Istanbul to Heathrow – Turkish Airlines in Economy

My arrival into Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight from Chișinău marked the start of the final leg of my Meander to Moldova trip, with just the flight from Istanbul to Heathrow ahead of me. Turkish Airlines operate a number of daily flights between their Istanbul hub and London’s Heathrow airport using either narrowbody Airbus A321s or a mix of widebody aircraft. Whilst I could have taken a slightly earlier flight and gotten home sooner, I of course had to try out one of Turkish’s widebody aircraft and so booked myself on TK1971 which was advertised as being operated by one of their newest aircraft, an Airbus A350-900.

Chișinău to Istanbul – Turkish Airlines in Economy

With my Meander To Moldova having successfully brought me to Moldova and its capital Chișinău, I had enjoyed a couple of days exploring the city but it was now time to head home. With my leisurely journey east from England taking me a week, I needed to head home a bit quicker, however still wanted to make the journey interesting. As such, rather than jump on a direct flight with FlyOne, HiFly or Wizz Air, I had decided to try out Turkish Airlines and fly via Istanbul. Whilst Istanbul was technically in the wrong direction, being in south-eastern Europe meant it was only a small diversion and a great opportunity to check out an airline I’ve wanted to for a while.

Chișinău – The White Stone City

Having completed the final train journey of my Meander to Moldova, I had arrived at Chișinău’s railway station onboard an overnight sleeper service from Bucharest. With two nights in the city, I had plenty of time to explore what is a relatively small capital city, but before I did any exploring, I needed to head into town and drop my bag off at my hotel. Whilst there is a bus stop near to the station, from my online research it seemed they didn’t accept card and, with no Moldovan Lei yet in my wallet, I booked a Bolt for the 15-minute ride to the city centre.

Bucharest Nord to Chișinău – CFR/CFM Sleeper ‘Prietenia’

With my time in Bucharest coming to an end, I was back at Bucharesti-Nord ready to catch the final train on this Meander to Moldova. The third overnight sleeper train of the trip would take me north through Romania and across the border into Moldova, before reaching Chișinău some 13 and a half hours later. Whilst sleeper trains have become almost synonymous with my January trips, this one would be the first crossing outside the Schengen zone and with the border formalities that would come with it. All that was still to come, but first the train needed to arrive!

Bucharest – Paris of the East?

My arrival in Bucharest had come in the form of the slightly late ‘Ister’ sleeper train from Budapest-Keleti, with my first impression of the Romanian capital coming in the form of the imposing architecture of Bucharesti-Nord railway station. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had a great night’s sleeper onboard the ‘Ister’ meaning I wasn’t quite raring to go and so my first stop upon arriving was the station Starbucks to grab some breakfast and get my bearings. Then, having dropped my bag at the staffed luggage storage for the bargain price of 17RON (£2.91) it was out into the city to begin exploring.

Budapest Keleti to Bucharest Nord – MAV/CFR EuroNight Sleeper ‘Ister’

After 36 hours spent exploring the Hungarian capital, it was time to continue my Meander to Moldova and so I was back at Budapest’s Keleti railway station ready to catch the second sleeper train of the trip. This one, operated jointly by MAV and CFR (the Hungarian and Romanian state railways respectively), would take me from Budapest to my first new country of the trip, Romania and its capital Bucharest. With a change of time zone as we crossed the border, I’d be spending around 14 and a half hours onboard the Ister sleeper.