Saturday Oct 4
We have had a busy few days so will now recap.
Friday night was the Captain's cocktail then Gala Dinner so we got dressed up. The dessert was Baked Alaska which arrived with music and sparklers.
That night we set our clocks back an hour so are only 9 hours ahead of back home.
I am now becoming an alcoholic, starting Sat. More about Sunday later! We went on the brandy tour which was fascinating. We had an excellent guide (7th year doing this for a job) -- Milos pronounced Milish. Sooo, the brandy in this area is made from a special plum only grown here. It is extra meaty and sweet. It is traditional for every family to have their own still to this day but a few rules have crept in. It is legal to drink your own in your own home but you aren't allowed to take it anywhere else. Eg like we take a bottle of wine if we are going to someone's house for dinner. I'm sure they still do it though. And everyone's brandy is of a different quality as the temperature during the distilling process is quite critical. We saw stills for sale in the shops. So the tradition is that when you visit someone's home, you are immediately offered a glass of brandy. The locals drink it "bottoms up" but we sipped ours. It is also the tradition to have a 10 liter cask saved for a child's birth. So, Milos' father drank his 10 l, along with friends, when he was born.( His grandfather had done the same thing, etc,etc. in previous generations.) Then he refilled it and stored it until Milos' son was born. He and his friends drank it up then he refilled it for when his son has a child. When the brandy is made it is clear. They then put it in oak/mulberry barrels for from 5 to 18 years where it gains color. The longer in the barrels, the greater the color and quality. Milos also told us that if you want to "bribe" a local official or policeman, you offer a bottle of brandy, never money. They also have a version of brandy called Shumadia (sp?) tea. This is drunk for your "health". It is made from boiled lo proof brandy to which a pinch of sugar is added. It is drunk warm and keeps the germs away -- similar to English grog and Japanese saki. He said that during the SARS outbreak, noone in Serbia got sick!! Even the kids get a bit.
There is another interesting custom in this area. Because it was a forested area it was difficult for people to travel to the next village. They were tired when they got there so, on arrival, they would receive a spoonful of a sweet jam plus a glass of water. We got that as well. The "jam" is quince cooked then soaked in honey. Later we were also given stinging nettle water -- leaves put in boiling water then a bit of sugar added. Keeps for two days in the fridge. Tasted great.
The area we were in was middle Serbia, as opposed to north and south. They get down to -5 to -20 in the winter and as hot at 40 in the summer. The weather patterns have changed drastically eg. got three months of rain in two days earlier this year. In one area, 300 bridges were destroyed plus many villages. It was the small streams which did the damage --- eg just like in Canmore last year. Also, everytime a crop was in blossom, it rained so the bees didn't pollinate. And as a result of that there is also little honey this year.And many crops not producing.
The ship was parked on the Sava River, just 200 meters from where it enters the Danube. I couldn't figure out in the morning why the river was suddenly so narrow with bridges going across.
We are parked in the city of Belgrade (1.7 million). There are many 13th century buildings which are neglected now. One area is getting torn down in the near future and will be a huge development of condos, hotels, etc being financed by AbuDabi rich cats.
Social life is very important here as witnessed by a bar(?) across the river from us -- thumping music 24 hours a day. I'm glad we are moving on tonite. People here visit in bars and coffee shops for hours at a time, any day of the week. Booze and food are cheap.
During the 1st WW, 27% of the population died (57% of the men). They are part of the former Yugoslavia and had Tito as a leader. The history is long and complicated and I`m not sure I understand it all even though we had a long lecture in the evening about it. Then when they had the latest conflict, NATO bombed all their bridges. There doesn`t seem to be any animosity about that.
In addition to our brandy yesterday we were fed. They had grapefruit on which were stuck toothpicks each loaded with a variety of cheeses and meats plus a pickle. It looked a little like a porcupine. And with it were two types of breads, one with a tomato-baked red pepper relish on one side and fresh mozz cheese on the other. Every time we got a bit low on the ``supplies`` the hostess would fill up the plate. Needless to say, we did not need lunch when we got back to the ship.
In the afternoon we went by shuttle bus to the city center to look around. It is like most big cities which I`m not fond of. Also, since we haven`t bothered getting local money, we can`t purchase anything small. It`s been a bit of a problem going through so many different countries. They aren`t on the Euro here but will often accept it. And we are running out of tip money as our small bills are just about gone.
Sunday, Oct 5
Our ship arrived in Novi Sad, Serbia this morning. I signed up for the "Serbian Specialties" Culinary Delights tour and Don went on the walking tour of NoviSad. He said the city was beautiful and peaceful (peaceful maybe because it was Sunday?). My tour was very, very interesting. In 1999 NATO bombed the area and knocked out all their bridges. NoviSad was only established in the 18th century so no Roman ruins and all that sort of thing which we've been seeing elsewhere. The buildings are Baroque style. We crossed over a 550 mile long man-made channel which is used for irrigation and transportation. We went past a huge flea market. Would have loved to wander around that. This area of Serbia is multicultural as it is on the border of the old Austrian and Ottoman empires -26 different nationalities and 6 official languages. Most are Protestant. This area is the bread basket of Serbia. They also grow tobacco (encouraged by the govt) -- 60% smoke including 30 % school age. No smoking indoor laws of the EU didn't work here and aren't enforced. Their social life is tied up in the restaurants and bars so a smoking ban would be the death of these establishments. 26% unemployment in the country but less in this area as agriculture provides a lot of jobs. The cuisine is different in the north area where we are as it is influenced by the closeness to Austria and Hungary.
