It's Istanbul not Constantinople

Hey all! I thought it was about time to tell you about my trip to Istanbul that I got to take in the middle of March. It was a really quick trip; we were only in the city for about two days and on a bus for another 15 hours travelling, but it was very eye opening. I've been wanting to go to Istanbul for years so I jumped on the opportunity when a professor said he was sponsoring a trip for a class. My pictures are more interesting than me rambling on about really cool ancient things so I'll just post the pictures and add a little comment when needed.

Crossing the border into Turkey was insane! First, we took a night bus so we got to the border around 1:30am. We had to get out of the bus four different times. This picture represents time number three when we hauled our bags out, stood in the cold for 20 minutes so some random guys who didn't even look like border patrol could pat the tops of them. Very effective I'm sure.

Inside the Hagia Sofia, the church built by Justinian that was turned into a mosque under the Ottoman Empire and is now a museum. It was so beautiful in an ancient sort of way. Of course after I took this picture my camera died and I didn't have any extra batteries so this is one of the few pictures I have of the church.

The outside of the Hagia Sofia. The menuets were placed there after it became a mosque.

Me. In the distance is the Blue Mosque, which is right across a park from the Hagia Sofia. It's incredibly beautiful and I took about a million pictures of it that I'd be happy to show you sometime.

The Blue Mosque and part of the old city. This was near the old Roman wall so I'm going to hazard a guess that it's somehow related to that, but don't take my word for it.

Inside the Grand Bazaar it's very easy to get lost in its labyrinth of shops. This was one of my favorite parts of Istanbul. Everyone was selling something from spices to dishes to scarves and jewlery. There was also tea delivery service for the shop workers. Turkish tea is very sweet and served in small glass cups. Of course the shop workers are very aggressive and will try to sell you anything and you have to bargain with them. I'm not very adept at this but I caught the hang of it eventually.

A marker from which all distances were measure during the Byzantine Empire.

We visited the underground cistern and it was another of my favorite sites. I also took tons of pictures of the lighted columns. The entrance was a small unremarkable stone building but once I descended down a flight of stairs into the cool air I realized a giant lake existed beneath the street on which I had just been walking.

We visited the Topkapi Palace, which was the home of the Sultans and is now a museum. This is a model of the entire Palace, which seemed more like a garden with various buildings scattered about inside. We visited the treasury and saw a lot of gold and jewels. We also saw a lot of relics (supposedly - I'm a little skeptical that we actually saw Abrahams turban, David's sword, and St. John's arm, which was gross).

Men were fishing in the Golden Horn and then selling their fish to vendors who would cook it up and put it in a sandwich to sell to people. Istanbul seemed full of people all the time. We always had to weave our way through crowds to get anywhere.

The Bosphorus. On the other side is Asia. You can hardly see it through the fog. We didn't have enough time to venture over but I waved.

People seemed pretty used to foreigners but I still received a lot of stares with my blonde hair. We also visited a couple museums, including a mosaic museum and the Archaeological museum. All in all it was a wonderful trip and I'm very glad I got to visit. I would go back and spend more time there if I ever got the chance.

Orthodox Easter

Last Sunday the Orthodox Church celebrated their Easter and since Bulgaria is mainly Orthodox it was a big holiday here. Easter is less commercial here than in the States but for most people it has very little to do with Jesus and more with tradition. It's probably the only day during the year when most Bulgarians go to church. Bulgarians dye eggs but instead of hiding them for kids to hunt for they have little egg battles where they knock their eggs against each other and the person whose egg doesn't break first is the winner.

