I arrived in Istanbul on May 19, a national holiday for “Youth and Sports”. Very fitting for my arrival I thought! Elif and Mina were here already, the next day they came to visit, Tolga and Serap with them. On May 22 we got into two cars and drove to Ayvalik. The plan was to leave one car here for the summer. We took the fast ferry to Mudanya then drove to Ayvalik in about 4 hours, including a stop at “Degirmen” (The Mill) for a quick bite to eat. Mina enjoyed running around on grass, even found some chairs that were the same color as her jacket. The next stop was Ayvalik, Mina and Elif stayed at the guest house, which she called “our house”. She really likes gardens, flowers, and the big fish pond. Here are some photographs from the first leg of the trip.