We arrived at the farm (where we were having the cooking demo) at about 9 am. And we were met with the usual brandy! I really am in danger of becoming an alcoholic drinking at that time of the day!!! Today we had a choice and I had mead which was sweeter and very nice. We then went into the little dining room where we were given what would be a quick meal for a housewife -- potato pasta with cheese. And we had a glass of wine with it -- see what I mean? -- two drinks before 10 am. Don says he's going to put me in rehab when we get home. Then the grandma brought out her dough which she had started earlier. She rolled it out about 1/4 inch thick then cut it into squares. We each made our own -- jam in the center then sealed and brushed with butter. She baked them for 30 min while we explored the farm. They were very good and I have the recipe. The farm house was built in 1904. The main income for the family is dad who is a forester and works in the local national park. Mom and grandma run the tourist cooking demo for AMA. They have 20 acres most of which is rented out to another farmer who grows corn there. They get 50% of the profit.
We were back on the boat for lunch -- which I didn't need so just had soup, salad and dessert. Yes, I always have to have dessert. Today it was a Serbian cheesecake. Yum.
Croatia
After lunch we departed Serbia and sailed for about three hours ending up in Croatia. Here we went on the Yugoslav Civil War tour. It was sad but a must for anyone going to Croatia. Our guide was a young lawyer and very honest about the situation there. The govt is very corrupt, even now. And after the war the powerful ones split up the land giving it to their cronies and relatives. She claims the war was only the result of political manoevering so they could get rich. We were taken to the memorials and graveyards. There were many people killed in one day and buried in a mass grave. They are gradually identifying them with DNA and they are given a gravesite and headstone. It was so weird to see the same date of death on rows and rows of graves. It was sad to see all this.
Our guide was a child during the war so has odd memories which were good eg they were refugees and were put up in a hotel. She remembers the beach and her grandpa buying her ice cream. Her father has a totally different memory of course. She had high praise for Rotary -- they came with clothes and shoes and still donate today to help the town. There are still landmines around the town but luckily no child has been maimed. Each year they manage to find a few more.The town is being fixed up so lots of nice houses. Eventually everything will be but they will leave two places as is. One is the water tower which was bombed many times and still stands (will show that their spirit didn't fall down either) and one building downtown. The owner plants flower boxes on each of the bombed out windows. A picture of this made it onto a National Geographic cover.
In this area there is nothing really old as they had a war about every 50 years which destroyed everything. The climate is perfect for vinyards. They love their fruit trees because they make brandy out of everything -- even walnuts. The apple trees I saw today were covered with nets. And the apples weren't harvested yet.
When we left the ship this afternoon for our tour, the ship continued up the Danube ending up in Vukavar. And this is where we ended up too -- had a walking tour of the city. I must say that the parts of Croatia that I have seen make me want to come back. It is quite lovely. I don't really have any desire to see Bulgaria or Serbia again.
Internet intermittent so am trying again this morning (Mon) to send two blogs out.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Friday, Oct. 3, 2014
Yesterday we sailed upstream all morning with Romania on the right hand side and Bulgaria on the left. We don't see much as the surrounding countryside is so flat -- just trees. After lunch we arrived in the Bulgarian city of Vidin where we were loaded on busses for the hour long trip to the "little white town" -- (Belogradshik). Here we drove up the hill to the giant rock formations above the town. These formations were quite spectacular. In the 3rd century (Roman empire time) they built a few walls between them to provide shelter for travellers.As the centuries went by they built more and higher walls. Eventually the Turks rebuilt it in the 19th century and this is what is like today. Everywhere we go we hear about the wars between the Turks and Ottomans and this place was no exception. We had three stages to walk through and of course I included stage 3 which meant many stairs up to the top of the fortress. Spectacular views except it was a cloudy day. Don's having his usual balance problems so doesn't walk far.
Also in this area are the Magura Caves which I must look up on Google when I get home. There are 750 drawings there made with bat guano. Obviously the bats also use the caves to live in. They figure these caves were occupied by humans as far back as 800 to 3000 BC.
As when we were in the other area of Bulgaria a few days ago, their sunflowers are all dead in the fields. I assume that the heavy rains prevented them from being pollinated. Sad to see. Bulgaria is 60% mountains and there is hunting done there -- boar, rabbit, wolves but bear and deer are protected. We again saw the usual deteriorating buildings.
The Bulgarians managed to keep their language, religion and pride despite 500 years of Ottoman domination.
If someone dies, their obit is printed on a poster and tacked to trees.
In the evening some young people came on board and entertained us with local dances.
Today we are on a full day of sailing. We are going through the "Iron Gates" which is a section of the river which goes through gorges. We are now between Serbia on the left (south) and Romania on the right (north). We first went through the largest lock on the river. It has two sections, not the usual one, and took 1 1/2 hours. They also have two locks and we went up the right hand one which is on the Romanian side so we flew that flag. They switch sides each month -- one side handles up traffic and the other down. This Iron Gate area is 84 miles long but it widens in places with little villages and farms along the way. Lovely green fields around the houses but I can't see a reason for them. Not an animal in sight. There is also a dam at the site of the lock and this controls the river levels. They had a lot of rain earlier this month so more sluices were open to take care of the extra water. They also use the dam for hydro power. By building the dam, many villages had to be moved as they are now under water.
The Danube looks dirty but it is actually clean. I guess it is like the Fraser -- full of sand, especially since the heavy rain.
Weather: cloudy and cool. About 17 C outside. Some people are bundled up in down coats, toques, etc. I'm out walking the deck in a sweat shirt and sandals.
They had some traditional food (sausages,etc) set out at 11am (probably because lunch was going to be late due to the interesting views in the gorge). I just couldn't face it even though I'd been walking the deck for an hour. I'm trying to be sensible but it's hard. I had soup, a small sandwich, apple, cookie then the bad thing -- bread pudding with cream sauce. I have my usual granola, fruit and yogurt for breakfast but do add a croissant and slice of bread along with Nutella. Supper is a salad, soup sometimes, main course and, of course, dessert. The meals are excellent.
