We entered the turnstiles with our akbil, and boarded the boat. There were so many people already on the boat that all the shaded seats, and almost all the sunny seats were taken. We found 2 separated places and the family sitting on one of the benches squeezed together so that two of us could sit at that place. In the 15 minutes until the boat left, many more people boarded, and several hundred people stood or sat on the decks for the first part of the trip.
The boat serves as a crossing from European Istanbul to a major section of the Asian part of the city as well as access to the islands. I figured that many people would get off at the first stop, and I was right. Then we went on to the islands, having found shaded seats. We were to get off at the fifth stop.
After the second island, seagulls followed the boat, and passengers tossed them little morsels of bread, which the birds caught in mid-air, with great acrobatic finesse. It was a great show that everyone on board enjoyed for many minutes.
Either we all lost count, or they changed the itinerary, but we arrived at Büyükada sooner than we expected. Ida called us on our cell saying that she was at the dock and a boat was coming in; were we on that boat? We were met by her husband Josef and her daughter Leila.
We walked together up the street to their club, where they treated us to lunch; we wouldn't permit them to waste their money on too much food, so we demanded they stop with mezes. The club is housed in an old mansion on a beautiful property.
After lunch, they took us on a carriage ride around the island. No cars are permitted on the island except police, garbage trucks, and ambulances. The roads are practically choked with horse carriages and bicycles. It's like a trip backwards in time. We rode around the island and up the hill to a nice restaurant, where we stopped only to enjoy the view. Then the carriage dropped us off part way up the hill that leads to Ida's house, the road being too steep for the horses to negotiate.
We walked up the hill to their house, as they related that the island is nearly 90% Jewish. Other islands in the same small chain have majority populations of other minorities: Greeks, Armenians, and others. There is a synagogue on the island where Roberto attends regularly. At their house, we sat on their veranda hundreds of feet up, overlooking the water, enjoying the view, the relaxation, and the company. Robert and I talked about things Jewish, and Ida prepared a special börek, baked as a casserole, of filo, cheese, and sugar. While we talked we smelled it baking, and could hardly contain ourselves. In the meantime, we met their other daughter, who suffered severe injuries in an accident some 14 years prior. She still has not been able to regain all her faculties, and suffers greatly.
When the dessert was finished baking, we had warm börek with fresh fruit and ice cream. Describing how it tasted would not do it justice. The fruit was so amazingly good, that we could not believe it. Even Yoyi ate some watermelon. The apricots were sweeter and more perfect than any I had ever had previously. Then there were the cherries. Big sigh.
We showed pictures and soon it was time to catch the boat back to the city. We walked back down the hill to the port. On the way Ida bought some baklava. We got on the boat and grabbed seats before they were all gone. We found some inside seats, but soon learned that inside seats are hot and uncomfortable. Shortly it was in the upper 90's and we were suffering. But eventually we were back in the city and on our way back to the hotel. We stopped for a light supper, and broke open the box of baklava for dessert.
The day was beautiful and relaxing, but the two boat trips wore us out completely. Again we fell unconscious into bed.
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