Sage on sail

I think my first commercial flight was in 1952 across the North Atlantic. Not that I remember much, but I think flying has gone downhill ever since, at least from the customer’s viewpoint.

Our flight yesterday was on Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Johannesburg – a 10 hour marathon. Check-in was smooth, but then we were at the airport at 1900hrs for a 0100hrs flight! Yes, early, but we thought we could just snack on something at the airport and find a comfortable place to sit and read.

The airport is new – brand spanking new. It looks more like a mall for very weatlthy shoppers. Plenty of high-end merchandise from Gucci to Fendi and on to Tom Ford; just the place for high end second hand shoppers like us to end up in.

Ah yes, it’s all duty-free, they say, but then it’s marked up to prices beyond what one would pay in a shop downtown. The place bristles with ads for flying, showing happy customers in lie down flat seats being served sumptious meals by smiling cabin staff.

The reality is one is squeezed into a seat like a sardine in a can, served some unidentifiable mixture of chicken and veggies that is balanced on a tray that is mere inches from your stomach with a 1/3 cup full of coffee because they can’t be bothered to brew more.

That’s a pretty good description of flying Turkish Airlines. Adding insult to injury, they continue to show on the screens in front of you advertisements with happy flying customers in business class seats – it’s an insult to those of us in the cattle car seats.

Okay, enough whinging! We made it after a 2 hour delay in Istanbul – dammit if it had been a 3 hour delay some little clause in our health insurance allows us to call and they will provide access to one of those special lounges that people who fly business/first class get to use.

We arrived in Johannesburg 10 hours later and are now relaxing on the back garden deck of our guest house – Yes, it’s great. Clear, warm, welcoming. and very friendly faces – the Africa I remember.

First order of the day -find the carpet museum:

We’ve passed a sign numerous times telling us the carpet museum is 1 minute walk away but have never seen a carpet museum building. Finally, we ask a nearby tour seller. He points to the building behind us and tells us the museum has been closed for three years!

Leaving the area, we kept our eyes out for a post office box where we could mail our postcards. We found this one with an odd inscription. Are our cards going to make it?

Second order of the day – head over to visit the Orhan Pamuk Museum of Innocence – by the way, Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish Nobel Literature Price winner for his work as an author and a book called Istanbul. He opened a museum we wanted to visit. It was a bit of a trek that included a tram ride, a funicular ride, a stroll through Taksim Square, and a walk through an area well known for antiques called Beyoglu.

The museum was closed:! https://www.masumiyetmuzesi.org

Strike 1

So, next on our marked list was a hamam, a Turkish bath. We happened to have one marked on our map that was one of the oldest in the city and also the only one that allowed men and women in at the same time. Yes, success at last. After turning left, turning right, backtracking, and asking a few locals, we found it. Outside the building was the tariff sheet – for a simple wash and scrub, it was going to cost, for the two of us, $175 Canadian dollars.

Strike Two

Oh God, this is not looking good. We better choose something that’s going to work. Ah, the Perla Palace Hotel was in the area. Up, up and up the hill, around a few corners, down an alleyway, across a major intersection, and yes, there it was in all its splendor. The Perla Palace Hotel was made famous by Agatha Christie, where she committed many a foul murder in her writing career. Apparently, she used to stay here to conjure up some of her murder mysteries.

She must have taken advantage of the adjoining pastries, which we seemed to get ensnared by.

Home Run

To feel we earned those pastries, we we needed to walk a little further, so off we set to uncover mysteries of the area before returning to the hotel for a well-earned rest.

Escape from what, you ask? I how you think we are fortunate to be where we are, and you’re right but it’s hard work!

Being pushed and shoved while shuffling through an ancient old building, fighting for space on an overcrowded public tram, figuring out what’s edible on a menu in a foreign language and walking miles because one didn’t know the transit system was being shut down for the day because of a bike race all adds up to hard work.

I know there’s no or little sympathy. I agree, but then I love the unexpected challenges of navigating through the unfamiliar and sometimes unsettling.

So, that brings me to decision of what to do on a recent day. I headed over to the newly built Istanbul Contemporary Art Gallery. It’s located right in front of the cruise ship terminal (hint, hint Victoria) and I thought might attract a lot of cruise ship visitors but I was fortunate – it was dead quiet – a nice relief from the highly publicized tourist attractions in the rest of the city.

Now this is more familiar territory – out on the water to enjoy a voyage to the black sea. Of course, I have to do it on the cheap!

It was hard rowing but there I am heading over from the eastern side to pick Connie up on the European side. The rental didn’t include lifejackets but everything else was included.

The return trip to the Black Sea was about three hours stopping at a variety of ferry landings. We mostly hugged the European side except in the narrows.

The Bosphorus is an amazing body of water connecting the Black Sea and the Marmarra Sea. The Bosphorus is the only access Russia and the Ukraine have to the Mediterranean. For thousands of years it also played a role in the push and pull of western versus eastern influences. I am currently reading a book written by Christopher de Bellaguie called The Lion House: The Coming of a King. It’s primarily about the power change between the Christains and the Muslims over the Bosphorus and hence the city of Constantinople/Istanbul.

Rowing (!) along the Bosphorus is enlightening in terms of the impossibility of any shipping transiting from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean not being seen or controlled by Turkey. it’s not a wide channel with most of it being a nautical mile wide. What power that gives Turkey.

We stopped at numerous landings along the Bosphorus to let off paying passengers. Here are a few of those stops:

OK,we’re out of practice in the art of traveling and not taking into account our ever increasingly fragility (!).

We set out for a day of exploring the nooks and crannies of Istanbul. We quickly got bogged down in the minituae of public transport bureaucracy. Ever tried reading Turkish, let alone instructions on buying a pass? It’s not easy.

Great public transportation, though and relatively inexpensive – about $1.50/ride, short or long.

Not taking many photos but here are a few from the yesterdays wanderings. The first two are from a tour through the harem at  the Topkapi Palace:

Photogaphy is difficult in a place like this as the number of people is overwhelming and difficult to work around.

That was the day…

A grueling 12-hour flight, canceled seat reservations, incorrectly scheduled taxi service and check-in system collapse all proved a challenge. But we made it!

We made the long trek from the airport to our hotel at sunset. Beautiful crimson skies outlined by modern office towers and residential density that would send shivers up the spine of any Oak Bay resident.

Morning is here,and we’ve been treated to this incredible buffet breakfast on the terrace of the hotel. We’re looking at views over the Bosphorous and in the opposite direction of the Blue Mosque. Who could be unhappy? I’m almost willing to just sit here for the day and watch the day unfold.

That’s not to be – things to do, places to go, people to meet, food to consume – let’s get on with it. No shopping though….

Promises from Gail that this will stretch my neck and feel great?

So, then we took Gail out shopping….

A beautiful time of the year. The light is flawless, the subjects endless and so far the rain has held off but that’s to change shortly.

Departure day – and who would have thought it was also Crab Fest in Port Angles! Yes, over 750 people on the ferry that morning all dressed up in crab gear. Unfortunately, crab was not on the Coho menu, but that was OK, the day was beautiful. Sun shining, little wind, a gentle roll from side to side as we waddled across the Straits of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles.

Travelling always introduces you to people one wouldn’t normally meet. The Coho was not any different. From the man wearing a crab hat to the ex UVic librarian, we were kept amused with conversations and card games.

Sim cards were removed, social media was silent and we were off to another adventure.