The big day has finally arrived! Lots has changed in our lives since we started planning the trip, but it seems our lives are getting back in order and we are excited to go explore the world again!
Unfortunately there is no quick and easy way to get to Baku from Minneapolis. After a lot of searching I finally found a round trip flight that worked, that wasn't insanely expensive and took only
about 24 hours of travel each way. We flew Canadian Air, and Turkish Air from Minneapolis to Toronto to Istanbul to Baku. We left Minneapolis at 4:30 pm on Sat and finally arrived in Baku around 10 pm on Sunday.
My mom took us to the airport. Then my parents took Belle and headed to my cousins grad party. Belle will be enjoying 2 weeks in Duluth until my sister comes back on July 1st.
As usual the Minneapolis part of the travel went very smooth. Security was a breeze and we had plenty of time to get our last Caribou and calm Lincoln down at the gate.
The trip to Toronto was ok. The plane was a little small, but that meant we got an aisle and window seat. Lincoln was mostly pretty good and he enjoyed flipping down the arm rest to see the people behind us. He also enjoyed putting his new duplo set together. We are still working on getting him to realize that some pieces fit together better than others, but all in all it was a pretty good flight.
Our flight was late taking off and late getting into Toronto. We thought there would be some sort of security but we didn't have any additional security and it didn't take super long to get through to our next gate. Zach had planned a nice restaurant to try but because we were late and it was far away we went with the closest thing to our gate. That was somewhat of a mistake. It was really expensive for some barely above edible "pizza" and salad. Also the serving size was tiny so I ended up searching out a bag of sunchips and milk after we had dinner.
Lincoln enjoyed running around the terminal while we waited at the gate. We then put him in pajamas and got ready for the long flight. Unfortunately we were not allowed to pick our seats because of Lincoln. Thankfully we got pretty good seats because they thought we needed a bassinet. Lincoln was too big for the bassinet but that meant we got more leg room. We had seats 23G and E which are 2 seats out of the 2 in the middle next to the emergency exit and bathrooms. We got on the plane and there was a lady with an 11 month old in our spot. Not a big deal we just moved over (although later that meant she got all the baby food I had ordered in advance).
Lincoln did ok on the flight. He was a little grumpy because it was way past his bedtime, but he is mostly a pretty good traveler. Once we were in the air Zach blew up our Flypal and we alternated who got to use it (whoever had Lincoln sleeping on them got it)
This was a good purchase because Lincoln was not allowed to sleep on the floor and it made having him sleep on us bearable. Lincoln probably got about 7 hours of sleep during our 10 hour flight. I think Zach and I got more like 3-4 hours of sleep The big downside of our seats was the flight map screen was right above us and that never got turned off. Also they didn't turn the lights off for much of the flight.
During the flight they served us dinner about an hour after takeoff and breakfast about 2 hours before landing. Dinner was pasta with all sorts of random salads. It could have been worse, but it also could have been a lot better. Breakfast was eggs and and a roll which mostly meant I did not get breakfast. Lincoln wasn't really awake for either meal so he just ate a pouch and other snacks. He also didn't have much to drink because we left his milk cup on the stroller which we gate checked.
We got to Istanbul and all had to deplane and then take a bus. In Toronto I had checked the stroller and they said we would pick up the stroller in the airport. Then to our surprise as our bus was pulling away all the strollers were sitting on the runway. I immediately asked about it when we got off at the terminal but the guy was really unhelpful and basically said ask lost and found. After a trip through security we found our gate and I talked to 3 different Turkish Air people that assured me that the stroller would join our next flight if we didn't pick it up on the tarmac. This was not super reassuring because we also didn't have any tag for it because they ripped our receipt tag at the airport. We couldn't do much though so we hoped for the best.
If we had known our flight was going to be at least 30 min late we could have stopped for better food. We didn't know this though so we had 2 absolutely terrible sandwiches (olive bread with soggy heated up lettuce and something resembling chicken). Once I figured out we were going to be waiting for a while I did get us a few pieces of baclava, but most of the sandwich went in the garbage. Lincoln at least at a little bread and banana while we waited. The boarding was like cattle herding. We all got on the bus at the same time and then just mass rush up the steps to the plane. We were nearly the last people on the plane because something was wrong with my ticket and we had to get pulled out of line. At least on this flight though we had a row of 3 so Lincoln got his own seat between us.
On this flight they thankfully served us dinner. The food actually was slightly better than the last flight. Again Lincoln slept through the food part, but he did have a pouch at some point on the plane.
We got to Baku nearly an hour late. After a few slow moving line through customs we made it to baggage claim. Kate was waving at us from the balcony over the baggage claim area. We were not super surprised to find our stroller had not made the flight. After a very long process of filling a claim we finally made it out to the main airport where Kate was waiting.
Kate got us a taxi back to her place which is near downtown. Her new apartment is very nice!. Lincoln explored for a while we got things ready and tried to get him to eat more. He got a bath in the duck and then everyone was a sleep by about 1:15. Kate set up the futon in the spare bedroom for us and it was pretty comfy.
