After all that fraught traveling I eventually arrived at our Airbnb where Paul met me. It’s only small but clean and tidy and all we really need. We’re only staying for two nights and will be out most of the time anyway
The location is great – plenty of shops and bars nearby – a bit touristy but that suits us. Also plenty of local cats. This one wants to come in…
More importantly it’s convenient for the boat party and also for the buses which we are obliged to take to get to the stadium and back for tonight’s game.
Once I’d arrived I just dropped off my bag and we headed straight out. We met up with people we knew
And people we didn’t know… this group are from Kazakhstan.
The advantage of an Airbnb rather than a hotel is that it is much easier to share a late night drink and a snack before bed. Paul and I had a kebab (Well we are in Istanbul) and shared a bottle of wine before bed. Jamie stayed out ……
When we headed off from the Airbnb we knew we wouldn’t be back until after the game so we needed to take everything with us : mostly that means tickets, money and ID.
So first stop was the pier, to board the boat for the party. This has been organised by the Istanbul OLSC. One of their members, Tahir, has had Anna’s ticket for the game ….. that’s a long story for another time.
The boat party was great fun. We cruised up the Bosporus and back with great views of the skyline and marvellous buildings
And here’s what we looked like from the shore
We were back in time for a light meal before heading off to the match …. Which is itself another long story…
Pearl Blog 3 