Let’s just start by saying that this trip is unique ... unique in the sense that when I arrived in Croatia en route to Istanbul I found out that the Howe International Friendship League had cancelled our trip to Turkmenistan . This leaves me and Andi in the position where we are already en route and we now have nowhere to be or stay as of Monday with absolutely no plans at all . What an absolute disaster ! Don’t worry I kept my cool and kept telling myself that everything will be alright but when I arrived at Istanbul airport things got messy in the sense that I had to get some Turkish Liras , get a SIM card but that was too expensive so I opted to use my option through my provider at home and then I had to drag my bag up and down stairs to find my way to the Turkish Airlines office to deal with the cancellation of flights and to see what my options are . At that moment my option was to try to get the flight switched at little to no expense but to where ? Need to discuss with Andi when he arrives later on . Time to drag my gear to our hotel which is the Titanic Hotel near Taksim Square . That taxi was not cheap and as the norm I had to haggle with a few guys to still get ripped off but not so badly . The half hour drive cost me 150 Turkish liras which is roughly $30 CDN which is normal but expensive here ... c’est la vie !
When I got to the room I passed out for an hour and a half and then ordered some room service before Andi arrived and once he arrived we had a quick chat about our messed up situation and began getting the wheels to turn in order to make a decision of where to go and most importantly where we can play ice hockey . That same night we had a practise with Turkish league club Buz Adam .... the rink is not close so we had to get ourselves a taxi which the hotel helped us out with 🥳 our vehicle was like a party van with red lights in it and leather seats and throw cushions . We paid 100 lira to the hotel concierge which is obviously a quick money making scheme but it is still cheap enough to not let it bother us . As our shuttle took us to the rink we came upon the Wall of Constantinople and we were amazed that when we saw an entrance we turned into it . This is like a massive fort but inside is a bunch of sports complexes ... we saw football teams practising ( American football not soccer ) and then we arrived at the entrance for the rink where the Zamboni was also entering and we followed the path to the entrance to the facility which also was quite impressive . The building has two ice rinks , showers and is not in a mall which is absolutely astonishing for me since most countries don’t have these kind of facilities . As we arrived I was messaging Attila who I was put in contact with through Tarik Gocmen and through that contact we were put in touch with Sebba who is one of the parents of two youth players here . When we met Sebba we immediately hit it off and found out our ice time was delayed for a half hour and went to have a hot chocolate in the upstairs lounge area which was full of people . This rink is so full of life and seems to be constantly used by everyone of all ages and from what we have heard and seen Turkey/ Istanbul could definitely keep a few more ice rinks full and busy . The hockey scene here is bustling and ready to hit the ice !
When we got to our room all the guys were excited to meet us and made us really feel like celebrities . I think anyone reading this would have the same reaction as Turkish people are very very friendly and so far I have nothing but lovely things to say about this beautiful country . I have absolutely zero problems here and I think I would want to come back or stay longer but that will be discussed soon , first things first .... let’s hit the ice ! The hockey club is filled with youth , females and pro team members on ice at same time but split for skill levels as we did a ton of skating drills and warmup drills . I got the time to chat with the other 3 goalies but really enjoyed showing the female goalie (who I feel so bad that I have forgotten her name ) some pointers and we had a lot of fun teasing everyone else together as we made the most of not having pucks shot at us for the first hour of this 90 minute ice time . When the pucks started flying I felt a bit tired but tried to put my best foot forward as I face their top skaters and I think I did alright but definitely had room for improvement . I was really gasping for air between drills and even though I’m working on my cardio I probably should work a bit more on it . That’s not what I’m here for though .. I want to have fun and make friends !
After the ice time we exchanged gifts with the Russian coaches and said our good byes which was a bit hard as we grew close with the group over our limited time and they really treated us like gold , heck even Sebba got us a taxi and paid for it so we didn’t get ripped off . Hopefully we can return the favour if we get the chance to meet again during our stay . I can definitely say we made some friend and mission was fully accomplished as we went back to our room to have some drinks . When we arrived we got into the Lonkero drinks Andi brought with him then went out to hit some bars .... we stayed out really late or should I say early 😝
Taksim Square is full of bars , clubs and restaurants that don’t seem to ever close . First bar we went into was ummm different , when we walked in we got the vibe that it was a lady bar as Andi calls it but you can say it more then likely was a brothel . No I did not get entertained and opted for a beer and a quick retreat . The vibe was strange in there with all the local dudes eyeing us as Turkish music blasted louder then comfortable . This was not what we wanted so we went to another bar where we chilled on the patio before heading to our next bar on our pub crawl . Thats where we got into the sheesha and the beer really was going down well and before you know it was 4 am . Time to eat some dinner or was it breakfast ? Anyways we had a kebab and one last beer around the corner from our room before heading to our room to end our first day . What a great day , but we still have this decision to come to about what to do for Monday .... to be continued !
Last thing I want to say is that we are both so thankful for the club allowing us to join them and we really appreciate the gifts from the club but at the end of it all the most satisfying thing was giving out some gifts and seeing how much our new friends appreciated it . If you are reading this and want to come experience this please let me know and I will gladly put you in contact with the club but you have to promise me that you will bring whatever you can to donate ! They have a tough time getting gear or even small stuff like stick tape , wax and laces . Everyone here is content with what they have and as hockey ambassadors we should all pitch in and help our hockey family around the world . They will appreciate it !
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