Edirne

Here's are some pictures from Edirne, the first stop on our road trip to Bulgaristan.

The Selimiye Mosque. Quite the magnificent structure!

A little guy all snug in his backpack. This thing is a life saver! Now to get the water insert for it so I can hydrate!

Inside the mosque. It is equally magnificent on the inside! That calligraphy is simply amazing.

For propriety's sake. 

Some more amazing calligraphy.

More common than you'd think. Blurry and overexposed, but yes, that is a family of five on a scooter. Helmets? We don't need 'em!

Across the street from the mosque. Nah, we didn't ride.

Not the only horses we saw roaming the streets.

Istanbul - Edirne - Sofia and back

Pictures to follow, I promise.

We made an impromptu trip to Sofia, Bulgaria this past weekend and let me tell you, it is a fine city and beauteous journey to get there from our home in Istanbul.

We left bright and early to avoid heat and time our arrival during the daylight hours. It is about seven hours of drive time, plus a border crossing and several breaks for food, bathroom breaks and baby stretching his legs time.

First stop was Edirne, Turkey, home to Selimiye Mosque, a fantastically beautiful building designed by famed architect Mimar Sinan. We wandered around the quiet streets beating the tourists and having the place mostly to ourselves. Edirne is a quiet town in general with a population of only around 130 thousand compared to Istanbul's 15 million. Horses roam free through the town. It is quite pastoral for a town of over a hundred thousand people. We all took some delightful pictures and found a barely open cafe that brought us some coffee and tea and we were off again.


The countryside of Turkey and Bulgaria is oddly familiar. There is a lot of rolling farm and grasslands and plenty of forests. I was surprised there would be that amount of open space even though I know it's not the city. I still find myself being overwhelmed occasionally with a sense of "foreignness" here, so to see landscapes that look like Northern California was a refreshing calm.

Entering Bulgaria and having all the signage switch to the Cyrillic alphabet is still a wee bit foreign to me. I wrote down some key words, but all the important signs are either also printed in English or use pictograms. So sorry, no reports of me using the wrong restroom.

Sofia is the largest city in Bulgaria, rightfully so, being the capital and it is both glamorous and a little shopworn all at the same time. It makes it seem very enchanting. I kept thinking the whole weekend how much it reminded me of Prague, although the locals would not agree at all (nor the Czechs). It is a "Grande European Capital" with pleasant greenspaces, grand architecture, noble statues and plenty of open air cafes. And though it is the largest city in Bulgaria, again, compared to Istanbul, it was cozy and quaint. There is bustle, but not the same frenetic energy that you feel even in the suburbs where we live.

And the mountains! Sofia is nestled at the foot of Mount Vitosha (7513 ft!) and it adds to the cozy ambiance of the city. I would love to repay a visit to the city during spring or fall with snow on the mountains. I can imagine it is quite beautiful.

So there are all the facts*. Verdict: You should go there.

Now onto what we did:

We (Leslie) found a nice spot to stay not too far out from all the main part of the city, so after checking in, we set off on foot to look over the town and find some dinner. At the top of a small hill, we found ourselves close to Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a modern Christian and somewhat counterpart to the Selimiye Mosque. Somewhat mainly due to the age and architectural importance of the two and being the two more important holy buildings we saw that day. The Nevsky Cathedral is gorgeous as well. There were no photos allowed inside so I can't share any of those views. Each one has absolutely beautiful mosaics inside and out and at the risk of offending anyone, I'll leave the comparisons at that.

We had a delectable dinner at the Grand Hotel Sofia and were all pleased how painless the bill was. I had my first shopska salad (cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, shredded cow's milk cheese and a spicy pepper on the side) which was beautifully arranged. We took advantage of the prevalence of pork now that we were not in a Muslim country. Our server thought we were nuts for ordering Archer his own order of risotto. Archer enjoyed it though, and the service was excellent and very gracious. The Grand Hotel sits by a quaint park which was filled with evening strollers of all ages and combinations. Parents watched their kids play on the slide, couples young and old nestled in benches, the more rebellious youths drank beer and chatted with friends. It was all very mellow and peaceful.

The next morning, after coffee and fresh croissants, we ventured out looking over more neighborhoods  and finding a nice subterranean pub for lunch. They have a tap at each table and you pour your own beer. There is a meter that keeps track of how many liters you have poured. I was again reminiscing about my days in the Czech Republic and ordered the pork knuckle. It was not nearly as tasty as the one I had tried previos, but it was adequate.

