Istanbul 1

Here we are on a long-awaited Friendship Force (FF) Journey to Turkey with 17 people, many of whom were from the FF Club of West Michigan.  It is simply miraculous that we arrived here considering we survived a stressful time with Hurricane Ian that directly hit our home in Punta Gorda.  Flights were rescheduled and our cat, Bleu Kitty's, sitting arrangements were saved due to the extreme generosity of Judy Carson, a dear fellow member of our club.  Istanbul was amazing!  Check out some of the pictures below.

Watch us fly from Miami to Istanbul courtesy of Google Earth: Click Fly Now 

     

Meeting Fellow Friendship Force Ambassadors at the Airport 

From watching Ian's horizontal rain from our motel window on Thursday, changing our flight reservations on Friday, adding Bleu Kitty to Judy Carson's troop of two dogs and one cat and driving to Miami for our flight to Istanbul on Saturday, our arrival at Istanbul's Airport Sunday afternoon felt relaxing and peaceful.  Our Friendship Force group assembled and located our local guide, , for our bus transfer to our hotel, Sea Mansion Suites.

I interject here with a word for TMobile. Over the years our experience with international phones and plans has been mixed. TMobile with the Magenta 55+ plan provided excellent service throughout Turkey.    

From our hotel room we looked out on the Sea of Miramar. After unpacking, we walked a few blocks down to Marbello, a small restaurant with a balcony overlooking the sea.  All is well. 

Dinner at Marbello Restaurant with of Ships at Anchor

View from Our Room - Roman Wall and Sea of Mirarmar

About the Cats - Kedi is a full length very high quality movie featuring Istanbul's cats.  Cats are everywhere in Istanbul, actually everywhere in Turkey as well and have been for thousands of years. The beloved cats belong to no one and everyone.  

Around our Hotel - Cats, loved by the people are everywhere!

Why so many cats in Istanbul? provides an in depth look at cats in the Islamic world. Basically, Mohmmad loved cats.  Cats devour mice that would otherwise consume libraries and spread the plague.  

Street Scenes Around Our Hotel

Where are we anyway?  Istanbul is practically at the center of the world
with the Black Sea to the North, the Aegean Sea and Greece to the West, the Mediterranean to the South. South and East lie Syria, Iran, Armenia  and Georgia. Turkey spans Asia and Europe with Bulgaria to the Northeast. See map below.

                           Turkey at the Center of the World

From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea

From the Mediterranean, ships pass through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus to reach the Black Sea and ports beyond. 

Historic Istanbul

 

Of the places we visited in Istanbul, most were located on the peninsula boarded by Sea of Marmara to the South. the Bosporus to the East and the Golden Horn to the North. The historic places are not far apart although as we rode around on the bus, it did not seem that way.  We never crossed the Bosporus to the Asian side of Istanbul. 

Historic Istanbul

  

Click on the map for a better view. 

Dolmabahçe Palace

After a wonderful breakfast on our first morning, we crossed the Golden Horn in a light rain to visit Dolmabahçe Palace,  completed in 1856 on the western bank of the Bosporus. This is the place that "broke the bank" as the Sultan spared no expense outdoing King Louie using borrowed money to do so.  Photography was not allowed inside so I lifted a couple of photos from the Internet.  I suppose I didn't know what to think a harem would look like; it is almost as expansive and spectacular as the palace.  

Gotta Get Lira

After some of us filled up with Lira, we boarded a tour boat for a ride on the Bosporus and the Golden Horn. Fortunately the rain had stopped.

About the Lira.  The exchange rate was 18 Turkish Lira to 1 US Dollar making everything a bargain for us. Not so for the local population; inflation was running 100%!

Temmuz Sehitler Koprusu Spanning the Bosporus

Boat Ride on the Bosporus - Camlica Cami on the Hill

Galata Kopusu Bridge Crossing the Golden Horn

Restaurants Under the Bridge,  Suleymaniye Camii on the Hill 

Under the Bridge

Fabulous Spice Bazaar

 Spice Bazaar

We consumed more great food after the boat tour and then wandered about the colorful Spice Bazaar.  I do believe we skipped dinner and just sacked out after returning the hotel in the evening. 

Moving Mom

 

Mom telling family everything is OK

We arrived home from Canada to the realization that my dear Mom, almost 102, can no longer live independently in her 2-room unit at South Port Square.  Her ability to walk, take her medications, shower, sleep in her large bed, etc. is compromised by her arthritis and advanced age.  With the help of the South Port Square Independent Living Coordinator and family members, she was convinced that it was time to relocate to another building at South Port - the Assisted Living floor.

My sister, Mary, and family, and our daughter, Michele, came for a visit and helped purchase a new bed that was easier for her to negotiate.  Richard and I packed up her belongings and donated many items to St Vincent de Paul that will help the poor and underprivileged.  We hired a company to move some of the bigger items and we took care of the rest.  

Her new one bedroom place looks beautiful with her art work and decorations.  She has a comfortable lift chair and a new spiffy transport chair.  She also moved her scooter and is hopeful she will be able to use it soon.

View of Mom's new room

It is quite a period of adjustment for her and we hope she will be happy in her new surroundings. Change is difficult at any age.  As for us, we are relieved that she will get the care she needs and deserves.  

