I found uncomfortable. When I fly for business I generally fly coach and, as long as I'm flying with the Star Alliance that shiny piece of plastic gets me all the priority services of business class, accept for the big seat and the TLC on the plane. When I fly for pleasure, that shiny piece of plastic means an extra piece of carry on for my camera and lenses! My small adventure started with an urgent pleas for help from my alter ego on another forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/1027278-i-need-earn-13361-status-miles-before-xmas.html
So, that sorted the flights: Manchester to Zurich to Istanbul to Zurich to Manchester to Zurich to Athens to Zurich to Manchester. Hotels were on points. But what about the trip? And the photos?
Well.... For both trips, the weather forecast was cold and rain. Hoping for luck, I packed an Olympus E-30, Olympus 9-18 consumer grade UWA and the Leica 14-50 (nothing longer? Yeah, I often end up regretting nothing longer). My first day in Istanbul was nothing but torrential rain. However, on both trips, I also had a little luck. On my second afternoon in Istanbul, it was cold but the sun came out and, it turns out, the soft, afternoon, winter sun is ideal for the lightly coloured architecture including the Ayasofya:
The decision to bring along the Olympus 9-18 also proved mostly worth while, especially for some of Istanbul's larger places of interest. I took in both the Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque:
Not to mention an odd wide perspective on the Grand Bazaar:
Where the 9-19 (and a dodgy tripod that prevented me from using my longer lens) let me down was with the night time photos across the Golden horn where I really could have done with something a little longer:
With Istanbul over, I had flight home (with a night stuck in Zurich because Manchester had been closed by snow), a Christmas break at home and then Athens. In Athens, I got lucky. The weather forecast had been rain. The weather on my one afternoon actual was a comfortable 18C and again the soft, winter sunlight was perfect for taking in the Acropolis and some Athenian cityscapes:
Of course, on any photo op like this, there are always tourists with video cameras (what's the point?) getting in the way:
For these, I'd done a bit of research beforehand and concluded a UWA wasn't necessary. I used the Leica instead.
From Athens, it was back home for the New Year. The miles? Well I was flying with Swiss so the miles posted like clockwork, so mission (with unexpected photos) accomplished.
More photos can be found in these galleries:
http://internaut.smugmug.com/Vacation/Athens/10820066_7Lv4e#754569060_VTSDB
http://internaut.smugmug.com/Vacation/Istanbul/10820978_Xfoq6#754623592_fxXgq
Regards
J
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/1027278-i-need-earn-13361-status-miles-before-xmas.html
So, that sorted the flights: Manchester to Zurich to Istanbul to Zurich to Manchester to Zurich to Athens to Zurich to Manchester. Hotels were on points. But what about the trip? And the photos?
Well.... For both trips, the weather forecast was cold and rain. Hoping for luck, I packed an Olympus E-30, Olympus 9-18 consumer grade UWA and the Leica 14-50 (nothing longer? Yeah, I often end up regretting nothing longer). My first day in Istanbul was nothing but torrential rain. However, on both trips, I also had a little luck. On my second afternoon in Istanbul, it was cold but the sun came out and, it turns out, the soft, afternoon, winter sun is ideal for the lightly coloured architecture including the Ayasofya:
The decision to bring along the Olympus 9-18 also proved mostly worth while, especially for some of Istanbul's larger places of interest. I took in both the Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque:
Not to mention an odd wide perspective on the Grand Bazaar:
Where the 9-19 (and a dodgy tripod that prevented me from using my longer lens) let me down was with the night time photos across the Golden horn where I really could have done with something a little longer:
With Istanbul over, I had flight home (with a night stuck in Zurich because Manchester had been closed by snow), a Christmas break at home and then Athens. In Athens, I got lucky. The weather forecast had been rain. The weather on my one afternoon actual was a comfortable 18C and again the soft, winter sunlight was perfect for taking in the Acropolis and some Athenian cityscapes:
Of course, on any photo op like this, there are always tourists with video cameras (what's the point?) getting in the way:
For these, I'd done a bit of research beforehand and concluded a UWA wasn't necessary. I used the Leica instead.
From Athens, it was back home for the New Year. The miles? Well I was flying with Swiss so the miles posted like clockwork, so mission (with unexpected photos) accomplished.
More photos can be found in these galleries:
http://internaut.smugmug.com/Vacation/Athens/10820066_7Lv4e#754569060_VTSDB
http://internaut.smugmug.com/Vacation/Istanbul/10820978_Xfoq6#754623592_fxXgq
Regards
J
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