Flying on Pan-Am's Round the World Flights

[MineralMan]

3. It was exhausting, for sure, but I was just 20, so

it was also exciting enough to overcome that, mostly. I was the only USAF guy on the flight, and there was nobody in Istanbul to help me get from the airport to the Hotel. I finally got a cab, and I had converted some money into Turkish Lira before leaving so I could pay the driver. I had no freaking idea where I was, really. The driver understood the word "Hilton," and took his fare from the small sheaf of Turkish currency I had with me. I didn't understand a word he said.

I had a meal voucher for the hotel as part of the packet of papers I was given. What a surprise that turned out to be. I had dinner in the Hilton's full-out European-style restaurant, with a waiter standing near my chair the whole time. It was my first experience with top-flight dining, as well. The meal voucher was for the restaurant's prix fixe dinner, which was a five-course meal, with wines. What a thing to find after that long flight. The waiter didn't speak English, but did speak French, so my high-school French got a workout.

The next morning, I had to get back to the airport to catch the Turkish airlines flight to Samsun, on the Black Sea Coast. Fortunately, the concierge at the hotel got me set up with a cab. Only my youth got me through all of that. I'd be petrified to be in such a situation now. These days, i'd have done a lot more planning in advance for such a trip.