And as a result, this Istanbul journey can only be described as truly remarkable.
Last night was a mix of marvellous coincidence and good friends. I introduced friends and hosts, Lisen and Yakup, to Hayden, the New Zealander of Zen Turkey.com, who has lived here forever. Over dinner and drinks, information was exchanged that will benefit both and I was happy.
Maybe it’s a kiwi thing but we love making connections, meeting new people, introducing people who can surely help each other while knowing that they will like each other too. Dinner over, we were sitting outside in old-town Sultanamet when Hayden’s phone rang and another voice from my Istanbul past arrived amongst us.
I had twice travelled to Eceabat, on the Gallipoli Peninsula and taken the WWI tour with TJ. Like the lovely guys on Flanders Fields, there is nothing that TJ doesn’t know about the Commonwealth soldiers left behind in the war.
He runs tours there and has some nice places to stay. You can find TJ’s website here.
TJ was calling Hayden to say that he had just flown in from Australia and how about meeting for drinks. Gert and I got to tag along too. It was an excellent way to end a lovely day.