Internet has been spotty. I managed to get a blog out this morning just before it went off again.
Yesterday we sailed upstream all morning with Romania on the right hand side and Bulgaria on the left. We don't see much as the surrounding countryside is so flat -- just trees. After lunch we arrived in the Bulgarian city of Vidin where we were loaded on busses for the hour long trip to the "little white town" -- (Belogradshik). Here we drove up the hill to the giant rock formations above the town. These formations were quite spectacular. In the 3rd century (Roman empire time) they built a few walls between them to provide shelter for travellers.As the centuries went by they built more and higher walls. Eventually the Turks rebuilt it in the 19th century and this is what is like today. Everywhere we go we hear about the wars between the Turks and Ottomans and this place was no exception. We had three stages to walk through and of course I included stage 3 which meant many stairs up to the top of the fortress. Spectacular views except it was a cloudy day. Don's having his usual balance problems so doesn't walk far.
Also in this area are the Magura Caves which I must look up on Google when I get home. There are 750 drawings there made with bat guano. Obviously the bats also use the caves to live in. They figure these caves were occupied by humans as far back as 800 to 3000 BC.
As when we were in the other area of Bulgaria a few days ago, their sunflowers are all dead in the fields. I assume that the heavy rains prevented them from being pollinated. Sad to see. Bulgaria is 60% mountains and there is hunting done there -- boar, rabbit, wolves but bear and deer are protected. We again saw the usual deteriorating buildings.
The Bulgarians managed to keep their language, religion and pride despite 500 years of Ottoman domination.
If someone dies, their obit is printed on a poster and tacked to trees.
In the evening some young people came on board and entertained us with local dances.
Today we are on a full day of sailing. We are going through the "Iron Gates" which is a section of the river which goes through gorges. We are now between Serbia on the left (south) and Romania on the right (north). We first went through the largest lock on the river. It has two sections, not the usual one, and took 1 1/2 hours. They also have two locks and we went up the right hand one which is on the Romanian side so we flew that flag. They switch sides each month -- one side handles up traffic and the other down. This Iron Gate area is 84 miles long but it widens in places with little villages and farms along the way. Lovely green fields around the houses but I can't see a reason for them. Not an animal in sight. There is also a dam at the site of the lock and this controls the river levels. They had a lot of rain earlier this month so more sluices were open to take care of the extra water. They also use the dam for hydro power. By building the dam, many villages had to be moved as they are now under water.
The Danube looks dirty but it is actually clean. I guess it is like the Fraser -- full of sand, especially since the heavy rain.
Weather: cloudy and cool. About 17 C outside. Some people are bundled up in down coats, toques, etc. I'm out walking the deck in a sweat shirt and sandals.
They had some traditional food (sausages,etc) set out at 11am (probably because lunch was going to be late due to the interesting views in the gorge). I just couldn't face it even though I'd been walking the deck for an hour. I'm trying to be sensible but it's hard. I had soup, a small sandwich, apple, cookie then the bad thing -- bread pudding with cream sauce. I have my usual granola, fruit and yogurt for breakfast but do add a croissant and slice of bread along with Nutella. Supper is a salad, soup sometimes, main course and, of course, dessert. The meals are excellent.
Internet has been spotty. I managed to get a blog out this morning just before it went off again.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Bulgaria #2
Today we left the very pretty city of Plovdin, going north to the Danube. We were given lots of info about the communist era. They describe the cement apartment buildings "communistic" . Each unit is about 700 square feet. I noticed that most people glass in their balconies which gives them a bit more room. I also often saw their laundry hanging there.
Power is supplied by coal. They have both public and private health care with the % of private increasing. Education is also both public and private with the private of better quality. Taxes are the lowest in the European Union but they also have very poor infrastructure. The gov'ts are elected too often and there is never any long term vision. The young people see that changes are needed but it will take a few years. But on the good side, our guide said that at least "we are now free". They drink more coffee than tea.
We went through a very interesting valley where growing roses is a lucrative industry. They pick the rose petals and make rose oil which is then sold to perfume, soap, skin care product, etc. manufacturers. This is unbelievable: About 3,000 people pick the blossoms around the end of May and into June. It takes 6 tons of blossoms to make l liter of oil! I can't imagine how many blossoms 6 tons would be! The vines look like our wild roses -- grow on trellises.
South and north Bulgaria are separated by the Balkan Mountains. It was a rather windy road that wended its way up then down to get to the other side. No skiing here as there is not enough snow. They do have ski resorts in the Sophia area to the west. They have several roads through this range. The one we were on was just for cars and busses. There is another one just for trucks.
The small villages are suffering because the young people go to the cities. Often see empty houses. Saw quite a few horses and carts.
It is an offence to be a gypsy so when census time comes, noone admits to it but there definitely is a good sized population there. The girls marry around 15/16. They don't have the same education as everyone else. Their ethnic origin is India/Pakistan. (A side note here that came today in my tour in Romania -- they are not Romanians as so many people think. Romanians get very upset when they are blamed as the source of them. The name Roma has nothing to do with Romania.) Our Bulgarian guide said they prefer to rob rather than work.
We had a typical Bulgarian lunch along the way: fresh organic salad with grated beets, veg soup, a stew of chicken, mushrooms and onions then 2 scoops of yogurt on a bed of honey. Yummie! Their yogurt is firm (was scooped like ice cream) and neither sweet nor tangy. It was topped with grated walnuts. I found out that our unknown dessert of last nite was also yogurt.
