Hello and goodbye from the land of Turkish Delight! It’s Day 9 on the 2012 SOAP Tour; however, high-energy levels are still not wavering. After a pleasant 7am wakeup call (relatively luxurious compared to that of days gone by) we were up and at em’. Sadly, the warm-ish weather we had become accustomed to in Turkey didn’t hold up for our final day; it was raining drearily, and the wind had a nasty bite to it as we made our way from the Eresin Crown Hotel to the beautiful Topkapi Palace. The weather matched our emotional moods somewhat too, as today would also be the day that we bid Turkey, and our highly-knowledgeable and beloved tour guide, Bitz Kuranel, bon chance and bon voyage.
Topkapi Palace, to me, can only be described as dreamlike. It wasn’t as beautiful or stunning as the Blue Mosque or Hagia Sofia by any measure, but it did have a fairy-tale like charm (sans the armed soldiers who stood guard by the entrance). As we strolled through its cobbled park the mist rolled and the rain continued to drizzle, but, little did we know of the beauty it would hold inside its inscribed marble doors. Quite frankly, I felt like I was at Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue as opposed to a Sultan- era Turkish Palace! The exhibition halls were laden with exquisite jewels and various other treasures. Girl/pirate heaven!
Anyhow, onwards with the show and we found ourselves on the tour bus on our way to the Ataturk Airport. On our final bus drive through Istanbul, we were lucky enough to be graced by Don, reading a well-received poem reflecting on our Turkish experience. Afterwards the moment we had all been dreading arrived- saying good-bye to Bitz made us all a bit tearful as it felt as though we were leaving a fellow SOAPie (as she fondly called us) behind. I’m sure if we had the skills we would have smuggled her all through Singapore and back to Australia with us.
I’m currently writing this blog on a turbulence filled Singapore Airlines flight and I must say I’m shaking in my boots (pardon the pun). So I’m off now and I hope this blog post finds you happy and healthy. Until we meet again! :-)
Note from Tric - We're all safely at the hotel in Singapore, but sorely underslept. It's that potent mix of no sleep plus excitement at being in a new town. So, the next 4 hours ('til about noon in Victoria) we're off the air and in snooze land.
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