Today, 23 April, was a public holiday here in Turkey for National Sovereignty and Children's Day. The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated April 23 to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation. It was on April 23, 1920, during the War of Independence, that the Grand National Assembly met in Ankara and laid down the foundations of a new, independent, secular, and modern republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
So, I decided to go to my first ever expat meet up. I'm glad I went. It was nice to meet new people and put faces to names. I am a member of an expat web portal here called Sublime Portal and a few people at the meet up are members of the site.
One of the members owns and runs her own pizza shop in Sultanahmet and it was decided the meet up would be there. I took along my new Aussie friend Angela and her English teaching Ameican boyfriend, Travis. I had not met him before, so it was nice to catch up with Angela and meet her man and get to know him. He teaches at a high school and is very passionate about his work and students.
I met several other members from the forum, some of which are part of a writers group in Istanbul. One of the writers writes for my fave newspapers Today's Zaman and some of the others were teachers and artists. I think Trav was a bit overwhelmed with all the ladies, but all in all, we had a nice day.
We then headed to Beyazit Mosque as Trav is reading a book set in the 1800's and the current chapter is based around the Beyazit Mosque and the murder of a man. So we took a stroll around the mosque as he read to us from the guide book.
We also checked out Istanbul Univeristy which sits right next door and then headed down the back way from the Grand Bazzar and onto Eminönu where we arrived to the Egyptian Spice Market. We parked up for a few glasses of taze portakal suyu (fresh orange juice) and then said our goodbyes as they headed for the İskelese to take the ferry to Üsküdar and I jumped on a tram to head back my way. I must say the weather was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold with a lovely breeze. This week has been so weird with the weather, 34 and humid on Tuesday, 26 and perfect today and tomorrow the forecast is 12. Go figure...
So, I decided to go to my first ever expat meet up. I'm glad I went. It was nice to meet new people and put faces to names. I am a member of an expat web portal here called Sublime Portal and a few people at the meet up are members of the site.
One of the members owns and runs her own pizza shop in Sultanahmet and it was decided the meet up would be there. I took along my new Aussie friend Angela and her English teaching Ameican boyfriend, Travis. I had not met him before, so it was nice to catch up with Angela and meet her man and get to know him. He teaches at a high school and is very passionate about his work and students.
I met several other members from the forum, some of which are part of a writers group in Istanbul. One of the writers writes for my fave newspapers Today's Zaman and some of the others were teachers and artists. I think Trav was a bit overwhelmed with all the ladies, but all in all, we had a nice day.
We then headed to Beyazit Mosque as Trav is reading a book set in the 1800's and the current chapter is based around the Beyazit Mosque and the murder of a man. So we took a stroll around the mosque as he read to us from the guide book.
We also checked out Istanbul Univeristy which sits right next door and then headed down the back way from the Grand Bazzar and onto Eminönu where we arrived to the Egyptian Spice Market. We parked up for a few glasses of taze portakal suyu (fresh orange juice) and then said our goodbyes as they headed for the İskelese to take the ferry to Üsküdar and I jumped on a tram to head back my way. I must say the weather was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold with a lovely breeze. This week has been so weird with the weather, 34 and humid on Tuesday, 26 and perfect today and tomorrow the forecast is 12. Go figure...
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