They delivered us to the ship which was docked at the town of Rousse (or Ruse), as promised, at 5 pm. We have a lovely little room on the second floor. We have a tiny balcony that holds 2 chairs, 2 easy chairs inside, a queen bed, cupboard space and a long desk with a flat screen tv. I got the suitcases unpacked and shoved them out of the way under the bed. It is soooo nice to not be living out of them.
We then had an orientation for safety, met all the bigwigs of the crew then had an overview of what is to happen the next day. Supper was late so we didn't finish that until about 10. There are the usual many choices of what to eat, all of them delicious. You can have up to 5 courses. I took 3 tonite.
Romania
We woke up this morning across the river from Bulgaria in the town of Biurgiu, Romania. We are now on the north shore of the Danube River. At 9 am we were on the bus for the hour long drive to Bucharest, Romania's capital. It is a mixture of old and new and is quite vibrant. But lots of communist buildings here as well. They call them "commie condos". But also sad to see so many abandoned factories and half built buildings. The communists had grandiose plans which didn't bear fruit. The young people here have the same comments as in Bulgaria -- they see the need for change but it will take awhile.
We had a tour of the city then went to a "village" where they have taken authentic buildings from all over the country and reassembled them here. One really interesting style was the half house. They dug a big hole in the ground and built the house in it (wood sides as usual). Only the top half of the house was above ground. This would help keep it warm in winter plus made it less burnable when the surrounding nations attacked. Many of the buildings came from Transalvania -- now that's a romantic sounding area.
We then had lunch is a restaurant that looks like it specializes in large groups. Service was extremely slow (there were about 125 of us so no wonder). We were entertained by a fantastic violin player plus his wife who sang some solos -- she is opera trained. The meal was quite interesting. The soup (clear broth with attractive vegetables floating in it) was served in a large metal bowl. Then out came plates (on pedistles) of baked red pepper, saurkraut and very large pickles (the size of a sausage). Eventually the main dish of chicken and potatoes came and then we scooped some of the pepper, etc onto our plates. Dessert was apple "pie". It was a neat experience.
After lunch we had a walking tour of the old downtown core. Again, a mixture of old and new.
We were back to the boat late. They had to delay our departure.
The past two days were sunny with temperatures around 23.
Big thing I noticed here was the number of stray dogs. We've seen mainly stray cats before.
Thursday -- on the Danube
We had a wonderful discussion at breakfast this morning. One woman from DC is a builder of green homes. She has her own company of architects, machinery, operators, etc. Fascinating as she uses geothermal also. Then another couple from Tampa were discussing their homes, heritage and otherwise, etc. etc. Glad we had time to spend as we are just sailing this morning. We are soooo lucky where we live not having to deal with floods, hurricanes, tornados and high water table (eg the Tampa couple live 6 feet above sea level and their kids live on a manmade sand island that is about 2 feet above sea level. Fortunately, so far, the hurricanes get diverted before hitting this area.) She also enlightened us on her tour yesterday of the "Parliament" in Bucharest. This edifice is slightly smaller than the Pentagon and was just built for show. Inside there is gold leaf on the ceilings and woven into the curtains. The rooms are basically empty. And they are building a new huge Romanian Orthodox church next door. She is horrified as there are so many buildings that need to be reinforced and the money should be spent there. The historically interesting ones will fall in the next earthquake along with the families living in them.
Will try to send this today. No internet last night.
Today we left the very pretty city of Plovdin, going north to the Danube. We were given lots of info about the communist era. They describe the cement apartment buildings "communistic" . Each unit is about 700 square feet. I noticed that most people glass in their balconies which gives them a bit more room. I also often saw their laundry hanging there.
Power is supplied by coal. They have both public and private health care with the % of private increasing. Education is also both public and private with the private of better quality. Taxes are the lowest in the European Union but they also have very poor infrastructure. The gov'ts are elected too often and there is never any long term vision. The young people see that changes are needed but it will take a few years. But on the good side, our guide said that at least "we are now free". They drink more coffee than tea.
We went through a very interesting valley where growing roses is a lucrative industry. They pick the rose petals and make rose oil which is then sold to perfume, soap, skin care product, etc. manufacturers. This is unbelievable: About 3,000 people pick the blossoms around the end of May and into June. It takes 6 tons of blossoms to make l liter of oil! I can't imagine how many blossoms 6 tons would be! The vines look like our wild roses -- grow on trellises.
South and north Bulgaria are separated by the Balkan Mountains. It was a rather windy road that wended its way up then down to get to the other side. No skiing here as there is not enough snow. They do have ski resorts in the Sophia area to the west. They have several roads through this range. The one we were on was just for cars and busses. There is another one just for trucks.
The small villages are suffering because the young people go to the cities. Often see empty houses. Saw quite a few horses and carts.
It is an offence to be a gypsy so when census time comes, noone admits to it but there definitely is a good sized population there. The girls marry around 15/16. They don't have the same education as everyone else. Their ethnic origin is India/Pakistan. (A side note here that came today in my tour in Romania -- they are not Romanians as so many people think. Romanians get very upset when they are blamed as the source of them. The name Roma has nothing to do with Romania.) Our Bulgarian guide said they prefer to rob rather than work.
We had a typical Bulgarian lunch along the way: fresh organic salad with grated beets, veg soup, a stew of chicken, mushrooms and onions then 2 scoops of yogurt on a bed of honey. Yummie! Their yogurt is firm (was scooped like ice cream) and neither sweet nor tangy. It was topped with grated walnuts. I found out that our unknown dessert of last nite was also yogurt.
They delivered us to the ship which was docked at the town of Rousse (or Ruse), as promised, at 5 pm. We have a lovely little room on the second floor. We have a tiny balcony that holds 2 chairs, 2 easy chairs inside, a queen bed, cupboard space and a long desk with a flat screen tv. I got the suitcases unpacked and shoved them out of the way under the bed. It is soooo nice to not be living out of them.
