Emirgan Park - For Kate!

Kate regularly visits Butchart Gardens in Victoria and post the changes throughout the season. So last weekend Mel and I made the long traffic-clogged trek to Emirgan Gardens in Istanbul. 

The time to visit is now! As the municipality has made the park the central showpiece of it's Lale (tulip) Festival. This is a huge campaign designed to re-instate the tulip as a Turkish flower, (the Sultans gave a few of their prize tulips to Holland as a gift way back when and the Turks have been kicking themselves ever since!).

Emirgan park reportedly has over 5 million tulips, and there are another bazillion all around town and, of course, around my home in Sultanahmet. 

Emirgan Park has three pavilions, that were probably once summerhouses for the rich and famous. These days they have been lovingly restored and are popular places for breakfast. 

This one is called Sari Kosk, (yellow pavilion). There are also a pink and white pavilions elsewhere in the park that we didn't get to this time.

Kate has some gorgeous pictures of these flowers here, I find it interesting that the same flowers grow and are in bloom at the same time on opposite sides of the world!

This is what Emirgan Park is all about. I swear every little old lady in Istanbul who wears a headscarf was up there getting their pictures taken. This guy is taking a picture of his mom. 

...double tulips...

.... and more tulips.....

...and Mel frolicking in the tulips! 

Note* No tulips were injured in the taking of this picture.