Whilst it feels like a long distance memory now, my holiday
in Turkey at the beginning of September was just incredible. This country must
be one of my favourites! A great mix of history, beauty, culture, all blended
together creating something European, Asian and Middle Eastern.
I flew in to Istanbul, where I spent 2 nights in a wonderful
little B&B, called Turkoman (highly recommended for anyone travelling in
Istanbul). It’s in Sultanahmet, which is the old city and has this incredible terrace
where you enjoy breakfast, or an afternoon beer, overlooking the Blue Mosque.
I spent 2 days discovering some of what Istanbul has to
offer. The Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace and it’s amazing Haram, a
boat ride on the Bospherous, seafood (fresh!!!!), the Spice Market and the
Grand Bazaar and a dinner in the more trendy, newer part of town that is Istiklal
Clad.. 2 days for Istanbul though is simply not enough. Actually a week for
Turkey is not even close but it was a great break and I plan to go back and
spend a month in this amazing country at the end of my mission. After my second
day of sightseeing I had already run out of adjectives, I let my pictures
describe it for you better.
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| The Blue Mosque, Istanbul. I got up early early to take in the sights before the crowds |
After this I caught a flight to Antalya and a bus down to
Olympos to meet the lovely Sophie and Ben.. We spent 2 nights in a treehouse,
drinking Corona, eating great vege food, swimming in the ocean and exploring a
little bit in the bush (ending up lost of course at one stage), before
departing Olympos for a 3 night 4 day cruise along the Mediterranean Sea. Soph
had heard about this boat trip with Al Turka from a friend a few years ago, and
my oh my was it wonderful... The food is incredible, every morning you wake up
after sleeping on the deck under the stars and jump into the water as your
morning shower whilst someone prepares breakfast for you. The boat docks at
various places along the coast for exploring ruins, little towns of the Turkish
coast and shopping!
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| Me, Ben & Sophie, taking our usual seat up the front in the sun. |
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| Rocking the side pony before 'disco island'..... |
Soph and I tried some water sports one day, screaming with
laughter before a dead arm for nearly a 24 hour period.. There was many a game
of backgammon and bullshit and quite a few Turkish beers and mojito’s.
The boat trip finishes in Fethiye and I got to spend one
extra night with them there, before heading back to Amman.. Lobster, champagne
and fresh prawns made me want to give up my job with MSF and continue with
these 2 free spirits on their trip around the world.. There’s something to be
said for the happiness that this freedom brings and the excitement of each
day.. I only hope that one day I’m lucky enough to find a significant other
with which I have such a wonderful connection and can explore the way that the
two of them are doing now...
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| The morning rays over Butterfly Island Quite a wonderful view to wake up to |
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| Exploring St. Nicholas Island |
Since coming back from Turkey work has been incredibly busy.
I wonder why I was complaining about the boredom when now it’s quite the
opposite.. Once again I have a flatmate though and someone to share the
workload with, Cindy is her name and we already know each other as we did our training
together in New York, back before departing for our first missions.
The time is really flying with the work being so busy, I can’t
believe it’s the mid of October already. We have the second Eid coming up early
next month and we’ve begun to discuss a few days in Lebanon, whilst my credit
card is having a negative reaction, my mind is screaming at the excited and for
some more exploration.
I started a course at the French School last week, this
takes up 2 nights a week until the end of December. So hopefully by then I’ll
be somewhat bi-lingual.
