Delicious Turkish Delicacies Pt. III

Behold, the simit with black olive paste and beyaz peynir.

Turkey has a lot of food that tastes like crack. Figuratively, having never tried crack, but you know what I mean. This is the latest crack addiction I have discovered. Simit, the ubiquitous sesame bread ring that is the bread of Istanbul, which I have only tried with sweet hazelnut chocolate spread, is instead sliced all the way around, covered with black olive paste and beyaz peynir (the also ubiquitous cheese, translated as "white cheese", although there are several kinds of beyaz peynir). I got the idea after seeing it at the coffee shops in the mall so I don't know how traditional this particular delicacy really is. It doesn't matter. It is delicious.

Oh and if you really want crack, we have that too. I HAVE tried this:

Dating a Celebrity

This isn't so much about how adored my beloved wife is here in Istanbul as it is a comparison I derived to what this lifestyle of living abroad is like. And I decided it's exactly like dating a celebrity. Or so I imagine, having not actually dated anyone who would qualify for a celebrity-based reality TV show.

Living this life. The weather has been lovely since the day we left Portland in April. The Bosphorus slowly crawls its way past us just down the hill. Go into almost any restaurant or cafe and the food, while possibly unfamiliar, will be astoundingly delicious. And almost all of it is produced somewhere in this fertile country. Friendly faces abound and are almost as numerous as the amazing historical sights that are sprinkled throughout this massive city of 15 million people and seemingly as many cars. We can chose to gaze out of our windows at the cool, still swimming pool or the fields dotted with goats and the odd stray dog. There's not much of a downside to living life this way.

Dating a celebrity invokes a certain mystique about you. People who know you intimately or not at all wonder how YOU managed to do this. "He seemed so normal, like the rest of us. And now he's over there. With HER." Her being our host country, of course.

Dating a celebrity allows you to do things that are outside of the parameters of what is considered normal. Bulgaria for the weekend? Yes. An invite for a private party from the Swiss consulate? Yes. Boat rides along the Bosphorus while sipping tea? Why not?

Where will a two hour flight/drive from Portland take me? Eastern Oregon. Northern Nevada. Seattle. San Francisco. Drain, Oregon. (all lovely places, don't get me wrong. Including you Drain!)

Where will it take me from here? Greece. Bulgaria. Russia. Capadoccia. The Dardanelles.

Which brings me to the point where I want to elaborate on my previous post. I have a hard time mentioning my day to day life because when I do anything that is beyond grocery shopping, it constitutes the "dating a celebrity" category and sounds like going off about my new celebrity-esque daily life. Do I want to write about our grocery store trips? No. (But the guys who weigh our produce are getting to recognize me and are becoming less surly. That's worth a mention.)

My life in a nutshell definitely falls into that category. But when you look at the details of my daily life, it becomes much more mundane and what you'd expect from any person, famous or not.

I've been quiet here because I honestly haven't been doing too much that's new and amazing (to me), but also because I felt the need to type this wordy disclaimer about who I am and where I am, literally and figuratively.

Everyday here is amazing and I thank all the powers that be, be they spiritual or administrative and know that this life is no different from my life anywhere else and is therefore, amazing and a blessing (define it as you wish) and not taken for granted. Especially when my surroundings are a gift of my love's hard work and the taxpayers of the United States. Thank you.

Four Months! (and then some)

I meant to write a comprehensive review of my impressions of my new host country and it's fun and foibles at four months (eleven days ago to be exact), but time runs away from me faster and faster these days. Or is that just my boy?

There will be other posts that include many nice and educational pictures. Not today. Today is about the day to day.

I have a hard time writing both here and via email about life here because my life is always at one of two extremes. I am either doing something absolutely amazing and beautiful that would be on most people's bucket lists or I am cleaning the house and taking out the trash and scolding cats for dropping litter and fur all over the house and wondering if I shouldn't be looking for work so I'm not stuck at home looking at a mess all day. It really does come down to that. My visits to the Consulate break up the day immensely and make it seem to breeze by. As do my walks to the park or the mall or to visit friends.

So I do not want to just write about the good stuff and sound like my life is all glamour, nor do I want to complain about the things that are a normal part of everyone's life (laundry, cleaning, going to the grocery store...AGAIN). I know I have a good life here. If you can't have a good life here, you will never have one, because this place is very forgiving with the abundance of beauty and excellent food, great people and incredible historic sights.

I am searching for the middle ground. Or maybe just the ground. Our place is still coming together and that is a huge relief. There may be a car in our future. Or there may not. I have changed my mind on the car situation and would love to have one now. Of course, driving somewhere creates a whole new set of complications.

There have been two humungous and amazing breakthroughs for me this week. First, I have successfully placed an order for online grocery delivery. It should be here this morning. I don't like to complain (really, I don't!) about doing the shopping, especially when our stores are visible from our residence, but I figured, that with the walk and the incline, it's close to climbing twelve flights of stairs, toddler attached. I don't know how I managed in July and August when daytime temps were close to 90 degrees for weeks on end. Oh wait, I do; air conditioning and cold beverages. Some days cold showers too. The second breakthrough happened at just the right time too; organic produce delivery. This should arrive tomorrow. Between the two, I think I am set for everything except beer. And as we all know, climbing twelve flights of stairs with a toddler attached is totally worth it if it's beer you're carrying.

Bulgaristan

Bulgaristan is Bulgaria in Turkish.

A group of wanderers. Look at those wide and smooth sidewalks! Swoon! You could roll a stroller down those!

We saw a few donkey driven carts in the small towns we passed to get to Sofia. Good as transport as any, I suppose.

Another common sight in the small towns were locals set up with produce stands. If those are tomatoes, they're mighty large tomatoes.

A typical Bulgarian village dwelling. Some were nicer. Most were not. At least the ones on the roadside.

The Shopska Salad. A thing of delicious beauty. This was the most beautiful one in town. Typical ingredients are cucumber, tomato, peppers, shredded cow's milk cheese.

Sofia has a wonderful evening restaurant/cafe culture.

The view from our pensione. That's the mountain in the background. I dream of it snow-capped.

Requisite picture of the Nevsky cathedral. If you do an image search for Sofia, Bulgaria, you will be rewarded with a thousand pictures of this cathedral. It is very solemn and beautiful inside. We saw a Moskvitch for sale on this street and really wish we could have brought it home with us to Turkey. What is a Moskvitch? Why it's one of these!:

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.