This book has been prepared by the partners of ''THE STORY OF MY CITY'' Project. We thank all our partners who contributed.

WRITERS

1.Yasemin AKILLI-Nizamettin Özkan İlkokulu HATAY

2.Zafer ÇELİK-Mühendis Suphi Güzey İlkokulu HATAY

3.Hacer SARIATLI-Ümraniye İlkokulu İSTANBUL

4.Fatma Ayhan BİRİCİK-Ümraniye İlkokulu istanbul

5.Netice ŞAHİN-Turhan ve Mediha Tansel İlkokulu İSTANBUL

6.Tudorache LOREDANA- Stefania Scoala Gimnaziala Mihai  Eminescu İpotesti ROMANIA

7.Filiz KUYUCUGİL-Kılıçaslan İlkokulu İznik/BURSA

8.İlkay TAŞDAN-Rukiye Urhan Anaokulu DENİZLİ

9.Oğuzhan TUĞ-İstiklal İlokulu KONYA 

10.Tülay AYDİN- Atatürk Ortaokulu Şavşat/ARTVİN

11.Elena MIHAELA GRIGORE-Piteşti ROMANIA

12.Tiritelnicu MİHAELA- Secondary School Elena Rareş Botosani ROMANIA

13.Iwona WITCZAK-MPP3 Bolestawiec POLAND

Yasemin AKILLI-Nizamettin Özkan İlkokulu HATAY

Hello, I'm Flying Balloon City. I love traveling and having fun, learning about the places I've been to. This time my trip started from Hatay Antakya. Aaaaa! This river flows backwards. Its name is Asi.

 It is very interesting. Later I came to Harbiye. Everything is green, the waters are rushing through the trees. They are called waterfalls. Here, first kebab and then künefe are eaten. I loved this place. But I loved it here. I want to see you too. My new route in my journey is Samandag...

Look at the length of the Samandag beach. I've never seen a beach this long before. I am greeted by the Titus Tunnel and the Cradle Caves, which are the first settlements a little further away.

Zafer ÇELİK- Mühendis Suphi Güzey İlkoklulu HATAY

What a beautiful place they have here. The wind picked up rapidly, I'm going.Here below 1000-year-old Moses tree. What a beautiful town you are, Hatay.

I finally arrived at Istanbul. Oh, what a beautiful city. It has three beautiful bridges, each one is like a piece of pearl in a necklace. These bridges connect two continents, namely Asia and Europe.! Over there, another masterpiece rises, Galata Tower yes, it's great! This place was used as a watchtower before, to control the ships entering the Golden Horn. But of course, this tower has a story, let me tell you.

In the 17th century, there was an inventor named Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi who was interested in flying and skies. One day, he built a mechanical wing similar to bird wings to fly and decided to climb the Galata Tower and fly from there. 

Hacer Sırıtalı Umraniye Primary School,3/B, Istanbul, Turkey

In the end, Hezarfen flew from the rooftop of the Galata Tower to Üsküdar Doğancılar Square! He flew over the huge Istanbul Bosphorus, unbelievable!

Look! The Maiden's Tower is over there, it is the symbol of Üsküdar district, it is said that it was built to collect taxes from the ships passing through the Bosphorus, according to another legend, it is said that the Byzantine King imprisoned his daughter here to punish her for not marrying the nobleman he found for her, what a poor girl! It is said that she died from the bite of a snake in the basket of grapes that was brought to her to eat. However, today Maiden's Tower today serves only as a touristic restaurant.

Fatma Ayhan BİRİCİK-Ümraniye İlkokulu İSTANBUL

I continue to travel in Istanbul. After visiting the Galata Tower and Maiden's Tower, while looking at the Bosphorus, I saw a magnificent palace. Out of curiosity, I immediately went. I entered the great gate of Topkapi Palace. This palace was the palace used by the Ottoman sultans who ruled before the Republic of Turkey. Nowadays, both artifacts from the Ottoman State Islamic artifacts that are valuable for both Muslims and Muslims are exhibited. After watching the Bosphorus from Topkapi Palace, I was curious about a pink mosque visible above and left the palace. I walked up and came to the mosque, which I learned was called Hagia Sophia. 

This mosque was first built by the Byzantines as a church, then a mosque and then a museum. It was converted into a mosque and now it is used as a mosque.