In the morning we will straighten out the stroller problem hopefully!
Unfortunately there is no quick and easy way to get to Baku from Minneapolis. After a lot of searching I finally found a round trip flight that worked, that wasn't insanely expensive and took only
about 24 hours of travel each way. We flew Canadian Air, and Turkish Air from Minneapolis to Toronto to Istanbul to Baku. We left Minneapolis at 4:30 pm on Sat and finally arrived in Baku around 10 pm on Sunday.
My mom took us to the airport. Then my parents took Belle and headed to my cousins grad party. Belle will be enjoying 2 weeks in Duluth until my sister comes back on July 1st.
As usual the Minneapolis part of the travel went very smooth. Security was a breeze and we had plenty of time to get our last Caribou and calm Lincoln down at the gate.
Lincoln checking out the planes at MSP
Family is ready to go!
Amazing new Jurassic world duplo set
Our flight was late taking off and late getting into Toronto. We thought there would be some sort of security but we didn't have any additional security and it didn't take super long to get through to our next gate. Zach had planned a nice restaurant to try but because we were late and it was far away we went with the closest thing to our gate. That was somewhat of a mistake. It was really expensive for some barely above edible "pizza" and salad. Also the serving size was tiny so I ended up searching out a bag of sunchips and milk after we had dinner.
Lincoln enjoyed running around the terminal while we waited at the gate. We then put him in pajamas and got ready for the long flight. Unfortunately we were not allowed to pick our seats because of Lincoln. Thankfully we got pretty good seats because they thought we needed a bassinet. Lincoln was too big for the bassinet but that meant we got more leg room. We had seats 23G and E which are 2 seats out of the 2 in the middle next to the emergency exit and bathrooms. We got on the plane and there was a lady with an 11 month old in our spot. Not a big deal we just moved over (although later that meant she got all the baby food I had ordered in advance).
Lincoln did ok on the flight. He was a little grumpy because it was way past his bedtime, but he is mostly a pretty good traveler. Once we were in the air Zach blew up our Flypal and we alternated who got to use it (whoever had Lincoln sleeping on them got it)
This was a good purchase because Lincoln was not allowed to sleep on the floor and it made having him sleep on us bearable. Lincoln probably got about 7 hours of sleep during our 10 hour flight. I think Zach and I got more like 3-4 hours of sleep The big downside of our seats was the flight map screen was right above us and that never got turned off. Also they didn't turn the lights off for much of the flight.
During the flight they served us dinner about an hour after takeoff and breakfast about 2 hours before landing. Dinner was pasta with all sorts of random salads. It could have been worse, but it also could have been a lot better. Breakfast was eggs and and a roll which mostly meant I did not get breakfast. Lincoln wasn't really awake for either meal so he just ate a pouch and other snacks. He also didn't have much to drink because we left his milk cup on the stroller which we gate checked.
We got to Istanbul and all had to deplane and then take a bus. In Toronto I had checked the stroller and they said we would pick up the stroller in the airport. Then to our surprise as our bus was pulling away all the strollers were sitting on the runway. I immediately asked about it when we got off at the terminal but the guy was really unhelpful and basically said ask lost and found. After a trip through security we found our gate and I talked to 3 different Turkish Air people that assured me that the stroller would join our next flight if we didn't pick it up on the tarmac. This was not super reassuring because we also didn't have any tag for it because they ripped our receipt tag at the airport. We couldn't do much though so we hoped for the best.
If we had known our flight was going to be at least 30 min late we could have stopped for better food. We didn't know this though so we had 2 absolutely terrible sandwiches (olive bread with soggy heated up lettuce and something resembling chicken). Once I figured out we were going to be waiting for a while I did get us a few pieces of baclava, but most of the sandwich went in the garbage. Lincoln at least at a little bread and banana while we waited. The boarding was like cattle herding. We all got on the bus at the same time and then just mass rush up the steps to the plane. We were nearly the last people on the plane because something was wrong with my ticket and we had to get pulled out of line. At least on this flight though we had a row of 3 so Lincoln got his own seat between us.
Edible part of lunch = airport baclava
On this flight they thankfully served us dinner. The food actually was slightly better than the last flight. Again Lincoln slept through the food part, but he did have a pouch at some point on the plane.
We got to Baku nearly an hour late. After a few slow moving line through customs we made it to baggage claim. Kate was waving at us from the balcony over the baggage claim area. We were not super surprised to find our stroller had not made the flight. After a very long process of filling a claim we finally made it out to the main airport where Kate was waiting.
Our luggage minus our stroller
Kate got us a taxi back to her place which is near downtown. Her new apartment is very nice!. Lincoln explored for a while we got things ready and tried to get him to eat more. He got a bath in the duck and then everyone was a sleep by about 1:15. Kate set up the futon in the spare bedroom for us and it was pretty comfy.
Taxi ride
Our room at Kate's appartment
Living room
Lincoln running the halls to check things out at midnight
Kitchen
Bathtime!
In the morning we will straighten out the stroller problem hopefully!
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