By Karen Quinn-Panzer
Travel Matters
Karen Quinn-Panzer
Let’s say your travel advisor sets you up with the vacation of a lifetime, and you want to do your own airfare because you have points. You search your favorite airline and find your best option is tied into an extended layover.
Here’s what we did: we made an adventure of it by extending it for another day.
We were flying Royal Air Maroc from New York to Bordeaux for a river cruise, and there was no direct flight. On first glance, the best return flight had a seven-hour layover in Casablanca. Too long in the airport, but not enough time to explore. So we decided to book another flight with a 24-hour layover and create a “mini-dream vacation.”
We booked a boutique hotel in town and made reservations for dinner at Rick’s Club. Bogie wasn’t there, but they did have a piano player giving a great rendition of “As Time Goes By.”
We hired a driver for a private tour the next morning. The driver spoke very little English, but we used our limited high school French. The Hassan II Mosque was massive, with beautiful marble floors and ornamentation. Next, we went to the Old Medina, an exotic bazaar right out of the movies. We ended up in a shop that sells rugs, since the owner was a relative of our guide. We had tea and resisted the rug purchase. From there we were on to our final adventure, wondering if our driver would be at the appointed spot our meager French had set up. He was there with a smile, and we were on our way back to the airport.
Our second extended layover was on our return from Dubai. We flew business class on Turkish Air with a connection through Istanbul (often the least expensive business class fare in Europe). We extended our stay one more day and booked a small hotel on the water about 30 minutes from the airport.
When our driver arrived, he spoke perfect English and off we went. After about 10 mins, he stopped and said, “Problem with the water pump.” When the next car arrived, we tried to talk to the new driver, but he did not respond.
We looked at each other. Were we being abducted in a foreign country? We checked on Google Maps to make sure we were heading to the hotel and not being abducted. About an hour later, we pulled up to the cute little hotel and walked into the reception/dining area, surrounded by windows with a view of the Black Sea.
Our room with a view had a gas fireplace – all for under $100. Downstairs, we ordered the Turkish local dinner of the evening. Along with breakfast the next morning, these two meals rank as two of our best meals of our 20-day trip.
The moral of the two stories? Make your next long layover an adventure to remember. Call your travel agent; they may have some suggestions.
Karen Quinn-Panzer is the owner and vacation specialist at Dream Vacations Quinn Panzer Travel in Milford.