Pamukkale- a must see

Pamukkale is a MUST-SEE. They say if you didn't visit Pamukkale, you haven't been in Turkey. 

True or not, Pamukkale is a spectacular place due to its breathtaking panoramas. First time in my life I have seen to much whiteness around. The bizarre calcium cliff bathing pools are the reason of the white surroundings which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Control regulations require removing your shoes before stepping on the immaculate travertines. This fact did not disturb me at all, because the real charm of the place lies in experiencing these travertines with naked feet. Some people even bathe into the blue water of the travertines. Actually there is also Cleopatra's thermal pool with mineral water. But if you have limited time, I would not recommend going to Cleopatra's pool as you will miss great places around. Don't be fooled into thinking you only need a couple of hours - you're right on top of a whole historic sight to rival any ancient city so take time to wander around it. We started our trip by climbing the hill to the the great Roman amphitheater of Hierapolis which lies just above the travertines. It should not be dismissed from visiting because later on, it becomes impossible to climb the hill in that heat. Afterwards, we visited Cleopatra's pool of course and tasted the mineral water from the source. But we did not bathe into the Cleopatra's pool,  instead- the travertines were our focus point and they were worth seeing! After several hours staying in direct sun, the Garden is a beautiful place to refresh, rest in the shade of pine trees and oleanders and admire the whole view. The Hierapolis Archaeology Museum remained, unfortunately, unvisited by us.

The disadvantage of our trip was that it took us some time to drive by bus and then to walk around under the scorching sun. 4 bottles of water were not enough for us, we got sunburned a little bit.. The place was quite crowded, but on the other hand I do not remember any important monuments in the world which are not crowded by tourists, do you? 

Take a look also at the Vacation Recap post- here
Thank you for reading!
V.

Summer vacation recap

Turkey is a country of contrasts, of traditionalism and luxury, history and modernism, of rich culture and deception. 

A vacation in Turkey is either the best you have, either nothing. Meanwhile, a traveler-explorer would feel himself uncomfortable in a country like Turkey because arrangement of excursions or visits seems difficult to organize by own. Travel agencies are at every corner, in every bazaar, near every hotel, offering the "best prices" and extra services, as a special offer especially for the best customer, as you are. The idea is that you pay for both without any special offers. The business is to sell as much as possible, to approach in a dozen the poor tourist and to definitely foolish him, using various sales-oriented strategies (...) 

 To bargain or not to bargain? Neither of them. If you start a conversation by asking the price, you will end up by bargaining and finally, buying useless products of the worse quality ever.
I did not buy anything too much expensive, except an excursion to Pamukkale which included a hammam procedure, as a special offer of course:)) Pamukkale was worth the hours spent in the bus, the unbearable heat and those time- wasteful stops to shops (not included in the program, but which the guide took as obligatory) exhibiting wines, turkish delights, cosmetics, spices, souvenirs made of onyx, for example a tea cup made of onyx for 80 $, as a special offer, of course.
All in one, the vacation target was accomplished. Now I miss the super clean Mediterranean sea, which btw - offered a fish spa for free, as small piranhas were everywhere in the sea waiting to bite you, brrrr. I miss the sunrise at 6:20 in the morning. I miss the delicious and fresh figs. Now I miss my entire vacation...

The tremendous Graduation Party

Hurray! I finally got these photographs I was waiting for so long!
Four years of university are now history. So here there are the highlights captured during my (our) Graduation Party. 

Today, after a month after, my thoughts have totally cleared away. I only know that we, obviously, organized the best graduation party, in the best way we could. Probably now, I would have added even more details, decorations and ideas. But then, organizing the Official University Ceremony, the party preparations,  in between-dance courses and jobs applications or interviews, it all- simultaneously overlapped. 

They say that the best moments are during university, though I believe the best is yet to come.  To revise, it took us not so much time for organizing the party. In December, we searched for the party hall and found the amazing Eventus, that prepared our delicious food and also took care of the sweet buffet and cake. Other details were mostly discussed and arranged last minute. The white frames were super-easy painted with white spray, and letters were hand-made glued to the background surface. I prepared my own flower wreath, as well as the simple bouquets of roses for the professors.And of course, the Keiser Band musical quintet made our meeting time absolutely pleasurable. Later on, we danced some folk and then the DJ set fire to the dance floor.

Apparently the color of the event was GREEN, no dress code was needed as by coincidence, majority of girls showed up in a shade of green. Haha, it still amuses me.

I am sure different students have different memories of this event. For some, it was a chance to drink a bit more:), for others- it was a chance to put on the best dress and make-up. For me, it was a tremendous party that made my feet motionless in the end. Days after, I was still recovering:)

Enjoy the next photos. More details and fresh impressions can be found in the previous Instagram post, in case you haven't seen it already.

Photo credits: Sergiu Bîrca.

Thank you for reading!
V.