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Published: September 29th 2018
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Arriving back from Egypt meant a trip to the cinema with the Movie group we have all been waiting for the release of Infinity Wars which in my opinion was brilliant. A few days later we went out for after work drinks, I don’t do it often because it is expense here, I left early because I am going kayaking in the morning.
I left early the next morning picking Chris, Rina and Arthur up as we made our way to Abu Dhabi’s Mangroves National Park. Today we would Kayak about seven kilometres through the mangrove canals and it is damn hot for early May. I love kayaking and the others seemed to enjoy paddling through the park as much as I did, a bit more wildlife would have been good though. A few days later I would leave to carry out a two week investigation in Turkey.
Arriving at Istanbul airport to discover my visa was not valid to the next day was an unpleasant surprise, particularly after such a great Emirates flight, so out of pocket another $60 USD I cleared immigration only to find my prearranged transport was not waiting for us. Eventually the driver turned
up and we were on our way to the Istanbul Marriott Sisli where we would reside for the next few weeks.
The next three days were full on we were either at work or at the hotel eating there each night, then Wednesday we decided to cross the Bosporus visiting the Blue mosque before having a great dinner. Istanbul is one of my favourite cities and I would happily live there the culture, architecture, food and of course the city’s natives all draw you in.
Thursday the stress got a bit much and I was feeling a little unwell so off to the hospital I went. It was a false alarm which was certainly a relief, but it was expensive, and I am still waiting for reimbursement from my health insurance company.
Over the next few nights we hit some great restaurants around the city including pulling an all nighter at a small club/bar in Takim with Nur and Matt our Turkish based colleague. I spent the Sunday wandering the historical centre returning to the Mosaic museum I visited so many years ago and then hitting the bizarre which is a tourist trap now. I spent quite
a while wandering through a more authentic market before returning to Taksim for a few drinks with Shane before he left for Dubai.
The next week was just hard work although we did step out for a great pub lunch and later in the week a nice dinner down on the Bosporus. Friday I was on my way home, a few minutes after walking through the door I got a call from my wife telling me Sierra had passed away it was a sad week and a tear comes to my eye as I write this. A few days later my World Cup tickets finally arrived, and I went and saw Deadpool 2 which was timely because I really needed a laugh. Just a few days till the next adventure.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Mosques
Great pics. I have posted some in the 'Cathedrals, grand churches, mosques and places of public worship' thread in the Photography Forum. Check 'em out.