Princes islands

 This is the island we went to, called Buyukada. It was so beautiful and had no cars, so just horse and carts everywhere.

 Saw these random horses aroundş thınk they snuck away from the group.

Thıs was our beautıful beach. We had to pay to go on it whıch ıs normal all throughout the ıslandö but was strange compared to Australıa.

Uni Swimming pool

This is our outside pool at unıversıty. It is really nıce and has a great view. Only downer is that you have to pay to use it and you have to wear a swımmıng cap if you go in.

Rumeli Castle

As we were walking down the Bosphorus the other day we saw what looked like a castle. When I got home I looked it up and found that it was a musuem, so we got a group together and went to check it out. I really had no idea what it would be like except that it looked pretty cool from the outside. When we got there this is what it looked like:

We went into one tower and didnt really get to see anything other than looking over rails. From then on I hoped we would atleast get to climb up a bit of a wall and we got to do so much more... There was stairs up to the top of each tower and each wall. It felt like a giant playground and had so many beautiful views.

Istanbul

While driving through Istanbul I was overwhelmed by how much their was to see and how busy the buildings, traffik and people were. When driving their is atleast traffick lights that people abide by, but other than that they go whatever speed, get into very small gaps between cars and dont leave much space between anyone around them. It was a new experience and one that got more interesting once I was a pedestrian. I really thought this could be a place that I could get run over by a car... but I'm happy to say this feeling has been slowly disapearing as ive discrovered how it all works.

We finally got to the university were I realised it was exactly like the photos I had seen. It was built on a cliff right next to the bosphorus river; so amazing views. It also had heaps of really cool architectual buildings, a nice courtyard, but a lot of steps and hills. The whole country is made on lots of hills, so all roads, footpaths and buldings are either on a slope or have atleast 4 levels high so many to walk up.

This is the view from the walkway to and from the university and my accomodation.

This is Dara and I infront of one of the buildings in the courtyard. It was a beautiful day...

Other first thoughts on Istanbul:
- The weather is amazing, it as around 25 degrees each day, but with a nice breeze and not too much humidity.
- Most people speak a bit of english, otherwise its always fun trying to use actions to express what you wanted to say.

How did I end up in Turkey

I first decided I was going to go somewhere over the winter when I got an email about short courses. This combined with the realisation that I will finish university in uder 2 years made me want to do more things and take a hold of the opportunities around me.
I came with no expectations other than it would be an adventure. I had been looked at funny when I first said I was going, but then as it got closer its like everyone had searched photos of Turkey or something, because I was then told it was one of the most beautiful places people had been to. So really I had no idea what it would be like which was both scary and exciting.

This was my first sight from the plane:

I love this photo except for the camera case sneaking in at the top. I was really intrigued by how ordered and perfect it looked from above. The fields looked perfectly measured and the colours evenly spread. It all reminded me of a pathwork quilt.