The Easter service is held Saturday night at midnight. I went with a couple friends to the main Orthodox church in town. It seemed like everyone from Blagoevgrad was there, crowded in the courtyard and the surrounding streets. The priests would walk through the crowd with their candles, chanting something in Bulgarian, and everyone would light their candles on the priests'. Soon the entire courtyard was lit up with candle light and at midnight the bells rang and everyone said (in Bulgarian) "Christ is Risen" and then broke their eggs. It felt very cozy nestled in the crowd although there were several times I saw someone's hair almost get set on fire. And I feared for my own hair as well. It was kind of comical to watch Bulgarians try to smoke their cigarettes and hold a candle at the same time except those were also the moments when I envisioned the entire wood church going up in flames. Then everyone headed home with the goal of keeping their candles lit the entire way. It's to symbolize bringing the living Christ into your home but most Bulgarians think it will give them good luck. Needless to say it was a very nice experience.

I had a heck of a time trying to light my candle

The church

Everyone with lit candles

Update

I think I should probably update you on the happenings in the BG during the month of April. I had several choir concerts around the country - Blagoevgrad, Plovdiv, and Sofia (in the largest hall in all of Bulgaria). The choir has around 30 members and it's pretty good (not to brag or anything). We have a very wide range of songs in our repertoir, ranging from Mozart to Frank Sinatra (if you think it would be weird to hear "New York New York" sung by a choir, you'd be right) to traditional Bulgarian Orthodox hymns. When I first saw the choir uniforms (see below) I thought we all looked like waitresses. Later I found out the vests were donated by a restaurant in Macedonia, so I was close!!

My friend Maria and I with our Choir director, Hristo Krotev.



Martin, Savina, me, and Mitko at our concert in Plovdiv.

Dinner after a long concert in Plovdiv.

The AUBG choir 15th anniversary.

Other than that I've just been getting on with classes and spending time with people. There's only 2 1/2 weeks of the semester left. This Sunday is Orthodox Easter so I'm going to go to an Orthodox service (their Easter services are on Saturday night at 11pm). I'll let you all know how that goes.

I thought I might tell you a little of what I've learned about Bulgaria since I've been here (and the Balkans in general I think).
Lesson #1: People wear their wedding rings on their right hand ring finger. There's an American girl here this semester who is engaged but she was wearing her ring on her left hand and she kept getting hit on by Bulgarians, who didn't believe her when she told them she was engaged.
Lesson #2: Let's say your first class is supposed to start at 12:15. This is about the time people will wake up to go to the class. This means that everyone is perpetually late for everything, except free food.
Lesson #3: This one isn't very funny and is a problem for the Balkans in general. The gypsies (or Roma) and people from the villages still use horse drawn wagons to get around. We also always have gypsies going through the big dumpsters behind the dorms. They tie their horse up on the tree in the yard. We've named him Clippity Clop because that's the sound his hooves make on the stone roads.
Lesson #4: Don't pet the stray dogs because they'll follow you around for the rest of the day.

Au Revoir Paris!

The next day we visited Notre Dame. It was Palm Sunday so the church was filled with tourists and those actually going to Mass. It was really beautiful though to hear Palm Sunday Mass at Notre Dame. We also visited the Opera. The very Opera where Phantom of the Opera is set. I was basically jumping out of my skin with giddiness because this has been one of my favorite books for a long long time and we actually got to go in and see the grand staircase and the entryway. It's such a beautiful building; I'm sure I could have wandered around the rest of the day. But Krista and Sarah both had to catch their trains so we headed back to the hostel where we chilled until it was time to take the metro to their respective bus stations while I had to say goodbye and see them off.

I contemplated going out to see some of Paris but it was getting dark and didn't really want to walk the streets by myself so I headed back to the hostel. This was when I realized I had mastered the intricate metro system and was incredibly proud of myself. Sadly I had to leave Paris the next day.

So I had mastered the metro but I had NOT mastered Charles De Gaulle Airport. This is the most confusing, gigantic place I've ever been to. I knew my flight number but had no clue as to which one of the vast terminals I was supposed to depart from. Honestly I was really really scared that I would miss my flight but luckily I had plenty of time (although when you're kind of lost it doesn't seem like you have that much time). I wandered down one hallway and about halfway down remembered which terminal I had come in at so I headed back the opposite way hoping that I would fly out the same way I came in. Success! I found my gate, checked in, and made it through the ridiculous security. After finding my way around CDG I feel like I could climb Mount Everest. Then said goodbye to Paris and headed back to Bulgaria.