There is a daily market by the Nevsky cathedral with vendors selling "antiques" and assorted artwork. The antiques consist of old coins, military medals, albums, cameras, pins, signs and more. The artwork consists of paintings, reproductions of religious icon paintings, some embroidery and knick-knacky stuff. We found a nice embroidered table coverlet (not really a tablecloth, but sort of) and "haggled" our price down to about 60 USD. Haggled because we made one counter offer and she immediately accepted it. Could we have gone lower? Probably. It's okay. We're supporting the local economy! And now we have a souvenir from Bulgaria and none from Turkey where we've been for over three months. Hmm.

Dinner that evening was another treat, with the availability of pork and soft cheeses. I had pizza with prosciutto, artichoke hearts and truffle oil with a Czech pilsner, Staropramen. Slices of heaven. Leslie had a calzone the size of Archer. The restaurant looked something right out of Portland; below street level, but open on two sides to a garden, the kitchen behind a large wall of windows, wood tables, floors and chairs. It felt so nice to be there.

Our final day we took it easy and planned on a late departure so as to miss Istanbul's Bayram related traffic. We took one last peek around the neighborhood, visited a grocery to stock up on pork, cheese and Bulgarian beer. I also picked up some maple syrup, which is CRAZY expensive in Turkey and normal priced in Bulgaria. We got misdirected heading out of town and missed our trip to The Mall (capitalized because that is its name).

We made one last stop in Edirne on the way home and it was fun to be back in the crowds of people all out to celebrate Bayram. Edirne is known for it's fried liver and we found a nice little spot where I, not a fan of liver in general, downed the entire contents of my plate in minutes. I love fried food. Some tiny ice cream cones, quick photo ops during the beautiful sunset and we were off to our respective homes before midnight only for all of us to be back at work early the next morning.

You should go to Sofia!
You should go to Edirne!

*One more fact: So...I don't really get it, being such a welcoming individual and all, but there were swastikas aplenty painted around the neighborhood were we stayed in Sofia. That and the antiques sellers at the market seemed to have plenty of nazi memorabilia for sale. It was the most uncomfortable part of our trip which was otherwise so fantastic. Is fascism the only alternative to communism? It's a weighty issue and I'm not up to speed on the issues facing Bulgaria today. The buddhist/humanist in me  does not want to react with anger, but Fascists pretty much suck all around.

Eminönü

Here's a pretty picture post that I need to get out the way so I can get back to writing about turnips and beer. These pictures are evidence of our, to date, only second trip into town. It was a milestone trip because we made it all the way down there and back on the bus and tram and it allowed us to pick up ferry schedules since the ferry company website's English language option doesn't seem to exist any longer.

This is Eminönü, the main ferry terminal for the city. There are numerous piers with boats going to all parts of the city and beyond.

We left on a Sunday morning taking the lovely ride on the bus along the shore road from our quiet hamlet up north into Kabataş, a minor ferry terminal, then transferring to the tram to take us through town a bit more and across the Galata bridge to Eminönü.

There is no need to say that in a city of over 15 million people, it was quite crowded. I was hoping for the regular ferry to take us back north to our neighborhood, but there was some confusion about which boats headed where and when. The famed Bosphorus cruise had one voyage left for the day and it was packed. So we took the trip home in reverse, making the mistake of using the bus for the last leg instead of the quicker, air-conditioned Metro. The traffic on the way back was stop and go and with no airflow in the bus and I started to worry about my little boy overheating and my wife too.

It wasn't the most pleasurable trip into town, but it was pretty and I can't wait to go back when the temperatures and crowds decrease.

Alas, I was so focused on the water (pun intended) that I neglected to shoot any photos back towards land. Imagine if you will, the New Mosque in all it's gigantic glory (we have average sized mosques in our neighborhood), the Spice Bazaar and a quarter mile away (although you couldn't see it) Topkapı Palace.

Some locals hanging out watching the ferry go by.

The author looking a bit more smug than he should.

Eyebrows not raised in commentary to the fashion awesomeness surrounding her, I swear.

Better.

The Galata Tower on the hill.

As hot as it was, there was a brief rainstorm that passed through, followed by this wonderful Mediterranean light. Cheer up, little man!

Ferry boat, Galata Bridge, Galata Tower

Have fun on your little boat ride, suckers. We're taking the BUS!

Bus waiting activities. Look who is wearing shoes! It's me! But also my little boy. I neglected to mention that the wait for the bus was something like 30 minutes. Next time, Metro.

Delicious Turkish Delicacies pt. II

Behold, the delicious kahvaltı (breakfast) at Kale Cafe right down from Rumeli Hisari. Actually, this is slightly less than half of the breakfast we had, but here are some important and delicious inclusions. 

