Day 43 - Istanbul

 Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast this morning on the terrace of the Golden Horn, overlooking the Bosphorus. First stop on today's agenda was a visit to the offices of the Womens Platform - a platform established under the auspices of the Journalists and Writer's Foundation. The Journalists and Writers Foundation was established in 1994 with the aim of promoting world peace through intercultural dialogue and achieving greater understanding through education. This was a fascinating visit to see the fine work being done to foster women's perspectives in every sphere including science and technology, the media and so on. We left there with a better understanding of how the Gulen movement operates through such vehicles as the Journalists and Writers Foundation. Our next stop was at the top of a hill in parkland on the Asian side of Istanbul with views over the Bosphorus back toward Sultanahmet on the European side. This is a spectacular viewing point and well worth the considerable drive to get there. From here we returned to the Bosphorus for what I consider to have been the highlight of the day - a boat trip up the Bosphorus. We boarded a relatively small vessel and proceeded to spend the next couple of hours cruising up the Bosphorus toward the Black Sea and back again, admiring the views as we went. This was a very pleasant way to spend a sunny day. Lunch followed, at a seafood restaurant nearby, on the waterfront, before then heading off on a shopping expedition that turned out to be somewhat fraught. The shopping center that we had been taken to was for Istanbul's rich and famous, as we soon discovered, with luxury chauffeur driven cars such as Maseratis, Porsches and high end Mercedes and BMWs sitting outside awaiting their owners. We spent perhaps an hour here but certainly didn't buy anything - way too expensive methinks. Leaving this place we then went to the Istanbul equivalent of an Aussie factory outlet complex which was much more to our liking. Members of our group proceeded to purchase suits and other clothing but again Sue and I refrained, in part because of weight constraints for our luggage on the home-bound journey in a few days time. By now it was getting late and so back to the hotel we went for a quick freshen up before again heading out for a family dinner - this time with a textile magnate and his family. Another delicious meal was followed by conversation and the exchange of gifts before heading back home to bed after a pretty full day.