Catch up: back to Istanbul.

This morning I woke up in Manhattan. My friend Steve and his girlfriend Janet have been kind enough to take me in as I start to adjust to life in America. They've just moved into a new apartment but have found room to put down a full sized mattress which is the most comfortable place I've slept in quite some time.

The nice thing about travelling westward around the world from North America is that you get the interminable flight across the Pacific out of the way straight off. The flight across the Atlantic takes about half the time, which makes for a much more reasonable, thought still quite long, travel day. On the flight from Amsterdam through Dublin to JFK, I kept checking my watch to find the sun still shining ever later into the night that would have been falling were I still in Europe. The time difference is only six hours, but my body is still a little confused today.

Annie flew home from Berlin last Friday, May 4th and I spent another couple days in Berlin before heading to Amsterdam. There's so much writing I must catch up on, so Annie and my last night in Berlin and my time in Amsterdam will have to wait for a bit.

First, I'd like to return to Istanbul from a month ago...

Turkey is two and a half hours ahead of India, from which I'd so recently arrived on April 4th. My first two early mornings in Istanbul were spent walking deserted streets and watching the city awake and go to work. None of the tourists joints in Sultanahmet are open before eight, which means I had to walk to a more local section of the city before I found a cafe from which to watch the Turks head to work.

One of the remarkable things about Istanbul is that all the old, historic landmarks that still exist are themselves built over the ruins of even older structures. For instance, immediately adjacent to where the Blue Mosque stands today are the barest remnants of the enormous Hippodrome, the popular entertainment center of Roman times. All that remain are a few monuments and obelisks that stood in the center. The many sights that do still exist create quite an ambitious itinerary for the prospective tourist.

The central neighborhood of Sultanahmet has been the center of Byzantium, Constantanople, and Istanbul. In addition to the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, and the Blue Mosque, it also contains the Topkapı Palace, the Archeology Museum, and a Mosaics Museum. The Hagia Sophia, "Church of the Holy Wisdom", was built under Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century AD. By the time it was converted into a museum in 1935, it had been burned twice, reconstructed, converted to a mosque, and restored from the toll of time. The scale of the church/mosque is immense--The main chamber dwarfs the visitors that stand at ground level, gazing up at the painted dome. The second level that surrounds the main chamber is reached by a long ramp circling upwards and contains the famous Christian mosaics.

The Basilica Cistern, also constructed in the sixth century to supply Constantinople with water, is another gigantic marvel. Marble columns hold the roof nine meters above the floor of the subterranean room that measures 143 by 65 meters. A wooden walkway has been built in a circuit around the cistern for the benefit of sightseers. Erie acoustics, dripping water, and dramatic lighting make it one of the more memorable sights.

The Sultanahmet Mosque, or Blue Mosque, so known because of the blue tiles that decorate the interior of the dome, sits a short distance from the Haghia Sophia. It's construction in the early 17th century drew criticism because its six minarets were seen as an arrogant rival to the mosque in Mecca. Topkapı Palace, perched above the Bosporous at the very eastern extent of Sultanahment, is a sprawling complex that was the center of the Ottoman government until the 19th century. It is a unique form of museum where the historic artefacts used by the Sultanate are found in displays spread around the palace.

Further west of Sultanahment, the Bazaar Quarter holds the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, and the New Mosque all on a hill that slopes up slightly from the Golden Horn to the north. Bounding Istanbul even further to the west are what remain of the Theodosian Walls that stretch for 6670 meters, constructed to protect Constantinope from land attacks. Theodosius II had this two-tiered wall built from 412 to 422 AD when the city outgrew the previous wall built by Constantine The Great. Just inside these walls is the Chora Church or Kariye Museum which holds some of the best preserved frescoes and mosaics in Istanbul, created in the 14th century.

Turkish identity is a complicated issue--of which the current political uncertainty is a symptom. Ankara--the capital--and Istanbul seem more like isolated bits of the modern Turkish Republic's secular legacy, set amidst a more traditionally focused nation. Although, technically, I spent a week in Turkey, I think my experience was a very narrow view of the broader Turkish culture.

They only speak Croat here.

After four days in Hungary, it was hard to switch countries. We were knocked out of vacation-mode and into figuring-out-new-country-mode for a day. That was yesterday. Today has been much more enjoyable here at the coast of the Adriatic Sea. We got into Zagreb about 2:30pm on Monday and went from the train station into downtown - the town sprawled out before us as soon as we came out of the station. My travel book said the tourist officies are helpful in Croatia for booking rooms, getting maps, etc. So, we headed for the nearest office. It was all young people working there (as this is a country where the only people who know English are those under 30). The girl was helpful and called in our reservation to a local hostel. She mentioned the price, nonspecifically, and told us it was not far away, circling the street on the map. As we walked I got worked up into a huff about how the price she said might be per person and that her version of "not far" was quite innacurate. Then I made a conspiracy theory about the tourist office getting a kickback for booking the room and so they jacked up the price without showing where the slipped the extra fee in. And, she couldn't say it was actually 16 blocks away because we would have wanted a closer place and she would not have gotten the extra buck! And, once we got there, the price was for both of us, it was clean and private, and I realized I was a little cranky.