The Opera Garnier

Me, very exited to be standing in front of the Grand Staircase at the Opera.

Notre Dame. I can't claim this picture - Krista took it.

Sarah and Krista in front of Notre Dame.

This is the warning that they put on the metro doors. It says - Attention! Do not put your hands in the door: You risk having them pinched very hard. I think it's rather funny that they use a rabbit. Funny, confusing, and mildly disturbing.

More Paris

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted anything! I'll continue with my trip to France...

Saturday morning Krista, Sarah, and I eat a delightful French breakfast of baguettes and drink American coffee (which made me really really happy because all they seem to have in Europe is espresso). Then we headed to a really amazing modern photography museum. I was really excited for this because it's not something that everyone gets to do when they visit Paris. The museum was in the historical bohemian Marais district and we walked around and window shopped and then ate a very French lunch of savory crepes (with ham and cheese) and sweet crepes (chocolate...mmm).

After our lunch Sarah took us the the upscale St. Germaine Street to do more window shopping! Two of the most famous Parisian cafes are on this street - Les Deux Magots, and the other one, which I can't remember. After trying on some clothes that we definitely could not afford we decided to take a pause (as the French call it) and rest our feet at a cafe where we drank espresso with a shot of orange flavor and watched a rugby match on the TV. We formulated an amazing plan to watch the Eiffel Tower light up while drinking champagne and eating Chinese food because we were starving. We get Chinese takeout, buy the Champagne (we also decided to buy strawberries and chocolate, why not right?) and take the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the weather decided not to cooperate and rain on our little picnic. But our brilliant plan would not be thwarted so we persevered through the rain with our food, huddled under umbrellas.

The Eiffel Tower sparkles and shimmers and is absolutely breathtaking at night. We gaze at it for awhile, realize our Chinese is getting cold, and find a bench to sit on. Well, we're smart girls so we grabbed a sacrificial towel from the hostel to put on the wet bench to sit on. It was quite a riot, us three huddled on a wet bench, under the amazing Tower (which we couldn't really see because of our umbrellas) trying to eat Chinese. By the time the food was gone we resembled drowned cold rats and decided to drink the champagne back in the comfort of the hostel. We headed back and enjoyed the night in each others company and my first bottle of real champagne!

She's so sparkly and pretty!

Under the umbrellas...in front of the Eiffel Tower!

Trying to eat Chinese food in the rain is tricky!

Our champagne toast!

I love Paris in the spring time

The second weekend of March I was lucky enough to spend in the city of lights with two of my good friends from Lincoln, Sarah and Krista. Sarah is studying this semester in France and Krista studying in Spain and we decided to meet one weekend during the semester and we chose Paris as our destination.


Krista and I arrived by plane Thursday night and met in the airport. This was very good otherwise I would have probably gotten lost in Charles De Gaulle (which is huge) and still be trying to figure out the RER transport system that gets you into Paris. But Krista and I conquerd it AND the Paris metro (two very different things). It took about an hour to get from CDG to our hip new hostel Sarah found for us. I was able to practice my french when Krista and I went for dinner and the waiter said I spoke very well! And I should hope so after almost 3 years of college French.


Sarah arrived the next morning and we were off to explore the city. We visited the Arc de Triomphe, which in my opinion (and Sarah's), has the best view of Paris because you can see the Eiffel Tower. We gallavanted down the famously expensive and ritzy Champs Elysses and paused for some brief window shopping at Cartier, drawing looks from passers by with our ooohs and ahhs. We ate some delicious French food at an outside cafe. Then we took the metro to Sacre Coeur. We took a turn around the bohemian and artsy Montmartre quarter, looking at artists' paintings. I've been to Paris before but it's still very surreal to see all the famous monuments and realize I'm in Paris with two of my best friends! Krista kept wondering how we got to be old enough to do something like this.