North and South in the photo is just what it looks like - cooked tomatoes, sliced cucumber and roasted Turkish peppers. The peppers alternately will taste like a mild green bell pepper or the hottest jalapeno you've ever had. No one knows which will be spicy or not. They sell them intermingled in the stores and markets. Along with olives, sliced white cheese and hot tea, this is the most common Turkish breakfast.

At left is fried Halloumi cheese, a somewhat firm cheese that gets chewy upon being fried. Chewy and delicious.

At right is the pièce de resistance, balı kaymak, a sort of clotted cream served in a bath of local honey.

Not pictured is a large mound of breads - simit, the ubiquitous ring of sesame seed bread; lavash, a thin tortilla-like bread; and more roll-like sesame breads. All baked in house, I might add.

We had two different types of borek, a cheese or meat pastry dish, generally like a savory baklava, but that doesn't quite do it justice.

Also not pictured were the several other types of cheeses and yogurts. They were mainly the turkish soft cheeses, like beyaz penir, a feta like cheese, and the aforementioned white cheese, which is of a softer than cheddar consistency and milder in flavor too.

Our companions also had a dish of an egg cooked within a pan of fried cheese. It looked lovely too, but with so much food to consume, it was the one thing we didn't share.

Kale Cafe, as mentioned, sits right up the road from the Rumeli Hisari, in the shadow of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and is right across the road from the Bosphorus. It sits alongside a long row of cafes and breakfast joints all serving up their own version of what we had. The owner took very good care of us and I believe even offered to have his wife give us a ride home. After the meal, he shook each of our hands and gave us a hearty thanks. As I did to him. Wonderful experience.

Delicious Turkish Delicacies

Behold, the delicious Dürüm! This is the very first food we had when we got to Istanbul, along with some also delicious Pide. Dürüm is essentially a wrap with tomato, parsley, onion and your choice of meat inside a thin bread, somewhat tortilla-like, but baked in a wood fired oven. This particular example comes from a favorite place of ours, Emirhan, although they are pretty good no matter where you pick them up. I like Emirhan because they are close and cheap and can deliver in about fifteen minutes. And they are very nice.

No pictures of pide yet, but it is like a boat shaped pizza, always with cheese, sometimes with different meat options as well. There is also a closed pide, which is sliced up and served in smaller pieces.

Our social sponsors ordered that first welcome meal for us just hours after we had landed in Istanbul. I was hoping to order from the same place again and saw the words 'Afiyet Olsun' on the pide box. "That must be where they ordered them from!" I thought, until I realized 'Afiyet Olsun' means 'Bon Appetit' in Turkish. It's printed on almost all food containers. Oops.

The two here are Urfa and Köfte. Urfa is a thin ground meat with spices. Köfte is similar but not as thin. It has more of a meatball flavor. Witness also the delicious baklava in the background. Ubiquitous as it is mouth-watering.

There's something about the char on the bread that makes it that much more tasty.

Refreshing Beverages of Turkey

Actually, just one refreshing beverage for now - the delicious and nutritious şalgam suyu! It is fermented turnip and purple carrot juice and the term "acılı" means it is spicy too! It's a beautiful dark purple color and best consumed cold. What is it like? It is first and foremost SALTY, then you get a rush of fermented pickleness and then it finishes with a nice spicy kick. It made my head turn the first few sips I took, but I finished it after two days. And I ordered the small bottle. I thought it might be an esoteric drink that isn't too popular with the locals, but I found a huge display of it at the grocery store. No, I haven't bought any more.

The other refreshing beverage I want to try is a pickle juice cocktail, available at various spots around town. I saw what I thought was someone selling different pickled vegetables at the pazar, but after watching him for a few minutes, the vendor put a bunch of them in a plastic cup and filled it with brine. I saw another vendor selling it down by the piers this weekend too. I'm sure it's good, but my ordering skills aren't what they should be, so I'll wait until I can ask for what I actually want.

I don't know what is my favorite part of this label, the overall lovely purply theme or the ladies of the steppes gathering some turnips and purple carrots in their basket.

A Brief Little Post About the Dolmus

And by brief, I mean here are a few photos of what I think are the most fascinating forms of transportation in the city, the Dolmus (pronounced DOL-moosh). Dolmus is Turkish for "stuffed" and most that you see driving around are quite full. I think it may be related to the word Dolma as they kind of look alike. I think they look like pickle jars. Most that you see look like the examples here. Some are new and fancy looking. Some are older models like these that have been spiffed up by their owners, with modest hubcaps and mudflaps all around. Some are in worse shape than any of these. As I've mentioned before, it is my goal to ride in one, but I'll pick a flat route as some of their brakes sound a little suspect.

I even found a little primer on the how-to.