Last night in Istanbul

Hello our friends....well, the time has come to finally try and fit everything back into our packs.... We've had a very interesting time here in Istanbul...some good, some 'interesting'. On the 'down' side, Kathy and I have learned that neither of us is very comfortable in confined quarters with carpet salesmen and other salesmen...pushing aggressively into our 'space'. Having said that, we still ventured into the 'Grand Bazaar' and made our way through the throngs of shoppers and sellers and hawksters.... Some were friendly, most were quite aggressive... but in our own Canadian way we tread as softly as possible as we wound our way through the very intricate 'two step' required to survive this 'adventure'. We found the Spice Market (having braved the tram and highways - jaywalking...rather jay-running - a must) to be somewhat 'softer' in the approach of the sellers and actually, for the first time, bought something...not much mind you..we seem to be saving our pennies for Greece, Sardinia and France...

On the 'up' side.... after accepting we are not natural 'shoppers' and didn't really care to purchase a carpet, we backed off into the side-curtains and 'took a breath'. We walked along the seaside...rather the side of the highway, bordered on one side by the confluence of the Sea of Marmera, the Bosphorous Sea and the Golden Horn... Check it out on your atlas if you can, cuz we have never seen such a busy water-way.... ships of all sizes... freighters three times bigger than our cruise ships, fishing boats the size of our dinghies ... and ferries of all sizes whizzing back and forth... The freigher captains 'drive' their ships just like the taxi drivers here...full speed ahead, then a hard right and...damn the consquences... the wakes criss-crossing the water would cause a 'normal' sized sailboat to broach. And there were naval ships at anchor, and soldiers with uziis guarding who knows what...very important we're sure... for instance, at the palace we toured this afternoon (summer home of the last Sultan)... there were armed guards at posts all around it and formal 'changing of the guards' on a regular basis.... and woe betide anyone who took photos without asking. Now.... let me take you to an entirely different place...

When we got back to our hotel this afternoon, the sun was on the terrace, the beer was cold and our feet were tired...so, you guessed it, off to the terrace with a cold beer we went. Kind of handy that it's right across the hall from our room. Anyway, there we sat enjoying the sun and the view of the still very busy harbour...and right in front of us (well actually a few blocks away,,,but still close) a pod of dolphins moved through the area.... there is no doubt in our mind that this Sea of Marmera still supports a lot of fish...actively feeding seagulls, dolphins working back and forth along the shore...and very active fish markets - attest to that observation.

I've probably talked too much...and don't want to bore you... so will wind up now. We've had a good time here in Istanbul.. certainly have experienced the 'old town'... did I tell you about the calls to prayers (at 0515, 08ish, 1715ish and 2015ish)... ? There are loudspeakers on the towers surrounding each mosque...and they blast out the 'call to prayers' which is a very interesting blend of 'song'.... Anyway, tomorrow is a new day and we must finish packing... we've had a good time and/but are both looking forward to some calm and some quiet..hopefully on a warm beach in Crete. Helen and Kirk, folks Laurie and Lionel met along theway, are going to meet us at the Crete airport and 'keep' us for a day or two... help us rent a car and figure out where to go and what to see...hopefully it will mostly be warm sand, blue skies and cold beers.

Will write again when opportunity arises... not too sure when that will be.... Hope you're all well. Lynda (Dee) got your e-mail thanks.... Hugs to everyone.... xoxoxo CJ (and Kathy)..