The Louvre is free for students on Friday nights so we headed there next. I think I could spend weeks in this place. We saw the famous works of art for Krista, whose never been here before. We looked at the ancient Egyptian artifacts for me, who still secretly wants to be an egyptologist. After they kicked us out of the museum we walked down the Seine to the Latin Quarter, traditionally where the students hang out. The streets are narrow and filled with bright colors and the breaking of dishes as waiters try to entice visitors into their restaurants. We ate an amazing dinner of coucous, vegetables, and beef and shared my first bottle of French wine at a Moroccan restaurant.

Paris from the top of the L'Arc de Triomph

Me, Sarah, and Krista. We're in Paris!

You can buy chocolate crepes on the street. Mmmm. This picture is in Montmartre.

At the Louvre in front of the glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei.

Me trying to be artsy with the camera.

Spring Break Adieu

The last non-travel day of spring break we spent in Dubrovnik. It was pretty rainy most of the day so once again we cafe and shop hopped. Because of the Venetian influence on the area as well as the tourist industry most of the food we ate here resembled Italian food - pizza, pasta, even a fruit smoothie (not really Italian but pretty out of place in the Balkans). Mid-afternoon Nikola picked us up and drove us up the side of the mountain towering above the city to "make pictures". We made some beautiful ones and saw the remains of a chair lift that had been bombed by the Yugoslav People's Army in 1991 soon after Croatia declared their independence. The lift had been used to carry Croatian soldiers to the top of the mountain for defense purposes. It turned out Nikola had been in the Croatian army for 3 years. There is a map in the old city of Dubrovnik (a UNESCO world heritage site) showing every building that was hit during the seven month long siege of Dubrovnik. It still isn't safe to do much hiking on the mountains outside of Dubrovnik because of land mines.

Sunrise in Dubrovnik from our rooms.

Dubrovnik Stari Grad


Dubrovnik - The Pearl of the Adriatic

Nikola took a picture of us.

The bombed ski lift

Our bus didn't leave Dubrovnik until almost 9 that night. It was a 4 hour ride back to Ulcinj, Montenegro, where Nikola had set us up with some rooms with a buddy of his, Sinan. Our bus to Kosovo left early the next morning and this happened to be the night of Daylight Savings Time in the states so I made Kim and Oscar get up early just as if the time had changed. Well, the time in the Balkans and most of Europe doesn't change until this week. Who would have known, right? Unfortunately Kim and Oscar were a little perturbed that I made them wake up at 5 am when they could have slept for another hour.

Onto Croatia!

Our bus doesn't leave for Dubrovnik, Croatia until 3pm so we have practically the entire day in Kotor. We head back to the old city after leaving our bags in the bus station (we had to check out of our apartment and for 1 euro the bus station kept our bags in a room). We wanted to hike up the mountain to the old castle/fortress but unfortunately it was raining pretty hard. We decided to cafe hop for awhile in the old city, spending time with the locals and drinking a lot of coffee. We visited one of the churches in the old city and bought much needed umbrellas. Around 1pm we decided we better brave the rain if we wanted to go on our hike so we started up the stone stairs that had been built into the mountain.

The view from our apartment


Kotor Stari Grad and mountain


Kim and Oscar in the rain on our hike

The view of the bay


The view of Kotor Stari Grad

We hiked for maybe a half an hour and had made it to a group of ruins just below the actual fortress. From the side of the hill you could see all the way out into the bay. We were debating on whether we had enough time to climb the rest of the way when a kind of scraggly looking man emerged from the ruins. His english was pretty good and he seemed nice but he was dirty and wore really odd mismatched clothes and we decided not to risk it. He invited us for coffee but we politely declined with the excuse that we had to catch our bus. So we headed back down the side of the mountian, grabbed a snack, and went to the bus station to wait for our bus.

