Fortunately we both had a much better night’s sleep and woke to a calm, sunny day; the wind had eventually stopped howling sometime during the night. That meant slightly warmer temperatures, although we still needed the heating on this morning for a few minutes to take the chill out of the air.
Roy decided to get adventurous with breakfast this morning, cooking the Turkish sausage, “sucuk”, accompanied by fried eggs and portobello mushrooms, which, to our surprise, was very tasty; although spicy, it wasn’t hot.
We’d no sooner finished breakfast, though, when it was time to “meet” the crew off S/Y Panache, who were getting ready to set sail from New Zealand, after being stuck there for more than two years with the pandemic, and who had been “introduced“ to us by John, off Windancer IV, in the hopes that we could provide some useful information to Benny and Price regarding our Indian Ocean and Red Sea Passage. It was a very pleasant two hours spent chatting to them and we wish them fair winds and following seas, as they continue their circumnavigation.
After a late morning coffee, Elaine faded, though, and needed to go back to bed, as a wave of fatigue suddenly washed over her. Fortunately, by the time she resurfaced around lunchtime, she was feeling much better, so we set off on an afternoon walk, taking a slightly different route, only to be surprised, once more, at how lovely the walkway was; definitely spoilt for choice! We also stumbled upon, what seems to be a regular afternoon activity which takes place in the various tea gardens scattered around the waterfront, of men gathering to play some sort of board game. We later learnt that apparently Turks love board games and the number one national favourite is “Tavla” (aka Backgammon). So, we decided to enjoy an ice-cream and watch them play. It’s been years since we’ve played the game, but we’ve always had a backgammon set in our homes and happen to have one onboard. Guess it’s time to refresh our skills!
The other pleasant surprise, as if it literally happened overnight, was seeing all the roses in bloom. Yesterday we’d seen a few, but nothing compared to today. We’d waited patiently for this event and we weren’t disappointed; all the creepers and rose bushes were blooming a bright red, with the odd yellow, white, pink or orange bloom amongst them. Really beautiful!
What a lovely way to spend our afternoon!
