Cruising

I can still taste the salt from the Black Sea on my lips. The blotchy burn across my stomach is a further memento from today's cruise on the Bosporus and Black sea. I spent the better part of the afternoon and evening lying on the roof of our small, 15-passenger boat soaking in the Mediterranean sunshine and reapplying sun protection.

Friend snapped this while I was busy getting sun burned.

This is the kind of water in which we cruised... amazing, no?

Our first stop was a Byzantine-Ottoman fortification somewhat imprecisely named the "Geonose Castle". Before the Byzantines set up there, the Greeks called the area Hieron ("sacred"); archaeological remains evidence the earlier presence of a temple to Zeus. When Constantinople fell in 1453, the Ottomans drove out the castle's Genoese occupiers (who had taken the castle from the Ottomans in 1414). This was largely due to the castle's strategic significance: Byzantine castles were usually built in pairs, one on each side of the Bosporus. During sieges, the castles could suspend chains across the water (from one fortification to the other), thereby completely controlling all sea traffic. Interestingly, the castle is considered the architectural and strategic equivalent of Chateau-Gaillard, one of Richard the Lionhearted's castles on the Sienne River. We hiked 25-minutes uphill to reach the castle, but the view from the top was ample reward.

The Geonose Castle

Between the castle and lunch some members of our group attempted to swim the Bosporus. This was never something I considered doing. The currents in the Bosporus are strong and run in multiple directions. Couple a strenuous 30 minute swim with choppy water and the threat of being run over by a 20-story high oil tanker and you can imagine why I opted to continue lying on top of the boat.

I know you want to see the boat Dad... the other half of our group was on this vessel, but ours was the same (only it was green). I spent the day lying in the shadow of the Turkish flag...

Our second stop was lunch. What had been billed on our agenda as a "simple fish lunch" was in fact a feast of meze, salad, various fried things, fish that had been pulled from the water only hours before our arrival and plates of fruit. Drinks were also included and the dry white Turkish wine I drank was surprisingly good. The restaurant was on the water and looked like the casual sort of restaurant you find on most beaches. We sat for three hours, feeling more and more like we were really -- finally -- on the Mediterranean.


Swimming in the Bosporus intensified the feeling. The water was cool, but not cold and very, very salty. I know this because I swallowed quite a bit of it in the course of trying to keep my head above the choppy water. I was surprised at how much energy just keeping myself afloat took. The currents were strong; by the time I pulled myself onto the boat after 25 minutes of treading water and small bouts of swimming my arms shook with fatigue.

I returned to the top of the boat, covered in salt. Sun, the ocean, diet coke, hours spent lying around half-naked -- to be honest, I can't think of any way the day could have been improved. The world is so blue on the Bosporus, slower too I think. Perhaps all of that is cliche... but there was something about the beauty of the water and the sun atop that small boat that made me think Istanbul and I are really starting to get to know one another.