Day Trip to the Princes's Islands

Well just one actually. Yesterday my new friend Robby and myself went on a lovely day trip to Buyukada which is the largest of the Islands. Robby is a fantastic guy from the States who often has to leave is very gorgeous wife kids and grandkids back home while he travels for work. A seasoned traveller, he clearly makes many friends along the way and I was lucky enough to become one of them!

We set out to the island by ferry. The crystal waters were absolutely sparkling as we left the shore and looking back at the Istanbul skyline was an awesome sight.

There are no motorized vehicles on the islands and people seem to travel by some kind of electric scooter, bicycle or horse. The tourists usually flock straight to the queue for the horse and buggy rides. Robby and I opted to avoid the hour long wait in the sun and set off by foot instead.

The streets of Buyukada are lined with gorgeous trees bearing various purple flowers. What I think is bougainvillea (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) seems to flourish here. These agains the backdrop of wooden villas, many with a French colonial feel make for a very charming setting. I could imagine spending a few nights on the Island for a very relaxing break.

We didn't make it all the way to the top. When we were satisfied we had seen enough we turned around to head back to for some well earned lunch. We managed to flag down an empty horse and cart for the homewards stretch!

Lunch was incredible. We ate the best fish casserole in a brilliant setting overlooking the ocean.

After saying goodbye to Robby, I headed back to the hotel to meet my new tour group who I'll be spending the next 15 days with. What I haven't mentioned is that during this wonderful day all conversations have been made in strained whispers as I have absolutely no voice left (still recovering from the Sydney lurgy) so introductions were interesting! The group seems great. Varied in ages and interests. Many Australians but also some from NZ, London and Paris.

This morning the tour began. We took it easy wandering some of the back streets tourists may not make it into. We saw the university and learnt about the process to get in. Students must pass 4 sets of exams and receive a minimum score, if they don't acheive the required scores on one exam they have to wait and do it all again next year! Public Universities only charge about $500-600 per year but private universities start at about 20, 000 Euro per year!

We then visited a couple of the less frequentely visted mosques. The first had a spectacular view over the city.

A special mention to the many cats that inhabit Istanbul! Seemingly, although they belong to no one, everyone takes great care of them giving them food water and attention.

As for food - my mention of the day are these special rolled types of Turkish Delights from the Spice Markets made with chopped up hazelnuts and nutella. I can't even begin to tell you!

I took the rest of the day to recover and try and rest the voice. Going over the bridge with two lovely girls from the group tonight , to try a restaurant highly recommended by a friend of theirs. Will mention how it was tomorrow :)