The bus ride to Dubrovnik took about 2 hours and was a beautiful ride first along the bay and then along the coast. Unfortunately it was also very windy and I got a little car sick. The border patrol officer at the border into Croatia was trying to make small talk with me about Bruce Springsteen but I was sure I was going to throw up all over him. When we pulled into the bus station in Dubrovnik who should be waiting for us but Nikola. He took us and another guy to the rooms he rents out to travelers. He had just bought and refinished a new building so we got another little apartment with two rooms, an entry, and a bathroom. Nikola said that during the tourist season the town of Dubrovnik doubles in size on the weekends because of the cruise ships that stop here.

After we put our stuff in the rooms Nikola drove us to the Old City of Dubrovnik. This old city has a very different feel from the old cities in Montenegro. Everything was bigger - the streets, the shops, the restaurants. You enter the city by a bridge over a moat and are greeted by a plethora of different shops. At the far end of the main street is an old clock tower and further down are a couple churches. We ate dinner at a restaurant recommended to us by Let's Go! Eastern Europe. We had wonderful seafood. I split cuttlefish risotto and grilled octopus with Oscar and Kim had a huge pan of shrimp. Then we walked around and decided to grab a drink in the Irish Pub (I swear there's an Irish Pub in every Balkan city). It was smokey inside so we only stayed for about a half an hour inside then called Nikola, who came and picked us up.


Satisfied after my cuttlefish risotto dinner

Oscar with our friend and driver Nikola

Springbreak - the saga continues

Sorry I haven't written for awhile. I will continue...

We wake up on Thursday in Budva and decide to head back to the Stari Grad and see it by day. But before we make it inside the walls of the old city we are distracted by the Adriatic Sea. I think I may have mentioned earlier how it smelled but I'll say it again...it was fresh and cool and it didn't smell like Bulgaria at all. We hung out on the beach for a few minutes then walked along a path away from the Stari Grad and around some rocks. We end up on a little beach. Since it's still early March we're about the only people there. Kim and I took off our shoes and put our feet in the freezing cold water and got our pants soaked as a reward. Then we headed back to the Stari Grad, walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere and citrus trees. We ate lunch at a cafe by the water and then headed back to the bus station to catch the next bus to Kotor, Montenegro.



Beach and Budva Stari Grad

A church in the Stari Grad



More Budva Stari Grad

On our walk around the cliff to the beach we ran into this flexible lady (the statue, not me) overlooking the water.

Kim and I in the Adriatic

It was a very short bus ride. Kotor is inland a little ways but is nestled between a bay and old mountains. The Stari Grad is very similar to Budva's but bigger and rising above the white walls are the ruins of an old castle/fortress built up in the mountain. We nicknamed this place Minas Tirith from the Lord of the Rings because that's what it reminded us of. We get to Kotor around 2pm and begin the search for the hostel I have directions for. We ask people who have never heard of it but point us down one street, where we don't find it, and ask another person who points us back the way we came. It went on like this for about an hour when we decide to go to a travel agency and find another room. Oh, I almost forgot about Nikola. While we're searching, a man crosses the street and asks if he can help us. He speaks very good English but I'm a little suspicious. He's not from Kotor; he's from Dubrovnik, about 2 hours away. He tells us we're travelling for a week and we've been studying for 2 months in Bulgaria. Now I'm a little freaked out because how could he know this. Then he starts describing three Americans who had stayed with him the other night and they turned out to be our friends from school who had told him about us. He rents out rooms for travelers and gave us his card.


The old Castle/Fortress in Kotor

Kotor bay and the mountains behind

Kotor Stari Grad

We then go to the travel agency and a helpful lady finds us a room to rent for the night. It's aways from the old city but it's relatively cheap and the owner picks us up and drives us. Compared to the other places we've stayed this apartment is a palace. It's brand new with a full service kitchen, pullout couch bed, patio overlooking the water, and a flat-screen tv (which I haven't seen anywhere else while I've been here). We have a long trek back to the Stari Grad where we walk around for awhile and eat dinner at a nice little pub. We had pasta and split some grilled calamari. We stopped by a market and got some stuff for breakfast and then walked back to our delightful apartment.


Kim in our awesome apartment complete with kitchen.