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Published: October 31st 2008
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After a very enjoyable flight halfway around the world again I'm back in Turkey for another bit of fun in Istanbul. Malaysian Airlines made the flight very easy to take with the service laid on from the time we got on to the time that we arrived in Turkey. The added bonus was the flight to KL wasn't full so those of us in the cheap seats still had room to spread out in what I like to term as povo business class.
It's been a bit like I haven't really left Istanbul since the last time, everything is a little bit too familiar but I do still enjoy the city, even if peak hour seems to last for an eternity.
After our first day of bread and cheese rations we got silver service on day two out at the site. We were expecting a couple of snack packs to be bought out to us, but what arrived was somewhat different. The mercedes sprinter van pulls up, they unload the chairs, the tables and then four waiters walk on in. The table is set up in the middle of the work area, the white linen table cloth goes on
Taksim Square
I was just sitting down enjoying a coffee and a brass band complete with torchlight parade comes marching on by. the real plates and cultery laid out. Talk about bring the whole restaurant to you, this lot is amazing. Then it's the three course meal served by the scenic worksite overlooking the water, just about priceless. Needless to say we were all standing in amazement as all this was unfolding before our eyes not to mention more cameras then a Japanese tourist convention. Day three we were back to normal with paper plates on our laps and forks made out of micron thin plastic.
But even with the silver service it's been a hard slog this time round, partially due to the torential rain for a couple of days and Barry the bug taking up lodgeing in my digestive system. It sort of gives you an idea of how long the bug hung around for given that he got a name. But all is good now after a bit of misinterpretation at the local chemist. Although I did learn what a bargain drugs are in Turkey $5 for the finest over the counter medicine you could ask for compared to something that I would have been paying $30 for at home is a bargain in anyone's language.
Somehow
even with all the rain we managed to get the stuff up in the air and put on a good show. Although at one stage I was starting to think that we were never going to the firing site. Just like last year it had something to do with a bridge. Regular readers will know that last year we managed to hit the bridge three times, well this year we blew that record well and truely out of the water. Try eleven times, not only did the boat towing us manage to run up on the bridge but the barge managed to hit it a little too many times for my liking. I even managed to learn a couple of new Turkish words when the guy running the barge and tug side of things suggested to our tug driver that he got his tug driving licence from the wheaties packet and that he has found a new place for him to store it!!! After parking ourselves on the bridge and getting wedged sideways we managed to get through the gap, helped by another barge, a rubber duckie, guys with poles and a broken rope or two.
One thing you
have to love about the Turkish is their sense of time. When they say that the truck you have to load all your stuff on will arrive in fifteen minutes its best to set aside the next hour, because its not arriving anytime soon. This leads to the amount of time outside of work that you can escape to see the sites of Istanbul being somewhat limited. But with siteseeing not the aim of this part of the trip, it's all good, although it's safe to say that after three trips to Istanbul I still haven't managed to see inside the Hagia Sofia. But I have taken in most of the other sites in the previous couple of visits. Fortunately Hagia Sofia's not going anywhere in hurry given that it's been around longer than white man in Australia.
The other bonus of the trip has been the thank you harbour cruise. Just like last year we got taken out for a cruise around where we set the fireworks off from. It was all starting to feel a bit groundhog day at one stage during the proceedings, but all was good and it is a nice way to wrap things
Plastic bags are big this year
Even with the torrential rain the prep for the show still goes on under the big green tarp up. Plus it's really good to pass under bridges without bashing into them ten times!
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colvinyeates
penny and gary
Life isn't fair
100 whole days since your last sojourn - how on earth have you managed? You know now of course that my wife is asking, (no wait, DEMANDING) I find a quarry with similar perks. If you are hanging around the Middle East for a while, then Petra, Damascus and Palmyra are the Yeatesy must sees. Then while you are in the neighbourhood, why not duck into Jerusalem for a snippet. The food served up in Istanbul sounds almost as tempting as the cold McDonalds dished up to us at prolonged incidents. If you make it to Aleppo, check out the Sissi House Restaurant and try a bottle of a Lebanese red they have on the menu. Yeatesy.