For those of you who have started to wonder why there are no new entries the explanation is quite simple: I have been away from Istanbul (I still am) and, since this blog is entitled “out and about at Istanbul”, I thought it would be inappropriate to write from, and about, elsewhere. But today I decided going away from Istanbul is actually an indispensable part of living at Istanbul. There is no way you can bear the crazy city life if you don’t run away to nature every now and then. Since, as of today, there is three friends from Istanbul that are right where I am, not including me and Seda (love of my life), I guess I have been proven right in my theory.
I am at a place called Sundance Nature Village at the Mediterranean coast. I come here at least three times a year, but I have to admit, April is the best time of the year to be here. To give you an indication of what manner of place it is let me tell you what I did today.
I woke at eight and took a stroll in the meadows that are covered with daisies and poppies in this season. Then I had breakfast with Seda in the garden on a wooden table on the grass, right by the river, where it meets with the sea. Then I went horseback riding for an hour. Then with Seda and Selen (who is both a music scholar and a jazz pianist) I went hiking in the woods for an hour. The hike took us to Phaselis, which is an ancient city, and the ruins of it are quite spectacular. As is usually the case with ancient civilizations it is situated at the most beautiful part of the entire coastline. We went swimming there and had lunch. Then we walked back, this time taking a short cut, which entailed a bit of climbing that took us to a hilltop with an amazing view both of the Sundance bay and the Phaselis bay. When we came back we were surprised to find another friend had just arrived: Mine who is another music scholar. We were tired so we took a nap in the gardens on the grass. While we were having cake and tea we were surprised with the arrival of yet another friend, Gulriz who is an ex-student now working for me. Last but not least I took another one- hour horse ride through the woodland that ended with a gallop on the beach. After shower I started writing this.
Is this a typical day? Well the horse riding is certainly a twice-daily occurrence. Swimming is not as frequent in this season. Admittedly we don’t go to Phaselis every day and thus don’t have this long a hike everyday either. But yes more or less this is how we spend our time here. The woods, the meadows covered in flowers, the sea… I do believe it is heaven on earth.