21km to do, then more travel
18.9.23
Half marathon day, up at 7.45am, nipples and feet taped up, and that was just me.. 😂 Johns’ trusty running shoes will probably just about survive this run, they’re starting to look the worse for wear.
Before the race John fell in a bit of crumbling pavement, slid down the wall and just stood there like he meant to do it. He’s a bloody liability!

After saying goodbye at 9am my plan was to sit in a nice cafe and catch up with blogging. Unable to find anywhere out of the wind I went back to the warmth of the van, made coffee and caught up.



At 10.45am John ran past the van and shouted “I’m not enjoying this one bit.” I rushed to lock up and felt bad that I wouldn’t make it to the finish line to see him cross.
What I hadn’t realised was that it was part of the route, followed by a turn and back down 5km later. So I had plenty of time to see him cross 30 minutes later. He was exhausted, it had been a tough course.




After a sit down with an ayran and a cay it was time for a shower and a celebratory breakfast.
We decided later to go to Cunda island and after a brown sign detour we finally got over the bridge.
The advantage of going the wrong way was we got to see the views from Cennet Tepesi – Paradise Hill.








We soon found a great breakfast stop. It’s always great to try breakfast in other areas as they all have regional variations.
When checking out reviews we decided to avoid place below 😳 !!!


After breakfast we made our way to the town centre where we loved the little alleyways, shops, cafes etc. Beautiful.



















The Greek Orthadox Taksiyarhis Church is now a Rahmi Koç Museum and is a must see. (If you love old vehicles and transport, the Koç museum in Istanbul is a must)





















A painting on the cafe wall reminded me of a man we saw earlier at the race!


From here we drove for a couple of hours to Geyikli, the ferry port to Bozcaada Island is here. I love a boat trip and an island so hopefully it’ll be a good trip. John was too tired to care and just said that if I want to go we’l go.
After following a bumpy dirt track we arrived at a place to park up by the sea. Just around the corner was a Carrefour, a Migros and holiday home complexes. ıt was walking distance to the ferry yet remote and peaceful.
There was a caravan with a mummy dog and her puppies, 4 friendly street dogs and more tat than in Johns tat cupboard.
We walked along to find out ferry times and to buy beer for the running star. Hıs time was 2 hours 11 minutes, 67th overall and 7th in his age group. Excellent.
Dinner was simple döner meat and salad rolls, we -well I, was pretty much still full from our big breakfast.
We watched the rest of ‘The Swimmers’ film. Definitely recommend it, very inspiring and thought provoking.
It’s very windy and apprehension about tomorrow’s ferry adventure is creeping in.