We then had an orientation for safety, met all the bigwigs of the crew then had an overview of what is to happen the next day. Supper was late so we didn't finish that until about 10. There are the usual many choices of what to eat, all of them delicious. You can have up to 5 courses. I took 3 tonite.
Romania
We woke up this morning across the river from Bulgaria in the town of Biurgiu, Romania. We are now on the north shore of the Danube River. At 9 am we were on the bus for the hour long drive to Bucharest, Romania's capital. It is a mixture of old and new and is quite vibrant. But lots of communist buildings here as well. They call them "commie condos". But also sad to see so many abandoned factories and half built buildings. The communists had grandiose plans which didn't bear fruit. The young people here have the same comments as in Bulgaria -- they see the need for change but it will take awhile.
We had a tour of the city then went to a "village" where they have taken authentic buildings from all over the country and reassembled them here. One really interesting style was the half house. They dug a big hole in the ground and built the house in it (wood sides as usual). Only the top half of the house was above ground. This would help keep it warm in winter plus made it less burnable when the surrounding nations attacked. Many of the buildings came from Transalvania -- now that's a romantic sounding area.
We then had lunch is a restaurant that looks like it specializes in large groups. Service was extremely slow (there were about 125 of us so no wonder). We were entertained by a fantastic violin player plus his wife who sang some solos -- she is opera trained. The meal was quite interesting. The soup (clear broth with attractive vegetables floating in it) was served in a large metal bowl. Then out came plates (on pedistles) of baked red pepper, saurkraut and very large pickles (the size of a sausage). Eventually the main dish of chicken and potatoes came and then we scooped some of the pepper, etc onto our plates. Dessert was apple "pie". It was a neat experience.
After lunch we had a walking tour of the old downtown core. Again, a mixture of old and new.
We were back to the boat late. They had to delay our departure.
The past two days were sunny with temperatures around 23.
Big thing I noticed here was the number of stray dogs. We've seen mainly stray cats before.
Thursday -- on the Danube
We had a wonderful discussion at breakfast this morning. One woman from DC is a builder of green homes. She has her own company of architects, machinery, operators, etc. Fascinating as she uses geothermal also. Then another couple from Tampa were discussing their homes, heritage and otherwise, etc. etc. Glad we had time to spend as we are just sailing this morning. We are soooo lucky where we live not having to deal with floods, hurricanes, tornados and high water table (eg the Tampa couple live 6 feet above sea level and their kids live on a manmade sand island that is about 2 feet above sea level. Fortunately, so far, the hurricanes get diverted before hitting this area.) She also enlightened us on her tour yesterday of the "Parliament" in Bucharest. This edifice is slightly smaller than the Pentagon and was just built for show. Inside there is gold leaf on the ceilings and woven into the curtains. The rooms are basically empty. And they are building a new huge Romanian Orthodox church next door. She is horrified as there are so many buildings that need to be reinforced and the money should be spent there. The historically interesting ones will fall in the next earthquake along with the families living in them.
Will try to send this today. No internet last night.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Monday
We left for Bulgaria at 8 am. It took an hour to get out of the city -- on fast highways --such a huge place. The traffic heading into Istanbul was horrendous. Horrible communate which can take several hours. Most people live in the outskirts -- in thousands and thousands of highrises. Only saw a few single family homes in the outer area. 72% own their own home (read condo) and mortgages have only been available in the past five years. Istanbul has a western life style. They shop in malls for the most part (95 in the city). A new rule for cars: when you buy a new one you must also buy a parking spot.One gallon of gas is $10 (68% taxes).
There are now new rules for building since the earthquake of 15 years ago when 17,000 were killed. Would have been more if the epicenter was in the city. All schools have been reinforced as well as gov't buildings. They are working on the homeowners to do theirs. Turkey sits on the Asian, European, African and Arabic plates so lots of movement.
All education is free including university. Out of town students also get accommodation and meals paid for. By the end of this year, every student will have their own computer.
Had a bathroom stop at Corlo where we had Turkish black tea.It's served in a funny shaped glass on a saucer.Turkish people drink the most tea in the world -- per person.Ireland is next then China.
They produce 70% of the world's hazlenuts but lost their crop this spring due to an untimely frost.We also passed fields of sunflowers which were wrecked by heavy rains in June.The area heading north is like "big sky" country. Lots of crops grown here.
I now know how to make Turkish coffee so will try it as soon as I get home. We had a typical Turkish lunch in a town just south of the border -- chicken on a stick, fried meat balls, rice and salad. Dessert was watermelon.
At the border we had to get out of the bus and hand our passports in then got them back right away. This took some time as there were 3 busloads of us. Then our driver had some problem and it was ages before he finally showed up. Must have spent more than an hour cooling our heels. We had switched to Bulgarian busses at the lunch spot. Then we had to drive a few hundred yards to the Bulgarian border and show our passports again. This was very straightforward thank goodness. We felt sorry for the transport trucks going back into Turkey -- solid line for a mile and could take two days to get through.
23 degrees and sunny. First time we've been able to walk around without jackets.
We had about 5 hours of driving so finally got to our hotel in Provdin. We then had a small walking tour of the old town. They have found really old ruins under what was supposed to be a new building. Needless to say construction stopped and the area has become a dig. Just down the street they've uncovered an old coleseum (or rather a part of it). The rest is under the town.
Dinner was a typical Bulgarian meal -- very nice -- salad, a piece of scalloped potato, then pork with mashed potato followed by dessert of unknown content but delicious.
By the way, my scarf did double duty the other day. I'd been wearing it to keep my neck warm then it turned into a head scarf for going into the mosque.
