Absence makes the heart grew fonder,
so the saying goes and yes it's true. I'm back in Australia now and
life has certainly picked up a pace to two. I miss the quiet days (or
should I say days full of a collage of noises that is the busy
streets and life of Adana! Lol)
Anyway I miss the walks through those
Adana city streets without any real care in the world and nobody
demanding my attention (well, apart from the wife! Lol)
I'm back into the fast pace life of
managing a whole range of Community Facilities, Community Halls and
Community Centres for local government here in Australia. It's been
hectic since my arrival home and the best intentions of getting to my
blog have been delayed by the business of life and putting bread on
the table (not as easy as my Turkish friends would think).
I work with approx 200 to 300
community groups representing thousands of people who use our 100
Community Buildings. I have a small team who work very hard assisting
me and the usual hierarchy above me to tell me what I am doing wrong or
right! Lol Needless to say, my attention is demanded from many directions
and my free time divided between family, the business of living and
some recreation.
I still play football, but in a slower
“over 35's” Competition. I love Football like most Turkish men
and most “intelligent” Australian men! Lol I support the Central Coast Mariners, 2012 Premiership A League Champions
\
The Golden Boot (awarded to the leading goal scorer) Trophy. My names on there 5 times! :-)
My team, "the Whites" when we won the Championship.
Me with the Central Coast Mariners Captain, Alex Wilkinson after they won the Australian 2012 Championship.
We have another brand
of sports also call Rugby League which is also an entertaining but
much rougher than traditional world football or American football. I like Rugby League! I don't play that game
though because it can leave you punch drunk or brain dead from all
the hits and knocks you take. Unlike the yanks, (sorry guys lol) we
wear no pads or helmets for protection. Rugby League is not for the
faint hearted, it takes alot of courage and you have to be built like a brick to play it! lol
Tackles come hard and fast in Rugby League, often having players stretchered off the field.
If I didn't have to work - where I would like to be...
Where I would like to be if I didn't
need to keep bread on the table? I'd be climbing and exploring around
the wonderful historical archaeological sites around Adana. Or I'd
assisting the all those left homeless in the refugee camps on the
Turkish / Syrian boarder or helping kids and families have a better
live in some of the more disadvantage places in Turkey. I love people
and I love History. I love now that I have a home in Australia and a second home in Turkey.
How blessed I am!
What I would like to do right now is
blog a selection of my favourite photos and places in Adana. These photo's
taken over the last 5 years showcase the beauty of Adana.
I believe your personality and life
outlook serves to be “sunglasses” to how you see things. It's
often been said of me that I see things with “rose coloured
glasses” meaning I see the best only in things and maybe this is
true. But I prefer to see the good rather than the bad. I'm not
immune to the bad and I've had my share of “curve balls”. But if
you dwell on what's wrong you'll never see what right and possibly
miss what is beautiful in life.
Featured in Blog 3, this picture of children represents all that is wonderful about Adana. The life Blood of Adana is it's people, and no better to see that through the eyes of a child full of hope. :-)
Adana, like any city will have it's
share of dark alleys, but it's beauty, it's culture, it's rich
history and it's beautiful people are the roses that I prefer to
focus. So the pictures I have showcase here, are my personal rose
coloured glasses of the wonderful cultural city of Adana – Turkey.
Come with me now on a little journey of my Adana, through the eyes of an Aussie adventurist Tourist yes, but also the eyes of someone who has looked deeper than the surface and enjoyed some true culture.
At the Heart of Adana is Sabanci Merkez Camii, it's Mosque and Adana heart of Faith. It really is Adana's major and most outstanding feature. It can be seen everywhere and is "picture past card perfect!
Taşköprü (English: Stone
Bridge) is a Roman Bridge which
crosses the Seyan River in Adana. One of the oldest bridges in the
world to be open in continuous use.
Featured in many blogs before, Central Park is a master-piece of community space and gardens
Adana's large lake that is the source of recreation and thousands of picnic's and BBQ'S
ADANA SKYLINE
I
am completely fascinated by Adana's skyline. I love it's personality.
I love the life that is hidden within such a vast array of apartment
blocks which are punctured frequently with beautiful variety
minarets towers of Adana's numerous Mosques.
The city skyline some
how se-real, so impressively as you look out to see thousands
intensely compacted high rise apartment blocks only to be dwarfed
against the truly awe inspiring backdrop that is displayed in the
Mountains beyond.
Here from the lake side you see the colourful smaller apartment houses the line the foreshore.
The
kaleidoscope of colour, solar panels and hot-water cylinders, windows
and verandahs, flags, and carpets hanging from balconies. Truly
fascinating!!
From
it's first light of dawn to the sunsets over the haze at night, the
sights, sounds and smells have always fascinated me greatly.
Below
you see a picture I took from the plane coming into land in Adana and
then from an apartment building high up in the same area looking at
the same buildings
Adana, so many beautiful sites, just outside of the city viewed from the train
The people of Adana love to sing. Here a performance we went to at City Hall
And the food.... so Delicious!!
And believe it or not, even with all that light pollution of a night, I witnessed and photographed from the high up in an apartment building the lunar eclipse in 2011. It was fantastic!!
And lastly for this blog, something amazing! An Australian Kangaroo in Central Park Adana! Can you believe that!!?
That's all folks for now. Thanks for coming on my journey.
Cheers
Andrew
