Turkish Air

Yep...that's a long way. Atlanta (East Coast of the United States) to Istanbul, Turkey. Our layover would be nine hours on the way to most gorgeous place on the planet so far... The Maldives.
My mom and I flew Turkish Air  from Atlanta, Georgia, USA to Istanbul, Turkey. Lovely lovely airline with lovely service. Here's the ins and outs of Turkish air for a long haul flight!

ATL to Istanbul

We checked in at the airport, and the super nice lady informed us that Turkish Airlines were running a promo and wanted to offer us an upgrade to business class for $700 a person. Since this trip was my birthday present, and it was over my mom's birthday, she took it. We rode business class all the way to Turkey for 12-13 hours.
​ I thought I would never say this, but that flight was not long enough. I actually ate the food, and it was amazing! For my appetizer, I had a caesar salad with slices of filet on the top. For my main course, I had some pasta with white sauce. The salad was my favorite and all was well the entire flight.
The menu was in Turkish and English. They also provided a small battery powered candle. I slept well, I didn't puke, I did some reading, watched a movie. They made up my bed for me and I was set for greatness.
​Unfortunately, they did not have any promos going from Turkey to the Maldives, so I was in coach. I was honestly just happy to get it for the longer one and didn't mind being in coach for the flight that is taking me to the beach. I had the beach to distract me. 
Below is a picture of my menu and food.

Once We Landed in Turkey

 No, we did not leave the airport for safety reasons, although, once I got there, it was much safer than I expected. I would have liked to leave the airport, but my mom said no. I really enjoyed the Turkish culture and I was able to see outside when we flew out. Although, we didn't leave the airport, there was much to do.  My mom booked us a room, which can be booked by the hour, in the TAV airport hotel. ​

So, while we were on layover, we got our room at the TAV airport hotel. There is no outside access to this place so nobody can come in or out that isn't approved by security. We got some room service, charged all of our electronics, took a shower and a bath, watched netflix, and then left the room to do some exploring. We did some shopping and I got my tee shirt and picked out some things to buy when we came back through. They had beautiful things (as seen in the slideshow below). I got a very beautiful wallet also. Any alcohol or food or anything that my mom wanted to buy could not come into the Maldives. Since the Maldives is an Islamic country, you are not allowed to bring in any alcohol, food, weapons, or spearguns (the spearguns has to do with the reef, not the faith). Those who try, will be punished. Alcohol is also not provided by resorts unless that resort owns the entire island. 

Istanbul to Male!! The Final Stretch

The e of Male actually is accented, but when you try to copy and paste, you are unable to reformat. So just note to yourself that e is accented. This flight was my first flight in coach of this trip. I was doing perfectly ok when all of the sudden the kid next to me started throwing up.. Immediately, I fled the area. I still ended up throwing up a tiny bit because I went by the bathrooms and he came over to the bathroom but luckily this was in the last 45 minutes of the flight. Turkish Airlines did a wonderful job accommodating us and they were so nice and friendly. I am unable to review the coach food because I did not eat it. 

Overall and Onward

Overall, I was very satisfied with Turkish Air. Then, I set my eyes on some of the most beautiful water I have ever seen. After a 30 hour travel time, I was ready to see something amazing, and that I did. We arranged for a private transfer from our hotel that we would be staying at for two nights. The Pearl Sands of Maldives was a very nice place.