Istanbul Hash House Harriers

plonker writes "
Sunday 21st June – a perfect day for Fathers Day, and what could be better than a picnic at the seaside? I crawled reluctantly out of bed (the previous day had also been perfect for a BBQ, and I am never a morning person) to find that Doormat, full of enthusiasm, was already sitting in the sunshine eating breakfast (or was it lunch?)

Peering into the fridge to see what would BBQ, I remembered that I had intended making chicken tikka, so, hastily pouring a bottle of hoisin over the chicken, I informed our GM that it was time for a change…. After shoehorning everything into the car (note: GMs need a bigger boot than our Postmanpatmobile has), we set off, via the Metro café. So many kind hashers turned up to collect stray hashers that we could have run from 4Levent!!!

Arriving at Queen Latifa’s seaside mansion, we discovered that attendees were Amoeba, Bag Lady, Bottom Line, Doormat, Happy Ending, Illogical, K9, Lost in Hangover, Miss D Link, Plonker, Queen Latifa, Shutter Slut, Sugar Puff and Vaccuum Cleaner, with Virgin hashers DKtay, Marie Claes and Raul Kharbanda, not forgetting Mrs Wigglebottom of course (who managed to find water AND shiggy to roll in, have a good trip back, Shutter Slut…).

After briefings on which signs meant what (a waste of time in the event) we set off towards the sea, and the CLIFFS. Remind me to ask about vertigo sufferers next time we go to Kilyos!! The run took the cliff path beside a wonderful view (for those brave enough to look over the edge) between abundant wild flowers (and the odd very puzzled rambler). There were purple thistle with delightful butterflies, yellow broom, mauve clover, more butterflies; oh yes, there were also vertical drops over the sea and scratchy sea side vegetation.

The FA was held on the edge of a drop to rocks (I couldn’t bear to look in case someone fell over whilst being too enthusiastic, but I should have remembered that NO-ONE is ever that enthusiastic about FA). We continued along what felt like another precipice with several brave (or should that be foolhardy?) hashers running; until Sugar Puff and Plonker found a path that led INLAND, and gratefully allowed Lost in Hangover to lead us away, leaving the rest of the pack to risk life and limb playing on the cliffs.

Vaccuum Cleaner stood in as temporary RA (briefly for once, we were grateful to notice) and there were a few not very memorable down downs, before we got down to the serious business of the barbecue. Queen Latifa provided enough food for a small army, and everyone else chipped in with a few bits, so stuffed, beered, and sunburnt, we parted, some to swim in the sea, some to brave the horrendous traffic back to town. Doormat and I, after crawling in traffic to the Sahil Yolu, dropped Raul there, TO RUN BACK TO TAKSIM…. Just thinking about it meant I had to put my feet up when we got in!!!

So THANK YOU Queen Latifa, Lost in Hangover and K9, for a truly wonderful day out!!

PLONKER"