Kabataş

So this activity came with the Istanbul e-Pass I bought for all the museum admissions and guided tours, so decided it would be a good thing to do the first night in town. A van was booked to pick me up at the hotel at 7:30 -- they were within 5 minutes, and we made a couple of other stops before driving through the very heavy traffic down to the waterfront. Large 3 decker boat, but the dining was just on the first. Took a while to get everyone loaded so we left about 9. There was also a show of a variety of Turkish dancing. I was on a window seat with a great view of the coast, but not so good of the show. The dancers seemed very energetic though! Dinner was as to be expected. The 'meze' appetizers are quite tasty. Had grilled meat balls for the main.

After dinner, I went to the upper deck and did the second half of the cruise outside. Not many others on deck due to the cool evening -- good time to have Canadian genetics. Very pretty views of the city from the water. Many grand buildings such as palaces and mosques as well as areas of fancy waterfront villas.

It was a couple minutes to midnight when I got to the hotel, so this will get me on Turkish time zone all at once!Read more