We left for Bulgaria at 8 am. It took an hour to get out of the city -- on fast highways --such a huge place. The traffic heading into Istanbul was horrendous. Horrible communate which can take several hours. Most people live in the outskirts -- in thousands and thousands of highrises. Only saw a few single family homes in the outer area. 72% own their own home (read condo) and mortgages have only been available in the past five years. Istanbul has a western life style. They shop in malls for the most part (95 in the city). A new rule for cars: when you buy a new one you must also buy a parking spot.One gallon of gas is $10 (68% taxes).
There are now new rules for building since the earthquake of 15 years ago when 17,000 were killed. Would have been more if the epicenter was in the city. All schools have been reinforced as well as gov't buildings. They are working on the homeowners to do theirs. Turkey sits on the Asian, European, African and Arabic plates so lots of movement.
All education is free including university. Out of town students also get accommodation and meals paid for. By the end of this year, every student will have their own computer.
Had a bathroom stop at Corlo where we had Turkish black tea.It's served in a funny shaped glass on a saucer.Turkish people drink the most tea in the world -- per person.Ireland is next then China.
They produce 70% of the world's hazlenuts but lost their crop this spring due to an untimely frost.We also passed fields of sunflowers which were wrecked by heavy rains in June.The area heading north is like "big sky" country. Lots of crops grown here.
I now know how to make Turkish coffee so will try it as soon as I get home. We had a typical Turkish lunch in a town just south of the border -- chicken on a stick, fried meat balls, rice and salad. Dessert was watermelon.
At the border we had to get out of the bus and hand our passports in then got them back right away. This took some time as there were 3 busloads of us. Then our driver had some problem and it was ages before he finally showed up. Must have spent more than an hour cooling our heels. We had switched to Bulgarian busses at the lunch spot. Then we had to drive a few hundred yards to the Bulgarian border and show our passports again. This was very straightforward thank goodness. We felt sorry for the transport trucks going back into Turkey -- solid line for a mile and could take two days to get through.
23 degrees and sunny. First time we've been able to walk around without jackets.
We had about 5 hours of driving so finally got to our hotel in Provdin. We then had a small walking tour of the old town. They have found really old ruins under what was supposed to be a new building. Needless to say construction stopped and the area has become a dig. Just down the street they've uncovered an old coleseum (or rather a part of it). The rest is under the town.
Dinner was a typical Bulgarian meal -- very nice -- salad, a piece of scalloped potato, then pork with mashed potato followed by dessert of unknown content but delicious.
By the way, my scarf did double duty the other day. I'd been wearing it to keep my neck warm then it turned into a head scarf for going into the mosque.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Istanbul #2
Forgot a few things from yesterday. We saw in the Hagia Sophia huge columns supporting the roof. These were all recycled. Many buildings over the centuries have collapsed due to earthquakes, leaving these columns standing. Another place which recycled them was the cistern. This place is huge and used to be filled to the top with water. So, when they used the recycled stuff, they didn't bother with what it would look like. The columns had different bottoms and tops and in one area there were two bases with Medusa carved in them. One was upside down and the other sideways. This cistern was abandoned for years until some smart city official figured out that they could make big bucks charging for tourists to look at it all.
The breakfast spread is enormous but has some interesting differences: halvah, Turkish delight and honeycombs.
Our sleep patterns are normal. I slept 9 hours the first night so no jet lag.
Interesting things which I've noted in my travels: the more expensive hotels charge for internet and the cheaper ones don't.
Windy this morning. Hard rain in the nite. We are told they often get a spell of this weather after the summer then Oct. can be beautiful. Forecast for tomorrow is for mostly sunny. Today the wind was so strong they cancelled our boat tour of the Bosphorus.
This morning we toured the Topkapi Palace which was used by many Sultans for 400 years. This was during the Ottoman empire which ended in 1914. We toured the harem quarters. Interesting fact: the concubines were from 8 to 14 years old and they were there to get an education. After 14 they could marry (would be to royalty, someone high up in the military or government) or they could stay and work, teach, etc. They were never even seen by the Sultan and were virgins until they married. We all had the idea it was otherwise. The Sultan's mother ruled the household and his wives fought over who would be the mother of the next Sultan. Eunochs guarded the harem. There were 684 rooms in the palace -- simple small rooms (easier to heat).
Speaking of heat: they rarely get snow in Istanbul and it goes down to about 7 or so in the winter.
In another area of the palace we saw the magnificent gifts given to various Sultans eg. gem encrusted swords, crowns, boxes, and even thrones. Saw the world's largest diamond-- 87 carats.
In the afternoon we were driven to the Spice Market which I found more interesting than the huge Grand Bazaar was yesterday. Bought some genuine Turkish delight -- at our guide's favorite booth. I had bought some yesterday made with sugar and cheaper. The good stuff is made with honey.
That was the end of our day. Lots of wind with some rain. The street vendors sell umbrellas which are so cheap they blow inside out right away. Saw many abandoned ones by the sidewalk.
See lots of cats around -- no owners. And today I saw some dogs which are also strays. Rare to see dogs on leashes.
Traffic is horrendous. Driving here as a foreigner would be a nightmare.They don't seem to worry about lanes and all juggle for one small space. Amazingly the cars appear intact.
Tomorrow we move north by bus to Bulgaria.
Forgot a few things from yesterday. We saw in the Hagia Sophia huge columns supporting the roof. These were all recycled. Many buildings over the centuries have collapsed due to earthquakes, leaving these columns standing. Another place which recycled them was the cistern. This place is huge and used to be filled to the top with water. So, when they used the recycled stuff, they didn't bother with what it would look like. The columns had different bottoms and tops and in one area there were two bases with Medusa carved in them. One was upside down and the other sideways. This cistern was abandoned for years until some smart city official figured out that they could make big bucks charging for tourists to look at it all.
