MEETING FEAST FRIENDS

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After months of dreaming of joining this exciting FEAST Storytelling event I finally got to meet the storytellers that I have gotten to know on Zoom. It was like a gathering of old friends.

I even got to meet the Turkish travel agent that I had been corresponding with over several months. Old friends happy to meet after all the back and forth emails. 

Our tour began with a boat ride on the Bosphorus. A strait that flows between Istanbul on the European Continent and Istanbul on the Asian Continent. There are four bridges that connect each half of Istanbul. So technically I was in Asia and Europe all in one afternoon!! 

There are many palaces, old castles, and expensive homes that line the Bosphorus. Some have even become hotels. 

Fun fact, Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Orient Express in room 411 at the famous Pera Palace hotel here in Istanbul. 

Later in the day we met with Turkish storytellers and the camaraderie was exceptional. Not only did we receive a very warm welcome, they also treated us to a delicious potluck of eats and sweets. 

We now have more new friends and I got to reintroduce myself to a few tellers that I met in Ireland at the FEST Storytelling Conference in 2017. 

Just to show you how small this world really is, one of the Turkish Tellers grew up in Halifax, but has now returned to her native homeland. We had a great time meeting and talking about Canada. 

On a separate note there are 3,113 mosques in Istanbul!!! There is a real mix of secular and observant Muslims. 

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