Yesterday while I was at work Berkay text me and said we could go for a little picnic…I knew a cute little place a 15 min walk from dad’s house, so we decided to go there. I picked up some supplies from the shop after work and Berkay met me at the station when I got off the train.
We took a detour to a chip shop then walked up the hill to the park, which even though it’s literally around the corner to my house, I’d never been to before! It has ruins of an old Abbey on the grounds which makes it a really pretty looking place.
We found an empty bench, sat down and served up our picnic. Pasta, chips,crisps, bread, muffins..sunflower seeds 😉 By this time it was 6pm and everyone else in the park were just there to walk their dogs…they must’ve thought we were really strange. It reminded me of the good old days back in Turkey where we’d rock up to the beach fully clothed, pots and pans, cutlery, plates, food, blankets & salt pots in hand…while everyone else was sunbathing!
After we’d eaten we went for a wander around the park, through the ruins, which made for some good funny-photo opportunities 😉
I had no idea how old these ruins were before – but according to google, Lesnes Abbey was built in 1178 … That makes them pretty old!!
It was such a lovely place to just have a walk around – I think I’ll be going for a little wander around there myself once Berkay has gone back – so peaceful, yet popular with dog walkers and children on bikes. The weather was really good – Berkay has been lucky this time. Last April when we were both over, it snowed. He’s never seen England so sunny as it’s been these past 3 weeks, so we’ve been trying to make the most of it.
There were some really lovely trees and flowers around the park too – this being one very old tree – I can imagine it’s very popular with kids trying to climb it in summer, we just about resisted temptation to attempt to climb it ourselves, and instead settled for funny poses. Look at Berkay’s cool pose – all he’s missing is an Efes in hand ha!
We had a lovely 2 hours and it really made me feel like the whole day hadn’t been wasted at work as we’d had quality time together too. Only 3 more days before he goes back…
livingtheturkishdream.com 
Beautifully written Danni. İ love picnics too.
Hi Danni, I discovered your blog a few months ago and read it with interest from the beginning. I know loads of people have given you their opinion and advice about what you should do and to be honest why would you even listen to a stranger’s views but I wanted to share a little story with you. Fifteen years ago I went on holiday to Turkey and fell in love with a Turkish man, we stayed in touch and after several more holidays, I moved out there a year later. I ended up moving back because of financial issues, like you I wasn’t working – although I did work there over the summer months, and like Berkay, my boyfriend only worked in the summer. I never doubted that he was the love of my life but family pressure, concern over moving to Turkey “forever”, concerns about money, etc., etc., stopped me from making my move permanent. Eventually he succumbed to family pressures of his own and married a Turkish girl. Fifteen years later, we’re still in contact, still love one another deeply and there’s not a darn thing we can do about it. I would never jeopardise his family life but the fact is, we should have been together. If you love one another and it is at all possible, go. I know I would if I had my time again. x
Awww lovely pics
thanks 🙂 x
Thanks for the update danni, one of the things i loved about being in Turkey, (Central Anatolia) is the picnics by the stream in the “Apple Garden” as they called it, it was in fact a very large orchard. All the women in the village would bring their pots and pans and everyone brought food for the bar-b-Q We wiuld pick apples and pears off the trees, and sweetcorn fresh from the fields. The men woild collect wood, stones and build the fire. Then we would rest under the shade of the trees by the lake. There would be dancing and singing. Oh how i wish i was back there.
Kind regards.
Oh that sounds beautiful ❤ Im actually smiling away to myself thinking about that! x
The more I read yr blogs, the more I KNOW you are in the wrong country, go to where your heart is sweetheart, Life is tooo short, money isn’t everything x x x x x x
Thanks Bev… too true x