Weekend in Sapanca

Labor Day weekend is not a holiday in Turkey, but we did have an adventure to Sapanca. Sapanca is a town to the east of Istanbul and it is surrounded by small villages and lovely countryside. There is a large lake there and the Karatepe mountains. My husband and his sister own a home there, which was built by their brother. Eight of us ventured the hour and a half out of Istanbul for a nice weekend together. The property has six homes as well as a spring from an artisian well. A channel built from the spring...

...feeds a pond built for fish. 10 very small trout were purchased and have grown to nice sizes. Their backs are green and they have a nice red stripe on their sides. We had fun feeding the fish.
We grilled for dinner, but the fish were safe. We had chicken and beef.

It is also walnut season in Sapanca and my husband's niece picked some off of a walnut tree and we all had some fresh walnuts to eat. I missed taking a picture of her hands after all the walnut peeling... they were stained a very dark brown that no soap washes away.

She did enjoy all the shaped bands I had gotten her at Kate's store.

The property also has a built-in swimming pool and several went in for a swim.

We had great weather and it was a fun weekend. And if anyone is interested, the house next door is available, if you would like to buy in to the neighborhood.