Day 1: Da Fest da Boss

Windy laydee - I have been called worse!

As of 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon (after giving a test to 11 fasting students who seemed to waver in their concentration  from time to time!) I am on holidays for a week.

Huzzah! 

Now  when I booked the time off, I had hoped to go on a little excursion to the south-east of Turkey: Nemrut, Lake Van, down through Hatay to Antakya.
But then Three-Paw decided she needed to see a cardiologist in order to complete the holy trinity of specialists : the amputologist and dentist having already been ticked off her must-do list.
I'm glad she went though because she has a heart complaint which I now manage with tablets twice daily. But the cardiologist was not cheap, hence my scuppered holiday plans.

Never mind. Being the super lady I am, I  have decided instead to hold a week long fest here in Istanbul which I shall call The Festival of the Bosphorus and other areas of High excitement in the Vicinity of My Lady, Istanbul. (Short name: Da Fest da Boss.)

I see this boat and I are of the same mind!

Clearly the best way to kick off such a grand fest is with an evening cruise down the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. I have actually done the day cruise a number of times but this is the first time I have gone in the evening.  Confession: In the past I sometimes found myself a little disinterested in the scenery...blah blah houses..blah blah boats..but now, because I know the curves of my lover, The Bosphorus, I found the whole trip fascinating.

Windy laydee and the Rumeli fortress

The weather was quite moody like my lady Straits. Swirling clouds.  Choppy seas.  And bridges!!

Then, as your approach the mouth of the Black Sea (and the controversial third bridge) it really does feel like the end of the world.

It kind of helps when you can see both halves. 

I ended up getting off at the penultimate stop because I have always found the last stop very touristy and pushy. Good decision. Meandering tree-lined lanes, even a beach with golden sand.  Families enjoying the last of the sun. Children playing (apart from the thirteen year old girl who asked me for a light. Doesn't she know I am a defacto Ramazan enforcer. Tsk)

All in all, a very pleasing start to Da Fest!