Oct 12: Our final week
SuperTrip2_2026 Blog Post
2026_2 BLOG
10/12/20262 min read
We are back in London, comfortably ensconced in “our” apartment in the Town Hall hotel.
For our last day in Istanbul, we went back across the Galata Bridge and up the hill to the Pera Art Museum, where we enjoyed coffee in their classy café. We then wandered to “Galataport”, a sanitised, but splendidly fancy, fenced-in waterfront abutting the cruise ship harbour. There, you can promenade by the sea, unaccosted; visit expensive boutiques; cafés with rattan seating, fez-wearing waiters and artful displays of baklava, juxtaposed with macarons. Between the cruise ships and the several 5-star hotels included in the compound (also 2 museums and an elegant Ottoman mosque) you could leave the quayside and STILL have a marvellous, curated “Istanbul” experience. We saw this in Jamaica too: when the “full” experience has a lot of rough edges, sometimes all you want/need is a few hours in a nice outdoor mall. We definitely enjoyed it, for a couple of hours.
We went back to the same restaurant for our farewell dinner. This time, they sat us by the oddly pink plaster waterfall by the street window. The place still had its friendly, kind atmosphere and Carey earned his dinner by engaging the painfully young waiter who loved Canadians and really wanted to practice his English. It (and he) was charming, although we disappointed him by not knowing his favourite (Canadian) MMA Cage-fighter…
Back in London, we went to the National Gallery today. To “fortify ourselves for the art”, as Carey put it, we stopped first for a delicious lunch at St Martin’s in the Fields. St Martin’s is a reknowned music venue and has an extensive outreach programme. It’s on the edge of Trafalgar Square where many homeless congregate. The St Martin’s crypt café has operated for the thick end of 20 years, offering hot meals, excellent sandwiches and cakes, and kitchen work. There was a big outcry when the idea was mooted. Now it’s a “hidden gem” of the central London scene. There is something of what Knox is trying to achieve about the place: balancing its different contributions (as a church; a prestige venue; a large-scale catering operation and café; a homeless outreach center). It was a long term project. I’m sure the work never ends.
We head back to Calgary on Thursday. We should be returning to our renovated condo – our new kitchen and upgraded guest bathroom. We’ve seen some photos, answered regular questions from our contractor. Things seem to be going well. We’ll find out soon enough. Although this was another great trip, we are ready to be heading home. There’s the Halloween Silent Movie event, CarolFest, Christmas and many busy, fun, important-to-us people we haven’t seen for too long (through no fault of theirs). Nevertheless, it remains important to us both that the next trip is already set. We were marvelling (again) today about how we have been granted this incredible period of health, time and travel. It’s hard to believe. We are very grateful.
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Inspired by our 2024 Camino Francais, Karen has a periodic podcast called "I sent you a bloody boat", personal thoughts on faith by a person who believes in thinking. Also, known as "The Reluctant Christian". You can listen to it on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts at: