Istanbul

The first day in Istanbul was a bit of a shock with a top of 10 degrees and incessant rain, not the Mediterranean like weather I had been expecting.  Night one was crazy, as four full 45 seated Topdeck busloads of Aussies and Kiwis descended upon the same two bars in an effort to meet and greet whoever you could. Day one saw kinder weather and included a visit to the Blue Mosque, a get to know you boat ride down the river and a Turkish dinner and show. Day one also saw misadventure one and two. Misadventure one involved missing the bus to the pre-paid Turkish dinner, determined not to miss it, DC embarked on sprinting around the local area looking for whoever he could find that hadn’t gone on the dinner for phone numbers in order to find the location of the dinner. Success saw DC turn up only 20 minutes after everyone else, i.e. while the entrees were being served. It turned out someone on a different bus missed there’s and decided to jump on mine, resulting in all seats being taken up and the tour leaders therefore assuming everyone was on board (another small little black mark for Topdeck). Misadventure two, involved an altercation between a pointy low garden fence and DCs brand new jeans, with the fence being declared the winner.