Then we walked to the bus station to book our tickets for coming to the coast to see Zadar. We interacted with a Croat who was not so pleased with my English, but between the three of us, we got the tickets purchased. The bus stations have been nice, in a sort of mall-ish kind of way. There are vendors and stores and places for espresso. We have had lots of espresso and I never thought I would prefer it as a way to drink coffee. I think I will have to start saving for an espresso machine when I get home!

My other highlights have been walking around Old Town Zadar, right on the coast of the Adriatic; buying handmade slipper-socks (we decided to call them slocks) from a Croatian lady; and staying with a really nice old couple, who don't speak English, but have a couple rooms for rent (which the local non-conspiratal tourist office found for us). I have also been noticing a lovely smell that everyone has on and this morning I discovered it is the bar soap in the lady's bathroom. Actually, our rented bathroom (we're not living with the old couple - just staying in the room next door). So, today I stopped in the supermarket and bought the soap - it's Palmolive bar soap - who knew?! I also found a kind of wine I like here (in Hungary and here) and it is like $2 a glass. We ride a bus back to Zagreb tonight and then fly to Berlin tomorrow. The bus ride was also really fascinating - to see the countryside of Croatia and the houses (much of the housing, buildings, etc) were destroyed in the Balkan War which only ended in 1995.
See you soon!
-Annie


It's been a whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe: a morning in Berlin, one night in Prague, two nights in Budapest, two nights on Lake Balaton, one night in Zagreb, and one night in Zadar. So much travelling does get tiring.

Zagreb, where our train from Hungary arrived, is the capital of Croatia. All of downtown is within an easily walkable cluster, perhaps ten blocks in each direction from the center. We spent Monday evening exploring the streets in the old town, finding nice cafes and restaurants. The streets were filled with young people out socializing. Zagreb has a pleasant feel somewhat in between Prague's old worldliness and the disorganization of Budapest.

We walked to the bus station in Zagreb as the sun was rising on Tuesday morning for our three and a half hour ride to Zadar. Rolling hills covered in forest stretched on both sides of the smooth, new highway all the way to the coast.

Zadar itself is a modern town on the northern end of the Dalmation coast, stretching inland from a small peninsula that holds Old Town. Half the buildings in Old Town are quite new, but the other half are hundreds of years old. Beneath these buildings, sometimes exposed, are the walls and foundations of a Roman city. The narrow streets hold an unbelievable number of cafes and bars with trendy shops and some restaurants in between.

A leisurely walk around the intermitent wall that surrounds the Old Town peninsula takes perhaps half an hour. Last night after watching the sun set over the islands that lay across the Zadar Straight to the west, Annie and I headed across one of the pedestrian bridges into the newer neighborhoods of Zadar. They are suburban and quiet outside of the odd casino or sports betting hall. When we returned to old town we found several of the most trendy night spots overflowing with loud youngsters but most bars completely empty all night.

This morning we got up early to take pictures in the morning light. After checking out of our private room (awkwardly) in a mixture of English, German, and hand gestures, none of which our hostess seemed to understand, we've spent the day exploring more of the old sights and people watching. Now we've got another hour and a half before our trip back to Zagreb for the night.
-Aaron

Feels like vacation (Lake Balaton)