Netice ŞAHİN-Turhan ve Mediha Tansel İlkokulu İSTANBUL

Istanbul does not end with a visit. Now I flew to Chalcedon, that is, to Kadıköy... In Kadıköy bazaar, I was greeted by Turkish delight, confectionery, patisseries, fish stalls, the smell of fine food coming from restaurants and the smell of coffee coming from cafes. While going Altıyol, I came across the Boğa Heykeli. I proceeded towards Bahariye Street. I came to Süreyya Opera House, the first opera house of the Anatolian side. I looked at the concert posters. I reached Moda by following the tramway. 

After drinking my tea with a view of the sea, I came to the unforgettable singer Barış Manço Museum House.

It was extremely fun to visit the museum. I took lots of photos. I took a walk on Bağdat Street and bought gifts for my friends and set off to distant lands.After visiting the museum, a strong wind dragged me to Fenerbahçe Park. After a short conversation with the walkers in the park, I came to the Oyuncak Müzesi.

Tudorache LOREDANA-Stefania Scoala Gimnaziala İpotesti ROMANİA

I then arrived in Eminescu’s land. Where? In Romania, a picturesque, magnificent country. More precisely, in the north of the country, in Moldova, in Botoșani County, Mihai Eminescu’s commune, we are a people of hardworking, hospitable, kind, faithful living beings, lovers of traditions, beauty, life. It is a magical place, full of history, dotted with monuments, trampled by personalities. The footsteps of some notable people followed in these places: Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga, Ștefan Luchian, George Enescu, Grigore Antipa, Octav Onicescu.  

Important testimonies remain in Ipotești: the lake with yellow water lilies, the Mihai Eminescu’s memorial house, the Papadopol House, church of the Eminovici family, 

famous museums, but also in the city of Botoșani: ethnography museum, the county museum, the Nicolae Iorga’s memorial house, the Ștefan Luchian’s museum house, Popăuți monastery, Sfântul Gheorghe church, unique and valuable historical monuments.

Filiz KUYUCUGİL- Kılıçaslan İlkokulu İznik/BURSA

 It was evening and it was dark when the huge colorful flying balloon glided along with the wind and landed on the shores of Lake Iznik.

Cafeterias, tea gardens along the beach caught my attention. Maybe it wasn't very crowded because of the cold weather. Iznik looked like a quiet city.

   In the morning, I took off from the lake. The wind of Iznik was also strong. It took me quite high. I found myself on the hill with the flag. The view is magnificent from here... It was wonderful to watch the four gates of Iznik and the magnificent Hagia Sophia in the middle of the city from Abdulvahap hill.

Oh, and I heard from the people who came to visit Iznik on the hill that there is a quiet city "Cittaslow". We agree on this.

        I'm taking off from the quiet city of Iznik. Where the wind takes me....

İlkay TAŞDAN-Rukiye Urhan Anaokulu DENİZLİ

I am in the skies of Denizli now. Denizli's daughter, dust and a rooster were famous. Denizli rooster is really eye-catching with its harmonious long and beautiful crows in terms of color and body structure. Should we come to Denizli and not visit Pamukkale Travertines, the 8th wonder of the world, the white paradise? Pamukkale travertines is a fabulous place with legendary beauty that has taken its place in the forefront of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Also, I am not alone in the skies of Pamukkale. It is very enjoyable to watch people paragliding from Babadağ from the balloon. Oh, it is an ancient city. When I get a little closer, I read that its name is Hierapolis. 

I say that you should definitely see Hierapolis, the city dedicated to the Queen of Pergamon, and the ancient pool in the ancient city of Hierapolis where Cleopatra also swam. to a rumor, the basis of people's visits to Pamukkale hot springs in order to beautify and find healing is based on the following story:

Long ago, there was a poor woodcutter family living on the slopes of Çökelez Mountain. The daughter of this family was so ugly that the mothers of the boys changed their ways when they saw her. She didn't care about her poverty, but she was obsessed with her ugliness. One day, while the woodcutter's daughter was walking on Çökelez Mountain, her foot slipped and fell down.

By a great coincidence, she fell into a large hot spring pool. She was unconscious for a long time here. At that time, the hot spring water made the girl very beautiful.