Jack Frost Strikes Again

After four straight days of snow last week, I thought we were in the clear.  Despite Punxsutawney Phil's warning, I was hoping that winter was over and we could start preparing for Spring! We had a beautiful weekend of 7 degrees celsius with the sun shining and no sign of snow (past or present).

Okay, fine, groundhog - you win.  Today, winter struck again.  More snow! It has been a record breaking winter here.  Apparently the most snow, or coldest weather, or something like that, in 30 years.  Yikes. 

Positive spin to it all? Belle loves it.  We took a stroll through the neighborhood this morning and snapped a few shots.

The stairs - this is when Belle realizes, YES, we are going for a walk!!

 Our favorite walk spot - the neighborhood park

 The neighborhood park tribute to Ataturk - sometimes he is dressed up with a coat and hat for the cold weather, but he wasn't prepared this time

 Snowballs!

 Okay, done for the day

Winter Wonderland

As a Texas girl, summers in Turkey were not a concern to me moving over here (you call 40 degree C hot?!).  I was worried about the winter - with no car, no seat warmers (I definitely miss these on rainy days) and only our radiators to keep us warm inside!

In true Urban winter fashion, the last few weeks have been cold and rainy - the worst kind of winter weather.  Poor Belle probably misses the outdoors because on these kind of days I venture out only when she needs to go.

This week though, much to my surprise, we got a special treat - SNOW! Not just once, but twice! From what I have heard, snow isn't too frequent in Istanbul and doesn't stick (sounds a lot like Texas, huh?), so this is really something extraordinary.

And to sound completely not like a Texas girl - I liked it.  At least if it's going to be cold, we get something beautiful out of it. 

Snow #1 - daytime snow.  Big beautiful flakes that fell for hours.

Snow #2 - evening snow.  Teeny little flakes that didn't seem like much but accumulated pretty quickly.

Enjoying the beautiful snow while it lasts - before it turns into icky urban slush!