View more pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/yacht.quilcene

Mid January 2011 found us back on board Quilcene after a rather hectic 3 weeks in the UK whizzing up and down the M5 to fit in appointments and meetings around the Xmas and New Year bank holidays! .....maybe it wasn't such a good idea to visit when everywhere is closed! Nonetheless it was great to see everyone and we had a good time.

Kit brought his usual little pile of spares back to the boat and finally managed to solve the electrical problem that had dogged us for several months (my fingers are crossed whilst writing that!). The smart new sprayhood was ready so we fitted it, admired it for a few days then replaced it with the old one for the rest of the winter. We started work on a dinghy cover, a joint effort with Kit measuring and me sewing! Quill, our trusty dinghy has been suffering in the intense heat of the Mediterranean sun - the tubes are 'melting'! So like many others we have seen it will soon have fitted canvas covers to protect it from the sun - and protect our clothes from sticky PVC!

Socially we picked up where we left off, sharing sundowners, curries and delicious dinners with various friends; you'd be amazed at the culinary delights produced in our tiny galleys! Quiz night is always fun too; our team 'The Four Stays' have been doing unaccountably well at the weekly quiz with several wins under our belt! ...and a win = first drink free next quiz night!

Off on our travels! In between all this activity we were planning an overland trip to the Middle East via Istanbul. We hoped to visit Syria, Jordan and maybe Lebanon (depending on the political situation there). On Valentine's Day we set off with a few clothes, several 'Lonely Planets' and spare loo rolls in our rucksacks to travel overnight to Istanbul.
Despite having a large crack running across the windscreen (we saw hardly any without a crack! - never would be allowed in the UK!) the coach was surprisingly comfortable and we were served water, çay, biscuits or cake at regular intervals, so we didn't arrive too exhausted. We had an anxious moment when alarms sounded on the dashboard whilst we were on a four-lane motorway, but much to our amusement the coach pulled over opposite a garage and several men ferried water containers across the whole eight lanes, clambering over the central reservation, to top up the radiator! No problems after that!

We found the hotel (small room but clean and warm) and began to explore Istanbul. The weather was fine but freezing cold, with an icy wind blowing off the Bosphorus. We got a bit lost that first day and found ourselves walking right around the perimeter wall of the Topkapi Palace grounds; despite my windproof fleece jacket I haven't been so cold for ages!!

Next day we wrapped up in thermal base-layers, glovers and scarves! ...and who should we bump into outside the Topkapi Palace but Sue and Dave off yacht 'Fiona' in Finike! They were visiting Istanbul en route to the UK via Budapest. We arranged to meet up later for drinks and dinner and continued our day's site-seeing starting with the Topkapi Palace; where we oogled the huge Topkapi diamond (shadowed by a surly woman guard who prevented me taking pics!); admired Suleiman the Magnificents' sword and other treasures (managed to sneak photo or two!), and wandered through the numerous courtyards and extensive grounds (probably not at their best in Feb but still impressive). There were a surprising number of visitors, even at this time of year, and we noticed how the stone floor in the fortified entrance is worn smooth from millions of feet! We also went into the amazing Blue Mosque: 'amazing' due to the sheer size of the floor area and the brilliant construction of its beautiful domed ceiling.

During our stay we wandered all over Istanbul admiring the sights: The Grand Bazaar lives up to its name and is more spacious and airy than other souks we've seen. We didn't buy anything - much to the disappointment of countless stallholders who tried to entice us to part with our money! We loved the Spice Market with its wonderful aromas and colourful displays - too bad we had no room in our rucksacks because we were sorely tempted to stock up there. We wandered across the Golden Horn to Karakoy on the two-tiered Galata Bridge to find a camping shop so we could buy sleeping bag liners: not that we carried sleeping bags, it was a precaution in case the standards of the 'budget' hotels we were planning to use might not be as good as we're used to!!

The upper level of both sides of the bridge was lined all along the railings by men fishing, we've never seen so many! They only seemed to be catching small fish so not sure what the great attraction is!

We lunched on a 'fish sandwich' from one of the ornate black and gold 'gondola' type boats moored at Eminonou, a colourful riverside area by Galata Bridge. They roll alarmingly in the wash from a fleet of ferries, but the men on board manage to tend a large griddle full of sizzling fish fillets which they thrust into Ekmek (bread) rolls with a handful of salad to provide a tasty lunch! Delicious!

Although on the European side, busy Eminonou seemed to us to epitomise the eastern, exotic nature of Istanbul. Here on the Golden Horn riverside adjacent to the spice market, where the skyline is lined with minarets, turrets and domes, crowds of people from all walks of life carry on their daily rituals. Fishermen, shoppers, crowds embarking from the ferries, office workers, stallholders and fish sandwich sellers shouting their wares, all mingle and jostle in a melee of colour.

In the afternoon we 'cruised' the Bosphorus aboard ferries. For only 1.75 Turkish Lira (around 70p) we crossed the Bosphorus to Haydarpasa on the Asian side to see the wonderfully restored ornate railway station; a relic harking back to the days of the Orient Express, which started the Asian leg of its journey from here. The Istanbul skyline looked impressive from the ferry, which called into Karakoy on the return trip.

Two days was not really enough to see Istanbul and we hope to return one day to see its many other attractions. The next leg of our trip was across Turkey by bus and train to Syria. We'd hoped to do it all by train but various railtrack works prevented this, so we travelled by bus to Ankara, Turkey's capital city, then took a sleeping compartment on the overnight train to Adana in the SE. It was fun snuggling into our bunks whilst we rushed through the night across the Turkish Steppes. We awoke at first light to see the wonderful scenery of the Taurus Mountains, with snow-capped peaks all around us as we began our descent to the coast. From there it was another bus ride to Antakya in the Hatay and yet another across Syrian border to Aleppo.