Uludağ- Skiing Holiday-Day 1

Took off Friday, 15th of Feb, to Uludağ, Bursa, the most popular skiing site in Turkey, with a
group of colleagues from work, as they organised it, and two of my friends, Halil and Hatice. Bursa is only 4 hours driving distance from Istanbul, so it is a great place for a weekend get away. (or is it?)

We arrived there Friday night, the temperature difference up in Uludağ Mountain was huge for us, we were all tired, so went to sleep early to start an early day Saturday.

Started an early Saturday morning, earger to start our skiing journey, beginning with renting skii equipment, finding the proper gears, getting our chair lift pass, and getting ready for a restless day. We also arranged a private lesson with a trainer at 11am, but we were ready and steady at 10.00 to start, so what do we do? We though we would do some practice before the trainer meets us. Good idea? No way!

The ski blades are sharp like a hot knife through butter and if you don't know how to stop, you better not stand on them. Ofcourse how do we know that? So thats how I ran into an equipment store with all my speed! Poor people they could only see something coming towards them and before they know, I bumped in!
After the discouraging start, we got our trainer and learned how to do it properly, as we should all do. He gave us the basics and took us to the top of the hill and we could ski! It was ever so easy and effortless, except for the moments we fall, as it is so difficult to get up again. The ski boots are so heavy and hard that you can not move when you fall.

The rest of the day was just practising and enjoying the skiing experience, going up and down the slopes. We had the famous hot wine, tasting like punch, and also had a detour to the military area, thanks to a bright (!) friend of mine. By the time we climbed back from the military area, we were way too tired and it was time to go back to our hotel. What a day it was... to be continued...