11/20/2022 0 Comments Solo TravellerToday I needed some me time. There is a park that is right around our hotel, so I decided that I was going to take some time to myself and go on a little solo adventure. It felt really nice walking around by myself, and I just kept thinking about how the me a few years ago would never imagine myself doing the things I'm doing today! Yay #proudmoment. Anyway, I continue on and finally find the Yildiz Park, and man oh man is it big and beautiful! There are so many paths to take you could spend so much time there and still not have seen everything! I start on the main path, then go up on the left-side to get a better view of the park. There's a public bathroom there, which I thought was really cool they had that considering how big the park is. I see in the distance on the right that there's a lake, so I head down another path on over. The lake was so beautiful, complete with swans swimming around, and a mini house for the ducks and swans in the middle of the water. There were tons of couples fawning over each other there, so I went down this little path besides the water to just take in some peace. I meander around, and end up on this swinging bridge which was a lot of fun to walk across! Though when the little kids figured out jumping on it made it swing like crazy, that was less fun. But the bridge took you up for better views of the lake and a waterfall that fills it. I know I'm repeating myself, but it was all just so beautiful and peaceful. I keep just picking random paths, and eventually end up walking up to the top where there's the Beltur Cafe. I got a large Iced Mocha and salad for maybe $5 USD! I set up a nice spot inside overlooking the park, and worked on some homework and this blog for awhile. It was really peaceful and felt normalish, which was good after all the traveling of the past few days. After about an hour and a half, I leave and continue around the park, ending up sitting by a tree for awhile to just sit and do nothing. And lemme tell you, it was wonderful. I kept thinking, oh my gosh what if I got to do this everyday! There were obviously tons of students out and about working, and even some adults just there reading. I get up again, play with some cats down the road, then set up at a picnic bench to get some more work done on my blog. This is immediately sidetracked as a cat chose me and decided we were going to hang out for awhile. He comes up and walks all around my laptop and decides the keyboard is a really nice spot to sit. Reminded me a lot of my cats at home. It was very friendly and encouraged my pets. I called my dad to show off my new friend, and chatted with him for awhile. On the call the cat then decides that my lap will be a nicer spot and hops down, makes some biscuits and settles in. I felt on top of the world and just pet him for about thirty minutes. Animals really do make the difference and can decrease so much stress and worry in life. Around 4pm I decide that I need to head back to grab some food and meet up with the others, so my new kitty friend and I say a teary goodbye and I leave. I decided that the path on Google Maps was going to take too long, and surely there was more than one exit to the park... I was wrong. I walked around for an HOUR up and down and around paths that I thought would lead me out and closer to where I needed to be to head back to the hotel. Instead of getting frustrated, I just laughed at the mistake, and decided to enjoy the extra beauty of the park I had now seen. I make my way back to the main entrance, and make it back to the hotel nicely. Today was a great test to see how well I do on my own in a completely new country, having only spent 3 days in it so far, and I was so happy how easily I navigated the city and felt comfortable in the area. I definitely hope to live here someday and make this park part of my regular routine!!
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