This week, I just arrived back home from a trip with my dad to Istanbul, Turkey and Sofia, Bulgaria, which are around 3000 miles away from Stockholm. Bulgaria is famous for its Rose Valley, which produces half of the world's rose oil. In Istanbul, I visited two famous mosques, the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The city is known to be "ruled by cats," which was certainly true–I saw dozens!
Turkey and Bulgaria are the farthest I've traveled so far, but I hope to visit other countries in southern Europe, such as Italy and Spain.
I walked and took the bus – Umeå is a bikeable and public transportation-friendly city. It is hard to bike with all the snow, but some people get winter tires for their bikes to ride on the snow and ice. Last week, I even saw someone skiing to work!
In Istanbul, I got to visit Dolmabahçe Palace, the royal palace and residence of sultans during the Ottoman Empire. It was amazing to see the architecture, which was an intersection between Asian, European and Turkish art.
