Princes

“Are you ready to go?” My host mother calls to me as she is heading out the door. Unaware that I was going anywhere, I said, “sure, just give me a minute”. I grabbed my shoes and purse and went out to the car. “That’s all you need?” she inquired. “Yup”. Three boats and two hours later we had arrived on Prince Island where we would be spending the next twenty-four hours. Though unprepared to spend the evening, I had a wonderful time on the island with these wonderful ladies: Nihi and Tuline (Nurdan’s—my host mother—best friends), Nurdan, Celine, and Aylena.





Prince Island is one of the nine Islands off the coast of Istanbul. This is the most famous of the Islands, as it was the location of the exiles of Byzantine empresses and Lenin’s once right-hand-man Leon Trotsky. Though we did not get a chance to see the convent itself where the exiles were held, we did take a carriages and a donkey-cart ride to the base of the mountain to see it from afar. Here is snapshot of the taxi parking lot of carriages. Unfortunately, the donkeys weren’t quite as photogenic.




They have the option of horse-drawn carriages or what I call donkey-carts. Envision a donkey pulling a flat beaded wooden trailer with two large wooden wheels. My reason for selecting this as opposed to the lavish carriage was because there was not enough room for everyone in the carriage and I knew better than to even consider that my host family would dare to venture onto such a “dangerous contraption”. That and I thought that the donkey ride would be more memorable. I was right. The reason for the options of horse-carriage or donkey-cart is because, like many other islands in Turkey (and Greece), motorized vehicles are not permitted unless they are service or government operated. This makes for quite a relaxing experience. Since the donkey cart doesn’t move nearly as quickly as a car, I was able to take a few pictures on the go to show you what the Island looks like.





Here I tried my first Turkish pizza, which is scrumptious: no cheese! I didn’t opt however to try it in the traditional fashion which includes plopping on a sizeable amount of yogurt. Instead sans condiments, my pizza was flavorful enough with just the chicken, peppers, and tomatoes. Another note on Turkish cuisine—ice-cream is everywhere. Though ice-cream sandwiches/bars are far more common, Prince Island was filled with ice-cream/waffle stands. As opposed to lathering a bit of butter and homemade maple syrup on their waffles the Turks prefer smothering them with Nutella, fruit, ice-cream and honey. I have yet to try one of these treats (as not only am I here to teach English, but an additional assignment is to assist each female member of the family lose weight) as I am supposed to be setting a good example. Not easy for those of you who know my eating habits. Thus instead I opt for the corn vendors if I am hungry on the run.




After we had our relaxing adventure, we returned to the mainland for a day filled with activities.