The ............

 ............. last day here in Istanbul.

First two photos are of the hotel lobby and the third is the coastline as we flew out of IST airport.

More detail ........

I need to correct (and add to) the write-up for yesterday - the 8th.

I wrongly said that the main image was on the top of one of the mosques - it is not ....... it is on top of the the tomb of Mahmut II 30th Sultan - two other sultans are also entombed here.  My apologies.

The correct name for a "tombyard" (as I called it) is a maqbara.  
It comes from the Arabic word qabr meaning grave.

Our flight left on time (unlike our arrival flight which was delayed almost three hours) but, on arrival, Himself's wheelchair was nowhere to be seen - it was tagged "deliver to plane door" - a huge orange tag.
The pilot (very nice man) took it upon himself to go and look for it and discovered it had been taken to the baggage hall.  He then went there and told someone to bring it to the plane where it appeared around 15 minutes later.   All went smoothly after that - we had no hold luggage, just largish backpacks and my computer bag.

The car was where we left it (helpful) and we finally made it home at 23.00 hrs.  (11pm for those that do not "do" military time!)  :o))

We discovered that Turkey is no longer the cheapy, cheap destination it used to be - eating out in Istanbul requires a second mortgage and a refinance of the car!!!  Not quite but you get my drift.   

We also discovered that it is not a city for the faint of heart with a wheelchair.   Huge steps up to most restaurants and hotels (ours included), tram lines, cobbles, very few ramps, deep gulleys for rainwater at the kerbs ........... on the positive side we could not fault the friendliness and helpfulness of the Turkish people (mostly the men) - massive step into the hotel?  Two staff members rush to help both going out and coming in every day (a couple of times the manager as well), restaurant with steps - same again.   High kerb? Random pedestrians come over to lift the wheelchair and then just walk away.

The weather wasn't the best it could have been and Himself had one unwell day - lucky for him it was the day it rained non-stop.   I fell down the stairs the day before we left and twisted my right knee and then, in the airport on arrival, I pulled something in my left heel which meant I couldn't put my foot flat to the floor when walking and ended up (possibly) looking a bit drunk as I walked - at least I had the wheelchair to hold onto.   It did not spoil the trip - you gotta make the best of everything.

Now we're back and plans afoot for another quick-trip next month.

Thank you all for the comments, stars and hearts over the past few days.   Very much appreciated.

~ Anni ~


This is Wednesday uploaded early on Thursday afternoon.