The breakfast spread is enormous but has some interesting differences: halvah, Turkish delight and honeycombs.
Our sleep patterns are normal. I slept 9 hours the first night so no jet lag.
Interesting things which I've noted in my travels: the more expensive hotels charge for internet and the cheaper ones don't.
Windy this morning. Hard rain in the nite. We are told they often get a spell of this weather after the summer then Oct. can be beautiful. Forecast for tomorrow is for mostly sunny. Today the wind was so strong they cancelled our boat tour of the Bosphorus.
This morning we toured the Topkapi Palace which was used by many Sultans for 400 years. This was during the Ottoman empire which ended in 1914. We toured the harem quarters. Interesting fact: the concubines were from 8 to 14 years old and they were there to get an education. After 14 they could marry (would be to royalty, someone high up in the military or government) or they could stay and work, teach, etc. They were never even seen by the Sultan and were virgins until they married. We all had the idea it was otherwise. The Sultan's mother ruled the household and his wives fought over who would be the mother of the next Sultan. Eunochs guarded the harem. There were 684 rooms in the palace -- simple small rooms (easier to heat).
Speaking of heat: they rarely get snow in Istanbul and it goes down to about 7 or so in the winter.
In another area of the palace we saw the magnificent gifts given to various Sultans eg. gem encrusted swords, crowns, boxes, and even thrones. Saw the world's largest diamond-- 87 carats.
In the afternoon we were driven to the Spice Market which I found more interesting than the huge Grand Bazaar was yesterday. Bought some genuine Turkish delight -- at our guide's favorite booth. I had bought some yesterday made with sugar and cheaper. The good stuff is made with honey.
That was the end of our day. Lots of wind with some rain. The street vendors sell umbrellas which are so cheap they blow inside out right away. Saw many abandoned ones by the sidewalk.
See lots of cats around -- no owners. And today I saw some dogs which are also strays. Rare to see dogs on leashes.
Traffic is horrendous. Driving here as a foreigner would be a nightmare.They don't seem to worry about lanes and all juggle for one small space. Amazingly the cars appear intact.
Tomorrow we move north by bus to Bulgaria.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Istanbul #1 -- Thurs/Fri Sept 25/26
Travel is very tiring. We got up at 6 am and were here eating supper by 10 am (the next day) your time and 8 pm our time here. There are so many hours spent waiting in airports. But, all in all, the flights went well. Eleanor -- it was cloudy so I didn't see those wind turbines in the North Sea though we probably flew over that area. Only clear sky was just south of Glasgow so saw a few lights.
It's so nice being looked after. We were met at the airport along with two other couples. A van took us to our hotel. This took about an hour because of distance plus rush hour traffic. This city is huge. They have some beautiful landscaping in the newer areas. There are geometrical and freeform arrangements of planted flowers/shrubs through the grass meridians. Very nice and also unusual. Then we got into some of the older areas. Interesting buildings -- many seem to be about one room width wide. There is often a missing one or one with no windows. The narrowness is quite noticeable because they can be three or four stories high.
We are both exhausted. I slept a fair bit on the plane but by the time we got here my body was telling me to stay asleep.
I had an interesting supper -- warm dates stuffed with goat cheese over a bed of interesting greens. The "butter"with the buns must have been goat as it had such an nice flavor.
This is a 5 star (at least) hotel. Huge lobby with live music, beautiful flower arrangements, etc. Our cruise company has a desk that's open all day.
Saturday
What a busy, interesting day (though it rained a lot). We had a bus tour of the city. It is very, very old and certainly worth a second trip sometime for anyone interested in old stuff. We saw classical Ottoman, Roman and Byzantine architecture. The aqueducts were made 1600 years ago and brought water into the city cisterns until the 19th century.
The old city walls had three stages: first one was low and easy to climb, the second one was harder and taller then the third was tall and smooth. The first two sucked in the invaders who were then trapped between 2 and 3 to get killed by arrows or else have boiling oil poured on them. Today the area on the road side of the walls is farmed for organic vegetables. This provides income for people plus keeps the riff raff out of the area. The towers are mostly destroyed by earthquakes. There are 20 miles of wall.
Population and economy are booming. Pop was 1.7 million in 1953, 7 million in 1986 and today is 16 million. Two thirds of these live on the Europe side and one third on the Asian side. Nine hundred new cars are registered daily. There are 3.5 million cars -- highest density in the world. And it is the largest city in the world.
The Bosphorus is the body of water between the two parts of the city. When digging a new tunnel to go under this they found 38 wrecks, including cargos, from 400 years ago -- probably caused by an earthquake and ensuing tidal wave. At the moment all this is being preserved. They also found 8400 year old settlements under the old harbour where the wrecks were found.Turkey is also home to the oldest cave homes -- up to 45,000 years old.
Turkey's #1 industry is agriculture. Istanbul's #1 is textiles followed by automotive manufacturing.They had 8.6% growth in 2012 with a GDP of $11,000 per person -- up 3x in the past 10 years. All industry is banned from the city core and shorelines of the Bosphorus so the air is now clean. This industry is moved to the outskirsts.
Lots of Jews have come here over the centuries -- whenever they were persecuted in their original countries. So the part of Istanbul they settled in became very rich.
There are 2 million refugees in the eastern part. They are well looked after with schools, health care, etc.They are the best refugee camps in the world. They are strongly discouraged from coming to the west part as then they go on into Europe. These countries frown on that so Turkey tries to stop it from happening.
