More Istanbul

We are berthed at Kalamis/Fenerbache marina, on the Asian shore but easily able to travel and see the sights. Istanbul remains one of our favourite cities, despite the crush of its huge population, which does tend to overwhelm on weekends and holidays. The marina is situated in an affluent suburb and the surrounding cafe society is like any other city, even Brisbane. We have been busy preparing for our Black Sea adventure, and have experienced some frustrations. To top up fuel, the only option was to lug jerry cans to the nearest service station and taxi them back to the yacht, all 200 ltrs! It is has not yet been possible to find top up for our greek gas bottles, a matter of some concern. We ran foul of the rudest beaurocrats at the Russian consulate when attempting to apply for a visa; the kept us waiting in a queue outside their carefully concealed front door and when admitted they shouted and shook their fists when we weren`t able to prove we had an invitation to visit. So we will not be going to Russia. The Georgians, on the other hand, couldn`t have been more helpful. And today we planned to carry out the necessary procedures for departure from Turkey, but of course it is a public holiday for mothers and children. We have therefore had more time to revisit some of the sights and explore new ones. This really is an excting city. When we finally are able to get under way, we will have to negotiate the Bosphorous, a very narrow channel running north to the Black Sea, once again avoiding many enormous merchant ships and battling an opposing current of up to 3.5 kts. It will be an interesting day.