With Medicine Hat Friendship Force

 The name of the city, Medicine Hat, is intriguing, is it not?  The name originates in a Blackfoot legend. In a time of great famine, a young man exchanged the life of his wife for a magic bonnet, a Saamis,  that endowed him with great hunting prowess and thus saved the tribe from starvation. The exchange occurred along the South Saskatchewan River at a "breathing hole", place now known as Medicine Hat. 

Medicine Hat lies 178 miles southeast of Calgary and 250 miles north of Great Falls, Montana. From Edmonton, we rode a Red Arrow bus 178 miles to Calgary and then a Prairie Sprinter Shuttle onto Medicine Hat. All along the way, the flat land prairie was green with irrigated crops and yellow with fields of canola as far as the eye could see in any direction. With  a layover in Calgary, this was an all day trip. 

 

Beautiful City Hall

After a tour of James Marshall brick sculptures, we had lunch at Medicine Hat's beautiful City Hall.  Our club's name was added to a plaque listing all the journeys Friendship Force clubs hosted by the Medicine Hat Club over the years.

James Marshall, a well respected artist and Medicine Hat native, met with us at the Stations of the Cross in Garden Park. Each of the seventeen murals was created by James.  Over two hundred of his murals can be found around the world. 

Finely Bridge

Flood waters almost reached the bottom of the Finley Bridge in 1995.  James created this mural to commemorate the citizens of community who volunteered to work together in response to the rising flood waters. 

We cut-up potatoes at Prairie Gleaners one morning. Farmers in Southeast Alberta donate produce that volunteers at Prairie Gleaners process into packages of dehydrated vegetables that are shipped to hungry people all over the world.   It was great to help them!

The Saamis Teepee rises in Medicine Hat to a height of 210 feet. Each of the tens masts features a story board depicting native culture. 

We enjoyed close-up views of owls and other birds at Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale before lunch at Broxburn Vegetables and Cafe near Lethbridge. 

After lunch, we had a guided tour of Fort Whoop-Up near Lethbridge. It's nickname was given to a whisky trading post.  During the late 19th century the sale of whisky was outlawed, but due to lack of law enforcement in the region, many whisky traders flourished there.

Scenes of Fort Whoop-Up

Medalta Potteries once manufactured everything from dinner ware for hotels to very large urns.  It is now a museum and a ceramic arts facility. 

Out on the prairie, we had lunch at the Muffin Shop in Irvine before wandering around the Prairie Memories Museum, a cute local place full of historic buildings and furnishings.

Main Street in Irvine

We had a great time in Southeast Alberta thanks to our hosts Dianne and Herb Durda and the wonderful Medicine Hat Friendship Force. This was our 16th Friendship Force Club visited throughout the world since we joined Friendship Force 11 years ago.  It has proved to be a wonderful way to meet people of the world and be introduced to their cultures and viewpoints.  

Edmonton Friendship Force Journey

With Hosts and Officer Tran 

Following our time along the Ice Fields Parkway, we turned in our rental car at the Edmonton airport where our hosts , Grace and Richard Whitehouse picked us up for a stay at their beautiful condo overlooking the Sturgeon River in St. Albert, a beautiful city in the Edmonton metropolitan area. Officer Tran of the Royal Canadian Mounties attended the Edmonton Friendship Force Welcome Brunch at the St. Albert Botanic Garden just a short drive from the condo.  I asked Officer Tran if he knew Dudley Do-Right. He did not. Only a few in attendance knew Dudley!

Gorgeous Double Rainbow Over Sturgeon River ended our first day here!

Dinner and Breakfast at Our Host's Home - Grace is an exceptional cook!

At the St Albert Grain Elevator Park, we toured two historic grain elevators and also learned about the Metis, a people formed from the marriages of early French and Scottish fur traders with Ingenious Peoples. We learned that many Ukranians settled Alberta in the 1890's when the government offered free land grants. The railroad also encouraged immigration to the prairies from Ukraine and other European countries. 

St Albert Wheat Pool

At the Ukrainian Village, re-enactors take one back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries at the time many Ukrainians immigrated to Alberta.  We also had dinner at an Ukrainian café in a nearby town and visited a Ukrainian church museum.  The perogu was delicious!

Watch Joanne Wring Out Clothes

   Watch Wagon Come  Up Road

St Albert Farmer's Market is no ordinary market.  There are vendors with all kinds of products and food items.  It was an amazing place to spend the morning.

Edmonton Mall  is the largest in North America.  We enjoyed checking out the famous Hudson's Bay department store, the ice hockey rink, amusement park and a replica of Columbus' sailing vessel.  This mall has something for everyone.

Fort Edmonton Park is a big place with lots to see.  We loved the newly opened Indigenous People's Center, a ride on the old railroad, the fort and authentic recreated streets from the 1890's, 1905 and 1920's eras!

Fort Edmonton Park 

Train at Fort Edmonton Park

See a musket in action. 

Edmonton Library was truly amazing!  It is a hands on experience and offers much more than an "ordinary" library, e.g., sewing classes, printing in 3-D to name just a few. 

The Wall and 3D Printer

See the Dinosaurs move.