We visited Istanbul in late March for 5 days with our friends Jess and Andre. The weather was great, sunny skies and cool around 50 degree, a big change from the heat we are used to in Abu Dhabi. We even had a bit of welcomed rain the final two days, which was fine by us as we usually go an entire year with in AD without seeing it!

Istanbul was great and it seems like all we did was eat, which isn't a bad thing and always an important part of experiencing a new place. We stayed in Sultanhamet, which is just at the edge of the Bosphurus river on the European side of Turkey and is the old part of Istanbul. It's a pretty famous area, known for its history and we spent plenty of time visiting these must sees: The Blue Mosque, Ayasofya, Basilica Cistern as well as the old central souq and various other places along the way.




We took a cruise up the Bosphurus and what a very busy waterway. We weren't on the biggest boat, but there were much smaller ones that I swear were either going to capsize from the wake of the big ferries or get hit as they weaved in and out of traffic. It was an afternoon cruise and headed along the shore on the European side where we saw all of the Istanbul Universities lined up along the waters edge and some extremely expensive hotels too. As we crossed over to the Asia side, it was line with plenty of very expensive houses, castles and palaces that have existed for hundreds of years. Heading back we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the Ayasofya from the water and despite the cold temps, we managed to stay up on the top deck the whole tour, thankfully laid out and kept warm by some huge comfy pillows.


Nick's no. 1 to do in Turkey was to eat as many pides as he could. Australia has a ton of pide shops all over town, which are Turkish pizzas and he was hoping to not be disappointed by visiting the place where this favorite originated. Thankfully it wasn't hard to find these and we ate plenty of them. I think almost one each day! I still think though the ones in Australia were even better, sorry to say. In addition to pides we feasted on plenty of other turkish food and plenty of mezze platters with some very delicious items on them. One of our favorites was a simple spicy diced tomatoes called Acılı ezme, which was delicious on bread. I enjoyed eating the loaded potatoes (kumpir) and awesome waffles filled with chocolate, fruit, nuts, etc. that we found one afternoon. What was great about Istanbul was all the outdoor cafes, where you could sit down warm up with some tea, coffee, or this drink that tasted like rice pudding and was delicious and just relax. Most of them had backgammon sets, so we found ourselves taking in the afternoon a few times trying to remember how to play and enjoyed doing some people watching around us.

Our hotel, the Sebnem, was a great little hotel/guesthouse close to the water and nearby restaurants in Sultanhamet. We picked it based on the roof top terrace we saw in the photos and hoped for some sunny skies while we were there to enjoy it. The hotel far exceeded our expectations as the staff was extremely friendly and we had a wonderful spread of fresh pastries, coffee and juices each morning while enjoying the rooftop terrace. In the evening we would often go up to see the lights come on at dusk and have a drink before dinner. Most houses/hotels in this area all had rooftop terraces, but this one was probably one of the best.


It was a great trip and escape from Abu Dhabi with plenty to see, do and eat for a few days!

We saw Stevie Wonder last night here in Abu Dhabi. Definitely impressed...60 years old and still rocking out...2 1/2 hours playing on stage..an encore, a proposal from some guy in the audience and a great venue, made for an awesome night.

This time I got to participate in the 2nd race here in Abu Dhabi. It was suppose to be a 12km distance...would've taken over 1 hour and half...but ended up being much shorter, only about 40 minutes long. Nick got 5th in the men's over all, but I am sure he had a bit saved at the end thinking it was going to be a lot longer then it was. And for me, I won the women's race and took home a new Pau Hana SUP board for 1st prize. Not too bad for a days work.

It was great to paddle somewhere new and Muscat was the destination. We had our sights on paddling the Muttrah harbour in Muscat and were about an hour into our paddle, coming in from the sea side of the harbour around from the giant incense burner, when the police finally stopped us. While we weren't sure if we were able to paddle there or not, we made it quite a fair way into the harbour, almost close enough to get a great picture of the blue mosque with some dhows in front before they stopped us. Unfortunately, the police had to follow us out and told us that they didn't care what we did as long as it was past the buoys into the open sea. That means we probably won't be back to paddle here again.

Nick left for a couple days to visit his sister, Natahsa in snowy Edinburgh and see if he could brave the bitter cold! I think he forgot what cold really felt like, we've been living here way too long I suppose. I stayed in Abu Dhabi to hold down to fort and stay warm.

I helped organize the 1st SUP race in Abu Dhabi on the 28th of January and with over 60 people, I think it was a huge success. Had a great day although it flew by and was pretty busy that don't remember much. This one I didn't race in and was on the mic the whole time, but enjoyed watching all of those paddle in their first race. Even Joe entered the 1km race and competed! Nick got 3rd place and won 1000 AED!
More photos can be found on www.standuppaddleuae.com