Princess Islands

So it is Saturday today, 3 pm here and just 12 am on Sun in New Zealand. I found out yesterday New Zealand is ahead of time!! not behind, like I am so used to thinking of the rest of the world. This definitely clarified a lot of the confusion I have experienced in the last few days! Today is a bot of a rest day. Matt just left to go off to Bulgaria this morning, and me and Bree are still recovering from last night, so decided to blob around Simon’s apartment and do some organising, washing etc.

Yesterday was very exciting though; Simon had the day off so we decided to go to the princess Islands together. We took a boat from Ostanci (I think, I hope) and went to the Island of Buyukada, which is the largest of the Princess islands. The Princess Islands are 5 small islands south of Istanbul that provide a weekend escape for city’s population. The boat trip was beautiful: velvetty smooth water and perfect temperature.

When we arrived on the island we tried some of the chewy Turkish icecream which was absolutely amazing!  Then we walked by the waterfront and me and bree took some more pilates pictures, played on the playground and saw a horse get loaded onto a boat!

We started checking out the island by foot but soon realised there were bikes for hire, which would alow us to see much more of the island. So we hired some bikes and paddled around the island for about an hour. This was lots of  fun and a lot nicer in the heat than walking.

After this, we just sat by the water and enjoyed the sunshine till our boat back. The boat trip back was over an hour and cost us 2.5TL which is almost equivalent to the NZD. It was a beautiful trip and we saw Istanbul in the most amazing light (will upload a picture as soon as I figure out how to do this, because I am still having trouble with this).

Simon took us out for dinner at one of his local stops where the food was fantastic. We got to te apartment at about 9, very full of good food and tired. However, the plan was to go out salsa dancing tonight, as dedication for Fuego. So we hyped ourselves up with some youtube videos (which officially is banned in Turkey because some greeks posted a pisstake of Ataturk on here. We had access through v-tunnel, which changes the IP address). Going to town in Istanbul on a Friday night was an experience, a good experience actually. From Taksim Square we walked through the main entertainment street (name to follow, help plz Simon), where 4 million people pass through each weekend. You could say it was busy. But it was also very nice; people everywhere and a pleasant air temperature created the best atmosphere for going out. We also discovered that the dancing in Istanbul starts late, but there was a live band and it was very cool! Home at 2 pm (sorry Simon) means I am now sleepy and need a nap!

Also, we have learned several lessons on this trip

1. dont do pilates in perfume shops

2. banks are silly

3. dont walk through stinging needles

4. Watch your feet on the escalator

5. remember where you pack your phone

6. New Zealand is in an earlier time zone! not a later one!