i went down to breakfast then we got ready to take the boat to one of the off-shore islands. This is not a touring boat, but a regular part of th3 transportation system, so we could us our transportation card on it. As we leave the apartment, I run across the street to the bank to get a little more money. I but the card in the machine, press the right buttons and get neither card back nor money. Help, help, help. Fouad and Sonia guarded the machine while I ran into the bank. A guy comes out with me and just at that moment the machine unfreezes. Yikes. That was scary. I tried the next machine and that one worked.
We took the tram to the dock and saw that we had 1.5 hours until the next boat, so we headed back to the Egyptian bazaar. Since we had gotten Matthew a little Turkish coffee pot for his birthday, we wanted to give him some real Turkish coffee. One coffee seller gave Sonia a demonstration in Spanish about how to cook the coffee. We finally bought a pound and I carried it around in my backpack all day. It smelled wonderful! I also bought a couple boxes of Turkish delights to take to school. Now I just need one or two more souvenir presents, then I’m good to go.
We had split up and we had said we would meet at the board at 11:45. I’m waiting. No Fouad and Sonia. 11:50. I’m waiting. No Fouad and Sonia. 11:55. I’m waiting. no Fouad and Sonia. Hmmmm. Since we had bought two transportation cards, I get on the boat with my ticket. I stand near the entrance so I can see them if they go by. I see them......and they go by. I’m screaming “Sonia, fouad”, and they keep on walking. About 1 minute before the boat pushes off, they come running back and jump on. They had been talking and didn’t realize they’d gone too far.
There were lots of people on the boat enjoying the sun. We talked with some Saudis and some Iranians. The big attraction on the boat was the seagulls. People would hold out pretzel sticks or pieces of bread in their hands and the birds would come and eat the things. As far as I could tell, nobody got pooped on. The ride was scenic and pleasant. I decide to get off at island number 3 because the tourist lady said that was the quieter of the four islands and you could rent bikes there. Sonia and Fouad wanted to go on to island 4, the big island because there was a little more action there and they wanted to take a horse carriage ride.
I got off at my island and immediately checked when the boat went back so I knew how much time I had. It really was a quiet little island. There were a few tourists, but not overrun. I stopped at one little restaurant and ordered calamari. The waiter had to shoo cat off a chair so I could sit down. I sat out in the sun and just enjoyed the day. Then I walked down the street to a bike rental place and rented a bike. The guy spoke no English, I spoke no Turkish. But he showed me on the calculator how much it would be for an hour (less than $2) so I took it. It was a pretty junky bike. Before I could even leave the shop with it, I made him pump up the tires. Then off I went, straight uphill. It wasn’t too steep, so there was no big problem and at least the gear shift worked. I rode the big tour around the island, being passed by horse-drawn carriages occasionally, but otherwise it was spectacularly quiet. The sun was shining and the scenery was gorgeous. And there were stray dogs and cats everywhere. All were well-fed a s peaceable.
Now comes the really good part. I’m almost back when I ride past a military installation with big signs in 4 languages telling me not to take pictures. Ok, no problem. But just past the installation is a fire station with 2 trucks standing in front of the door and 3 firemen sitting at a picnic table next to the fire house drinking tea. I have a good friend in Germany who belongs to the volunteer fire department and I just knew she would love some pictures of the trucks. But, I figured I better ask permission before I take then because I would prefer not to take pictures of the inside of a Turkish jail. So I walk over to the guys, introduce myself, try to explain what I want... and nobody understands English. Meanwhile, they’ve invited me to sit down and have already brought me a cup of tea. Ok, so I start again. This time I say the word for “German” in Turkish. Aha. The guys run and get a map because they think I want to go to “German beach” here on the island. Nope, that’s not it.
So we sit there for awhile and everytim3 someone walks by, the firemen ask if he speaks English. Finally, a family with a school girl walks by and she explains what I want. Oh, no problem , of course, of course. Even with the language barrier, it was a pleasant experience and showed me again just how generous the Turks are. You are treated as their guest in every situation.
So I get my pictures And ride back to turn in my bike. A guy sees me and calls the owner of the shop for me. The guy had lived in LA for 22 years, where he owned 4 Turkish restaurants. Then I walked over and looked at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, then walked back to the harbor to drink some more tea and wait for the boat.
It turned out that Sonia and Fouad had missed this boat and then next one didn’t come for two hours. I got back to the hotel and got a lot of messaging done before they got back. They had taken a buggy ride on their island but had also tried a bike ride. FULL DISCLOSURE : I did not wear a helmet when I rode. The ones they offered looked like upside down cat dishes. So I thought I’d take my chances.
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