Off to Istanbul

Managed to solve the "getting to Terminal 5" riddle, and although it took me about 25 minutes longer than expected, I still managed to get there a good couple of hours before departure.
The new terminal is actually pretty cool, but if at 50% of planned capacity it is already this busy, I'm not that sure it will work too well once the rest of the flights move in.
Oh well - someone else should worry about it. I'm more concerned with figuring out if 9:00AM is too early for a g&t. (*)

The weirdest thing happens on the plane to Istanbul. Just as they get ready to shut the doors, this funky Turkish guy (I think he was Turkish) gets on the plane, herding a flock of 11 women all in head-to-toe black.
Let me paint the picture here in more detail. We have this young guy, jeans and t-shirt and All-Stars, holding a pile of boarding passes, and trying to charm the flight attendant who is checking them. ("So what are you babes doing tonight? Staying in Istanbul?", that sorta stuff)
behind him are 11 ladies (I can't call them chicks, sorry) wearing uniform black dresses, long sleeves, head scarves, that scarf that covers your face south of the nose. All carrying Louis Vuitton handbags and wearing huge Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses (had no idea the prophet Mohammad had such a thing for international labels).
And behind all those ladies, at the very back of the drove is another cool Turkish dude. Probably the first one's brother or something.
And then they all go and take their Business Class seats, occupying most of the cabin.
I really wanted to take a picture, but the Turkish guys (aka the shepherds) gave me a look saying "don't even think about it" so you will have to take my word for it.

I have actually gone through the trouble of checking how much a Business Class ticket from London to Istanbul costs these days (just in case you wanna know, a return trip will relieve you of about $1,200), and I say those ladies must be doing something right.


(*) The answer, by the way, is that no. 9:00 is not too early for a g&t, especially since it is 11:00 in Istanbul, and everybody knows you should work according to destination time.