We stayed at this Hungarian guy's place our second night in Hungary and his place was really great - in the city, had great artwork all over the apartment, not many other people. In fact, the night before we left for Lake Balaton, we brought home supplies from the local grocery store (which has become a fun daily thing), including wine, sour gummy worms, big bottles of water, and anything else that looks interesting. We got back to his apartment at like 10pm and I asked if he'd like to have a glass of wine with us. He (we think his name was John, with a Hungarian accent) said he was going out soon, but would join us quickly. That turned into a couple hours, at which point we wrote our last blog. When we rented the room, he said he would make us breakfast in the morning. Our train for Lake Balaton was leaving at noon or 1 the next day, so we thought there would be plenty of time. Apparently, when he finally did leave to go out to the clubs with friends, it was almost 1am, and that means, all bets are off for breakfast. Needless to say, we left John's place without seeing him again. And we were off to the countryside to see this huge Lake that emperors and royalty use to vacation at. The train ride was a couple of hours (our shortest so far) and we started seeing this amazing lake and the small towns on both sides about an hour into our ride. We got off at Zamardi, a small seaside town, and had a great conversation with this Hungarian grandpa named Luis, who said I looked Hungarian. He asked about our trip and told us he was meeting up with a friend from England. He no longer likes Budapest - too crowded and busy. We walked (for---ever, as seems to be the norm these days) and found the cottage I had seen on a website. Against all Aaron's skepticism of these things working out, it was fantastic! The apartments are above the family's home and the woman who answered the door was holding her six-week old baby (so cute) and was super hospitable. After dropping our loads, of sorts, we went to see the town. It might be what the Cape feels like (Val, you would love it). The next day we rented bikes from our host family and rode to the next town over, which is bigger and has many tourist attractions. The funniest part was taking this silly boat ride (which we thought would go around the Lake to show us this cool island and the towns on the other side) which lasted an hour and literally went out for 30 min and came back in a straight line. It did show that the lake is huge, in that, we did not come close to the island or the other side. I rode my bike to the grocery store and bought makings for dinner and made gnocci, garlic toast, and cheese sauce all from packages with 5 languages but not a word of English. I was proud of myself ... and it turned out just like the restaurants' ... sort of. We ate on our balcony and watched an American DVD (The Holiday) - I was so excited. I really love hungary and want to spend 10 days just touring around the country (maybe with my whole family) next time. That is all from me for Hungary - long live the Hungarians!!
PS - I found out my last name, Rigo, is the word for a certain kind of bird!
-Annie


Lake Balaton is a huge lake with towns edge to edge encircling it. It seems like a popular vacation spot for both Hungarians and Germans, although the tourist season is just beginning. The walk from the train station to our "Zimmer frei" in Zamardi was a bit of a hike. The streets were narrow and very quiet.

Our room was amazing--absolutely the best accommodations and hospitality I've yet had. During our walk we passed many houses offering rooms or apartments for rent, but ours was the most picturesque. The small kitchen and balcony overlooking the front yard and street were perfect. When we rang at the gate, the exceedingly pleasant Andrea, led us around to the back of the house and up a spiral staircase to our apartment on the second floor. We met her husband, Zoltan, the next evening. Their two children and friendly Golden Retriever made quite the impression.

Not a lot goes on in Zamardi--especially on a holiday weekend. May Day is pretty big in this part of the world. We're not sure whether the Lake was more crowded or less because of the holiday. We saw a lot of families biking and walking around. Also, a lot of people seem to do yardwork in Speedos ... especially old and middle-aged men.

Siofok, the next town eight kilometers to the east is a little bigger. Annie and I biked to the docks in Siofok and hung out most of the day, eventually taking the ridiculous boat ride that she already mentioned. We had nixed our initial intent to take the ferry over to the abbey on the peninsula across the lake because we would have spent twice as much time in transit as time exploring. In retrospect we both decided that would have been better. In any case, it was cool to get out on the water.

Sailing seems quite popular. A stiff breeze kicked up under thickening clouds in the later afternoon and while Annie raided the grocery store, I sat and watched sailboats tack in and out of port.

There are a variety of shops around the docks in Siofok: a couple vendors selling popcorn, ice cream, and small snacks and maybe a dozen restaurants that all seem to have similar menus. A long jetty of stones covered by pavement protects the harbor--All day families and couples strolled out past the fishermen (and fisherwomen). I wished that we could have a chance to either fish or sail--the activities of enforced leisure. I think we did alright enforcing our own leisure.

After our ride back to Zamardi, Annie, taking advantage of our kitchen and dining ware, made the most excellent dinner--gnocci with cheese and peas.

It turns out that the trains to Zagreb in Croatia leave from Siofok and do not stop in Zamardi, which turned into quite a dilemna when we discovered that there is no public transportation to speak of between the two towns. Luckily, Zoltan offered to drive us to the train station yesterday morning. He brought his father and his ineffably cute two-year-old daughter, Csenge (Chan-gha), along so that they could all hang out in the park by the train station. After dropping us off, he appeared by our side in the ticket line, just in case the agent didn't speak English. After allowing a woman with a small request to go first, he set our ticket process in motion and was off again. And what a process it was. The agent must have taken five minutes to issue our tickets, getting out every tome of reference, making duplicates and triplicates of each form in carbon copy, and stamping each shred of paperwork with a unique insignia. I pitied each and every person behind us in line--and was glad I was not them (we would have missed our train).

