Sunday October 13, 2019
ISTANBUL, Turkey – On our final, full day here, we declared ourselves “museumed-out,” and decided just to wander. Enough of meeting closing times, fighting lines and finding locations.
After breakfast and usual hotel fare, we walked about five blocks to the one of the many ferry docks that dot the Istanbul waterfronts. Our destination was Prince Island and we made the ferry, as the Beatles said, “in seconds flat.” The embarkation point was Bostanci to the Prince Island terminal. After one stop, we arrived to find no cars, motorcycles and Vespas on the streets. These are not permitted. As well, there are only certain streets were bikes are allowed and horse-and-carriage rides permeate the streets.
Once we departed from the ferry, we walked along the waterfront, rested on a park bench overlooking the water and then proceeded through the streets. There is the usual array of shops, restaurants and mini marts. We stopped a bakery and Waynette ordered her usual rice pudding while I gobbled down a chocolate éclair.
In one of the shops, we picked up a wall hanging for our bathroom at home. We have a beach theme there and now we have contributions from France, Greece and Turkey.
In time, we decided on a 3:45 p. m. ferry back to Kabatas, site of the Dolmabance Palace and then make our way back toward the area of the Blue Mosque.
On the return ferry, we grabbed two seats on the upper level and Waynette wanted that position to take pictures. Sitting in front of us was a family with a 7-month daughter. Constantly smiling, Waynette turned and said, “Mark, she likes you.”
We smiled back and she was carried by her father directly in front of us and her mom behind. We’re not sure how the conversation began but this turned into the one of the most interesting moments so far on the trip.
We detected English in his first words and asked from where he is from.
“Switzerland,” came the reply. “We live in Basel and here for five days visiting friends.”
We asked his native country and said he was a town north of Spilt, in Croatia. We explained we were in Croatia a year ago and knew the general vicinity of his hometown.
He told us he worked for an international security company, “but not the kind you think,” he explained in near perfect English.
“Remember the plane crash a few years ago in the Ukraine?” he asked.
“Yes,” and I nodded.
“My company investigates things like.”
Making the first move, I said,” I’m Mark.” He told us his name was Neve and we introduced Waynette.
Then, he presented his wife.
“This is Katerina, and she is from the Ukraine,” he said. “She travels around the world researching and speaks to groups on behalf of the Basel Institute.”
The conversation quickly turned to Katerina’s work and we were told she researches international money laundering. While her English was fine, we knew asking her about the present Ukraine situation, the Trump involvement and impeachment would fall on deaf ears.
“I’m sure you have some great stories to tell,” I said, and she just smiled.
The Ukraine situation started Neve on a Trump tirade and reiterated that the Ukraine situation is way of control. Though he never hinted his wife was involved in any way with the current Ukraine situation, it became obvious Katerina knew more, probably much more. Neve repeated the Bidens did nothing illegal and the Ukrainian prospector who was dismissed was fired because he did nothing in that position.
While the ferry ride lasted over one hour, we spent most of that time talking American politics and Trump’s vain, narcissistic personality. Neve said said he studied in the United States as a student in a college in Longview, Washington. The only U. S. cities he visited were Portland, Ore. and Seattle.
On business and speaking at a forum at a D. C. area college, Katerina just returned from Washington. Neve said her speaking engagement was at a university in Arlington, Va., but we believe she may have spoken at Georgetown University, George Washington University, both in D. C., or possibly at George Mason University in Virginia.
As the conversation changed to Croatia, Katerina excused herself and took the baby down to the lower deck to be changed. Neve followed shortly and I gave them the blog address. I encouraged them to read the blog and offer a response. That way, I’ll have their e-mail address and would like to know about Katerina’s work and the money laundering.
We exited the ferry at Kabatas but decided to catch another ferry to Kadikoy. From there, we walked the streets is search of dinner and finally settled on a burger place.
Strange for our final night in Turkey but the experience was positive. The burger was char-broiled, came with fries and bottles of Heinz ketchup were on the table. The burger surprised and was quite decent.
From there, we walked a block to Mado, which is an essentially a dessert restaurant. Waynette order an ice cream cone, upside down and attached to a fruit kabab. I took an ice cream cake, cut into five squares and smothered in chocolate sauce. Then, of course, a glass of Turkish tea for each.
We caught a mini-bus back to the hotel and arrived 10:30.
On the bus, Waynette struck a conversation with a young girl who is a cello player. How did we know because she had her cello with her in a case. She told us she’s a music teacher and once played in an orchestra in Chicago. She lives in the same neighborhood as our hotel, so the conversation was engaging until she exited a few minutes before our stop.
For Monday, it’s a travel day and we’re packing in the morning. We plan to be out of the hotel between 12 and 12:30, take a taxi to a bus stop and then a bus to the airport. We have a 5 p.m. flight on Turkish Airlines to Tel Aviv.
Despite not traversing the streets and museums, we still managed to walk just over six miles or about 13,500 steps.
PICTURES – images from Prince Island, Neve and daughter Ava, our dinner of burger and fries, plus our desserts
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