Princess Islands

Just an hour-and-a-half ferry ride from downtown Istanbul there exists several resort-like islands. Known here as adalar, or "the Islands," the Princess Islands are the perfect place for a trip outside the urban life that is Istanbul. For a mere 2.80TL (1.72 USD), you can hop on the ferry and visit one of the islands, all of which do not allow cars but instead have bike rentals, carriages, and donkeys. Palatial resort homes and condos line the streets, palm trees offer shade from the warm sun, and parks and monasteries flank the residential areas--great place to overlook the Marmara Sea.

A group of us went to the largest island (Büyükada, meaning "large island") for a day and decided to walk instead of spending any money on rentals (yeah, 2.50 US per hour seemed a little steep for college kids, even if we were only going to spend a few hours there). We walked up to a park and sat around for a while, then we continued our trek up a very steep cobblestone street to the top of a mountain with an Orthodox church on top. We found a large cliff that overlooked the sea, so we relaxed before we took our long walk back to the ferry.

We were shocked at just how CHEAP this place was, and just how very different it was from the city of Istanbul, visible from most locations with a view. As it seemed a tropical destination, daytrips are very common for local Istanbul residents, if for nothing more than having a nice picnic in a change of venue.

One of my friends had a friend visiting, and we were very happy that he could see this place, even though it was nothing like the Istanbul to which we are all accustomed. Funny how you just discover things out of the blue...