And then we were off on a moderately modern train sans cafeteria for the four and a half hour trip to Zagreb (pronounced ZAH-greb, as we've discovered). More on Croatia soon ...
-Aaron

Palacsintas in Budapest

Today has been a great day of exploring without being travel-weary and jet-lagged (for me). Currently, we are sitting in a man's apartment drinking wine with him and a Polish man and a girl who just came over. Luckily we (and aforementioned Polish man) are the only ones staying in his hostel tonight so it feels more like a bunch of friends. We stopped at an ABC store which sells groceries on the way home from dinner and taking pictures and stocked up on sour-gummy worms, water, beer, wine, and snickers all for $6. My favorite part of today was the Grand Central Market, just off the Danube River, where about 300 merchants set up shop and sell everything from weird meats to nut rolls (like Dad makes) and lots of cool Hungarian stuff. I stocked up on presents and realized how easy it is to spend lots of Forint (Hungarian money). It was great fun to talk to the local vendors, although one lady accused me of breaking a box because I didn't use the little key hidden inside of the bottom of the box - needless to say, I did not do business there. Then, we rode the metro for the 12th time in 2 days and finally got busted by an officer of the subway for a ticket violation ("Zere ees a broblem vit yur ticket.") We got a huge fine of 5000 forint, which is about 30 dollars, but it was payable immediately, and included a receipt in case we wanted to write it off as a business expense - the officer seemed pleased with his work! Sometimes, after talking to locals, I turn to Aaron and talk to him slowly as if I want him to understand the English language. Good times! We are thinking of acting out our subway incident by way of photos so you may see that later (missing tooth and all). I swear I saw all my long-lost relatives today - I am so Hungarian! I could definitely live here for a while. And now, Aaron for some actual details ... but first, I gotta give a shout-out to my sister - what's up lil' sis'!
-Annie

Budapest is actually the union of two old Hungarian towns across the Danube from each other: Buda on the west bank and Pest on the east. The Danube is a wide river by Colorado standards. Five bridges join the twenty-something districts of Pest and Buda.

Yesterday Annie and I arrived in Budapest at eight o'clock in the morning after a nine hour ride on the oldest train still in service. The toilets were reminiscent of my experiences in India. The paragraph informing passengers not to use the lavatory while the train was in a station (for the consideration of those on the platforms) was written in Czech, Russian, Italian, and Spanish but not English. The passenger compartments were designed to hold eight people, but luckily were only booked for four. Another four companions in our compartment would have been intimate.

After fending off several touts, we headed downtown in search of pleasant-sounding accommodations Annie found on the internet. A two-mile walk later, we had still not found the place and decided to try accommodations on one of the fliers that had been pressed into our hands at the train station: Helena's House in eastern Pest. As I pause to search for a suitable description of Helena's House Annie and I look at each other and laugh. It was substandard. Eight mattresses sat on the floor in a small family apartment--two in one room and six in the other. During our short tour around eleven o'clock in the morning, six men still slept soundly in the room with six beds. The "room" that held the remaining beds was more of a hallway. After a very short conference ("It makes me feel like crying.") on the landing outside we were quickly back in the street searching again. (A few tears at this point)

We did eventually find a nice hotel not too far away with a quiet, private, pricey double room. As Annie and I were both hungry and exhausted, we stepped out to the corner market, bought fixin's for lunch, and after a great meal got the most from our beautiful accommodations by sleeping for four hours in the middle of the afternoon.

Refreshed, we set out for our first look at the Danube, for although our misadventures earlier in the day had taken us within a few blocks of the river, we had yet to actually see it. We took the Metro to Parliament, walked along the cobbled riverfront, and crossed to Buda on the Chain Bridge at dusk. Castle Hill in Buda is a long ridge rising steeply above the river, covered with old, beautiful buildings interspersed with large swathes of trees. There were also a lot of large swarms of bugs, like, maybe the largest swarm I've ever seen.

From the foot of Castle Hill we walked north and found a nice patio on which to eat dinner. Annie had traditional Hungarian stuffed peppers which her parents make at home. After dinner we continued north and found a local creperie that Annie recognized because of it's Hungarian name Palacsintas, another homemade favorite at the Rigo residence. We stopped to share a couple palacsintas, filled with nutella and banana.

This morning after supplementing our nap with an actual eight hours of sleep, we breakfasted at our hotel and then checked out in search of more "authentic" quarters. It was again a non-trivial search, but it turned out well (see Annie's portion of the entry).

In the afternoon, we bought our train tickets headed east to the shore of Lake Balaton for tomorrow and then stopped by the National Museum to see the exhibit on the history of Hungary. It was pretty amazing. I would have liked a more comprehensive overview of who the Magyars were before Saint Stephen I, and perhaps a few more dots connected during the subsequent centuries, but on the whole it was impressive. Annie felt very Hungarian again. I found the struggle between the Hungarians and the Ottomans fascinating having just recently seen the seat of Ottoman power in Istanbul. Several of the period costumes were fantastic--we found some amazing dresses and I might be an Ottoman Turk for Halloween next year.

We've got a few more short hours in Budapest before our train tomorrow. We're both looking forward to a slower life in the countryside (the lake, thermal baths, bikes, and wineries).
-Aaron