We had a walking tour of the old City which included the Hippodrome where they used to have horse races way back when. Also had a tour of the Blue Mosque. It is called Blue because of the interior decor of tiles. Blue was the cheapest color to make them of plus it withstands the firing process quite well so less breakage. After this was a carpet making demo. It is absolutely amazing how many knots are in a square inch of carpet -- thousands. Smaller rugs take up to 2 years to make! The silk ones are the hardest wearing, lasting over 200 years in a high traffic area. Also are easy to wash. We, of course, got the showing of many carpets plus an onslot of salesmen to "help" us after. I actually bought a small one for a wall hanging. Full sized floor ones were running 16 to 20,000 dollars in the silk. Other fibers were marino wool, pashmina or cotton. They served us a variety of drinks plus a snack. I had strong Turkish coffee. It is made with the sugar in it already. When I was done there was a thick layer on sludge at the bottom of the cup. Delicious. Don had the famous apple tea which is very similar to our hot apple cider.
The afternoon was spent going through the Hagia Sophia which is one of the world's great buildings. Completed 1500 years ago as a church, it became a mosque in 1453 then a museum in 1935. After this we had an hour in the famous Grand Bazaar. Actually, it had maybe ten or twelve different stores repeated over and over. The jewelry was out of sight "glitter" -- quite ugly. The ceramics are gaudy and unsafe as they likely have lead.
Travel is very tiring. We got up at 6 am and were here eating supper by 10 am (the next day) your time and 8 pm our time here. There are so many hours spent waiting in airports. But, all in all, the flights went well. Eleanor -- it was cloudy so I didn't see those wind turbines in the North Sea though we probably flew over that area. Only clear sky was just south of Glasgow so saw a few lights.
It's so nice being looked after. We were met at the airport along with two other couples. A van took us to our hotel. This took about an hour because of distance plus rush hour traffic. This city is huge. They have some beautiful landscaping in the newer areas. There are geometrical and freeform arrangements of planted flowers/shrubs through the grass meridians. Very nice and also unusual. Then we got into some of the older areas. Interesting buildings -- many seem to be about one room width wide. There is often a missing one or one with no windows. The narrowness is quite noticeable because they can be three or four stories high.
We are both exhausted. I slept a fair bit on the plane but by the time we got here my body was telling me to stay asleep.
I had an interesting supper -- warm dates stuffed with goat cheese over a bed of interesting greens. The "butter"with the buns must have been goat as it had such an nice flavor.
This is a 5 star (at least) hotel. Huge lobby with live music, beautiful flower arrangements, etc. Our cruise company has a desk that's open all day.
Saturday
What a busy, interesting day (though it rained a lot). We had a bus tour of the city. It is very, very old and certainly worth a second trip sometime for anyone interested in old stuff. We saw classical Ottoman, Roman and Byzantine architecture. The aqueducts were made 1600 years ago and brought water into the city cisterns until the 19th century.
The old city walls had three stages: first one was low and easy to climb, the second one was harder and taller then the third was tall and smooth. The first two sucked in the invaders who were then trapped between 2 and 3 to get killed by arrows or else have boiling oil poured on them. Today the area on the road side of the walls is farmed for organic vegetables. This provides income for people plus keeps the riff raff out of the area. The towers are mostly destroyed by earthquakes. There are 20 miles of wall.
Population and economy are booming. Pop was 1.7 million in 1953, 7 million in 1986 and today is 16 million. Two thirds of these live on the Europe side and one third on the Asian side. Nine hundred new cars are registered daily. There are 3.5 million cars -- highest density in the world. And it is the largest city in the world.
The Bosphorus is the body of water between the two parts of the city. When digging a new tunnel to go under this they found 38 wrecks, including cargos, from 400 years ago -- probably caused by an earthquake and ensuing tidal wave. At the moment all this is being preserved. They also found 8400 year old settlements under the old harbour where the wrecks were found.Turkey is also home to the oldest cave homes -- up to 45,000 years old.
Turkey's #1 industry is agriculture. Istanbul's #1 is textiles followed by automotive manufacturing.They had 8.6% growth in 2012 with a GDP of $11,000 per person -- up 3x in the past 10 years. All industry is banned from the city core and shorelines of the Bosphorus so the air is now clean. This industry is moved to the outskirsts.
Lots of Jews have come here over the centuries -- whenever they were persecuted in their original countries. So the part of Istanbul they settled in became very rich.
There are 2 million refugees in the eastern part. They are well looked after with schools, health care, etc.They are the best refugee camps in the world. They are strongly discouraged from coming to the west part as then they go on into Europe. These countries frown on that so Turkey tries to stop it from happening.
We had a walking tour of the old City which included the Hippodrome where they used to have horse races way back when. Also had a tour of the Blue Mosque. It is called Blue because of the interior decor of tiles. Blue was the cheapest color to make them of plus it withstands the firing process quite well so less breakage. After this was a carpet making demo. It is absolutely amazing how many knots are in a square inch of carpet -- thousands. Smaller rugs take up to 2 years to make! The silk ones are the hardest wearing, lasting over 200 years in a high traffic area. Also are easy to wash. We, of course, got the showing of many carpets plus an onslot of salesmen to "help" us after. I actually bought a small one for a wall hanging. Full sized floor ones were running 16 to 20,000 dollars in the silk. Other fibers were marino wool, pashmina or cotton. They served us a variety of drinks plus a snack. I had strong Turkish coffee. It is made with the sugar in it already. When I was done there was a thick layer on sludge at the bottom of the cup. Delicious. Don had the famous apple tea which is very similar to our hot apple cider.
The afternoon was spent going through the Hagia Sophia which is one of the world's great buildings. Completed 1500 years ago as a church, it became a mosque in 1453 then a museum in 1935. After this we had an hour in the famous Grand Bazaar. Actually, it had maybe ten or twelve different stores repeated over and over. The jewelry was out of sight "glitter" -- quite ugly. The ceramics are gaudy and unsafe as they likely have lead.
Friday, September 12, 2014
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