Nine hours sitting on a plane. Ugh! I hate flying. Thank God we are flying home on business class. Turkish Air's interior configuration is a little roomier than domestic lines, but not a lot. Slept in til about 11AM and had a late break fast in the hotel.
The hotel is small as is the room but not uncomfortable. The people are very pleasant. But the wonderful thing is the shower. It is like standing under a fire hose or waterfall. I could have stayed there all day.
We decided to have an easy day of it and went to the large park surrounding the Topkapi Palace. Nice park. It being Saturday there was a good crowd of people strolling. Jim pushed me in my wheelchair throughout. God bless him.
We ended up in a tea garden atop a bluff under the Topkapi palace and overlooking where the Golden Horn meets the Bospherus. The traffic in the water was impressive. Ferries connecting the Asian side to the European side were everywhere, large Cargo ships going north to Black Sea ports. and lots of private boats as well.
Turkish Tea: It is presented in a little samovar like contraption rather like a small teapot nested atop a larger one. The larger underpot contains boiling water. (see photo) The concentrated tea, I swear it is boiled, is very bitter and after pouring
some in your glass you then dilute it with the water in the lower post. It is still bitter and requires lots of sugar, which I would normally never put in my tea. I understand now why in Russian novels people hold sugar cubes between their teeth as they drink their tea.
There were storks nesting in the tree tops. Lots of them. I've never seen anything like this before and it was fascinating. The trees are mostly a form of Sycamore but thinner and taller than those we have in the US.
Dinner in the hotel and early to bed. This is rather strenuous for me.
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