Emirgan Park

Did you know the tulip originated from Turkey?
That's why they serve their tea in tulip shape glasses and if you look closely at the mosaics in many of the mosques you will see intricate tulip designs.
Now somewhere along the line those crafty Dutch with their Edam cheese and clacketty clogs appropriated the tulip as their own. But the Turkish have decided to claim it back and what better way than through a tulip-slashing rampage through the Dutch countryside. No. Not really. The Turkish have actually gone one better and  decided to create an international tulip festival instead. During this festival pretty much any patch of fertile land whether it be park, garden or roundabout is planted with tulip bulbs so they can explode into colour right at festival time.

Which is now!

As a Stanbulli I feel it is my duty to participate in the festival and admire the beloved tulip in its native land. So a few days ago it was off to Emirgan Park for me. Of course the trip there was not  a pleasure (as is to be expected when you live in a city of 16 billion drivers.) No one likes to commute apart from me -  I am the world's-best-commuter. Everyone else finds it far more posh to drive thus clogging the lanes upon which the world's-best-commuter is trying to commute. Suffice to say the  bus trip there took a small slice of forever but at least it ran alongside The Bosphorus and there was many a pleasing scene to behold.

Not as pleasing as Emirgan Park in bloom of course.

I should probably warn you at this point that if you have an aversion to tulips it would probably be best to look away for not only am I the world's best commuter but I am also a high-ranking tulip-admirer.

Look - yellow ones!

Pink ones!

Red ones!

Purple friends!

White ones!

Pink ones again!

Orangey-yellow ones!

The park even has a grotto.

And tulip fish!

I love a good grotto.

And the Queensland part of me simply cannot resist a big plastic replica of anything!

There were actually a lot of wedding parties in the park too. I mean why pay for flowers when you can pose among them like a princess for free. Most of the brides were dressed  in white and wore steely gazes. I don't know if they were counting all the shoes they were going to buy after they were married or if they were upset that there were so many other brides in the park competing for best-bride-in-the-park. All the grooms, on the other hand, looked pretty cheerful with that 'I'm about to get laid' sort of grin on their face.  There was one bridal couple; however, that stood out from the others. Probably the most beautiful bride I have ever seen  (discounting all friends and relatives who have got married of course!) She was dressed in green so she blended with the park but I think it was the way she and her groom whispered together that made her so beautiful. 

After I had finished stalking the brides I went and had lunch at a park restaurant with the rest of Istanbul. The  restaurant was lovely. It was an old Ottoman style building built in the shape of a bird cage. Apparently the Turks love their birds although I am not sure if building bird cages is exactly the best expression of love for a bird.

Tulipped-out I walked along The Bosphorus for a while until the world-best-commuter's legs gave in and I took a bus back home.