Dead?  Dead!  OMG, they are all dead! ☹

Emirgan Park is the largest park in Istanbul, and famed for the tulips that are planted each Spring, filling the park with color from early April until early May.  As with much of the world, this year has been unusually hot, causing the tulips to bloom earlier than usual.  As Mehmet warned us in an email after our tour was over, the tulips are dying early this year, and we need to get there quickly if we wish to see them.

We decided to try using public transport again to reach the park.  As before, we began on the Metro subway, reaching the Ferry pier.  We were told which ferry to take, and we looked for a port with that magic name on it.  We found one and entered, paying our 2.30 TL (a little under $1 US).  As we approached the final door, it was being closed, and the boat was leaving the dock.  Drat. We had just missed it, but the next boat was scheduled for 30 minutes later, so we waited… and watched a ferry from & to the same destination arrive and leave next door.  We felt like we do in the grocery store when we try to get into a short line, only to discover it is moving the slowest.  Being retired and in no rush, we took deep breaths and told ourselves it didn’t matter…  Breathe deep…

Reached the other shore in 20 minutes… though our ferry schedule said it would take 45 minutes?  The map says we are not where we thought we would be, yet the port name was correct.  hmmm…  Next step was to find a minibus with the park destination.  After searching for another half hour, and not finding any, we gave up and flagged a taxi, who took us there for about $7 US.  We have a habit of getting lost in large new cities, and Istanbul has joined that long roster, but there were plenty of taxis to save the day.

As we drove along the Bosphorus, we were impressed by how much it looks like the bay in Sausalito or Tiburon (two upscale communities to the North of San Francisco).  When we approached the park, the driver stopped and indicated via pantomime that we had to walk from there.  A police roadblock had been set up at the park entrance, in which all cars had their trunks searched, mirrors used to look for bombs underneath, and passenger IDs checked.  We had been told before that this was normal for Turkey, and not any new security efforts due to ISIS activity.

As we arrived at the park, all the flower beds were choked with dead and dying tulips.  Bummed out, we shot a few images of the dead plants (above), but decided to explore the park anyway.

Fortunately, as went deeper into the park, we found plenty of vibrant tulips to enchant us and our cameras.  The planters had seen the wisdom of staggering the plantings, so while some were dying, others were in full bloom, while still other beds were in early budding, set to bloom in the coming days.

The tulips were laid out in beds, with a single color filling each section.  We were  glad there were still many tulips for us to photograph.

We were here on a Monday afternoon, expecting the park to be largely empty.  To our surprise, the park was filled with people enjoying the environment.  There were yet more pre-wedding photo sessions.  We were rather surprised by how steep the paths are in the park.  Istanbul is a hilly city, and the park is no exception.

Even Evelyn could not resist the urge to play among the tulips!