The Prince's Islands

Many of the historic sites in Turkey are well known around the world, like the Grand Bazaar perhaps. Others are not so famous. I try to include places people wouldn’t think of right away in my writing.

The Prince's Islands in Istanbul were a popular retreat of the late Ottomans and the architecture reflects a marked European influence. They are worth the trip though you need a spare hour on a ferry to get there and another for the way back. People with a couple days in the city rarely make the time investment to visit. I was fortunate enough to spend two weeks on Büyükada one summer, and it was a great inspiration for my writing so many years later.

While describing my absolute favorite house on the island from memory, I came across a tourist's photo of it on the web. Way back when, I was so taken by it that I even asked one of the island real estate brokers how much it might cost, or something similar, since it wasn't actually for sale. My husband thought $100,000 was outrageous. I knew better (I'm a broker now myself) and if I had the money then…still don’t have it now, but you get the idea. The photo on the right is something like that house.

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The opening of the the Prince's Islands Museum