The Marmara Sea
The Marmara Sea is that small body of water surrounded by Turkey. The chilled waters of the Black Sea flow through the Bosphorous into the Marmara Sea and then out through the Dardenelle Strait into the Aegan Sea. These are the waterways on which my brother-in-law Ahmet, a sea captain, learned to sail and the shores of the Marmara Sea is where he and Judith (Paul's sister) have made their home and where we chose to wander.
Just Like Heaven
We spent some time walking along the seashore playing with our nephew Tibet. There was an old airplane sitting on the pathway. We walked up to it but couldn't get on because the doors were chained.
We must have sat there for a couple of hours. Tibet got up to play football with a can and Queenie and I joined him for a short while, but we mostly sat there chatting and whiled away the time. What a wonderful, stress free morning it turned out to be! Just sitting there with family on a Tuesday morning, in the bright sunlight overlooking the ocean is a treasured memory.
When we finally decided to leave, we bumped into a bunch of school children. They were very excited to meet someone from Taiwan and were very interested in talking to Queenie. Eventually Queenie taught them to say a few Chinese words. They thought this was fun. But we not being able to speak Turkish and them not being able to speak English meant that communication was brief. But we persevered.
Beautiful Park in Florya
We finally arrived at this amazingly flush park with trees and a trampoline. Well of course my nephew wanted to jump on the trampoline and, even though it was closed, the park attendant opened it for us and allowed him to jump for free.
After the trampoline we found this incredible restaurant perched on top of a hill that had amazing views of Marmara. Hiking up the mountain was fairly challenging but we eventually got there. The view and the food made the climb worthwhile. We must have sat there for at least an hour enjoying the food, the sunlight and the ocean view. It is not often we get a bird's eye view of the ocean in Taipei.
After lunch, we went for a long walk along the sea front. We must have walked for at least 2.5km. There were not many people around. A few pensioners, and a couple of kids but that was about it. The walk on the boardwalk was slow but pleasant.
We eventually crossed to the other side of the park and found (you guessed it) another wonderful tea-house. We went inside and of course Tibet was exhausted so he slept. We on the other hand watched the sea some more and chatted while we of course drank Turkish tea.
A Final Visit to the Shores
On our second last day in Istanbul, we decided to return to the first place we had gone to and eat breakfast there. It was much easier to order. The owner of the restaurant recognized us and brought us exactly the same food which was exactly what we wanted. This time however, after breakfast, we took a long walk to the tip of the peninsula and got a grand view of the ocean and the bay.
The Marmara Sea on a cold but sunny winter's day is a wonderful place to relax and breathe the freshness of life. Hopefully one day you can get there too.
Blessings.
Queenie and Paul
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