Taking It Easy

This week I am really taking it easy. Mom is pampering me well, and I ain't complaining. She gets up couple of hours before I do and goes to the market for some fresh pastries and anything new for breakfast that I even remotely mentioned. I am not at all picky with what I eat, but she likes mothering me.
Yesterday we walked to few stores in the neighbourhood looking for decorative buttons for my new jacket. Then we went to pre-pay more Internet hours and left the laptop at the shop to download updates which takes too slow on my mom's dial-up connection. While waiting on it, we walked to Merkator to have coffee on the terrace. It was too hot under the umbrellas, so we set inside under the AC. I am still bothered with the cigarette smoke everywhere we go. Smoking is allowed in most buildings, so I feel I can smell it almost all the time we are in public areas. Even in our apartment building when someone is smoking in the staircase, I can smell it inside our apartment. After the laptop download was done, we walked back toward home, and stopped at the building where mom will be taking some English classes. It belongs to a foundation sponsored by Iranian organizations. They have other classes there, some religious, Persian language, and talks for young people. My mom knows the administrative assistant there, they used to work for the same company, and she gave me a book for young people they use in one of those lectures.

Today we were supposed to go to the tailor around 3.30, so we didn't leave the apartment until 2. We had a long morning coffee and breakfast and were just dragging ourselves. We called few places on the Adriatic coast to try and figure out where to go to the beach next week. Then we went for a coffee in our neighbourhood. There are coffee shops on every corner, so we have several options to choose from, based on type of coffee they have, outdoor seating, or view. This one was by the river in the shade. Then we hopped on the trolley and went to Dobrinja for the jacket fitting. Mom was planning to go home for dinner, that she cooked in the morning, but I convinced her to go downtown for some pita. We stopped at one mall looking for a soccer shirt for my brother, and then walked to the pastry shop to eat.

Then we walked some 30 min more to the new Avaz (local newspaper) building to have another coffee there. This building has a twirl shape, has 36 stories, is 175 meters high, and is supposedly one of the 10 tallest buildings in Europe. It wasn't built yet the last time I was in Sarajevo, so it was interesting to check it out. The views are great from the top platform, even though it was a hazy day.

From there we walked for another hour through Wilsonovo, a pedestrian avenue next to the river with high, lush trees. This street is opened to traffic only on weekdays until 6PM. In the evenings and weekends it buzzes with walkers, runners, children on bikes and roller blades, and families with babies in strollers. The weather was very nice to be outside, in the low 70s. This entire week it will about the same, and we usually have short showers in the evenings.

Back In Sarajevo - Again

We left our hotel in Istanbul at around 10 am. Our ride from the agency came with a van around 10 am. I thought it was too early for a 1 PM flight, with only a 30 min travel time to the airport, but then again I am usually late to places.

The driver again spoke very little English, only a couple of words really, but he was very chatty. We were still able to communicate how to turn the AC on/off, or klima fan as he says it. We got to the airport around 10.45 and went through security control at the entrance first. We didn't have to take our shoes off, but did have to put our big suitcases to be checked in onto the conveyor belt to go through a scanner. The check in line was much longer, and the passport control too, so I appreciated that we got there earlier. It was interesting to see airline counters from other countries that I usually don't see in the US: Iran, Emirates, Kuwait,.... I found this airport to be rather small for the size of the city that Istanbul is.

Around noon we saw on the monitor that our flight was boarding. We made our way down to the ground floor, only to discover another security line, much more chaotic this time. There were several gates close to each other, and they put flights for Sarajevo, Belgrade, Zagreb, Pristina, and few others, all leaving at approximately the same time, all in this area. People from these countries genetically, it seems, do not have a sense of following the line in an orderly way. Someone is always trying to cut in ahead of others. We got to the gate, a very narrow area and crowded and people were already standing in front of the counter with nobody on the other side. I set down and started chatting with a man from the Turkish side of Cypress who was going on vacation to Sarajevo for the first time. Mom saw her friend that we ran into on the bus the day before, and was standing in line. The line was not moving. Little after 1 PM, when we were already supposed to be on the runway, they announced the flight is delayed 30 min. A bit later another announcement came, only in Turkish, about a 45 min delay. People were still standing in line, and at about 1.30 min a man came to tell everyone to find a seat. They had to look further away, because all the chairs near the gate were taken. Just 5 min later, that same man was at the counter checking the boarding passes and letting people go through. This was another example of how disorganized life in Istanbul seems to be, or an organized chaos as someone called it. We finally took off 1h 15 min late.

The weather in Sarajevo was much colder, but at least it wasn't raining. We ate dinner and had coffee on the balcony, and then went for a stroll to get some cake. It was about 20 min walk, and my calf muscle was really hurting that I was limping the entire time there and back. We got rained on a bit on the way back, and rain cools down temperature in Sarajevo very quickly. I am hoping to rest my leg for the weekend so it doesn't turn into something more serious.

This Sunday I went to Mass at the cathedral downtown. They had at least 15 priests, some celebrating their first Mass and some 50 years of priesthood, plus they had a choir of some 6 priests and the church was full. I had a hard time concentrating on the readings not being in English. The sermon was not related to the readings, but on the year of the priests and the calling. The priest who was preaching was ordained few years after WWII, and was talking how during those communism years many religious, including him, ended up in prison, and some were even killed. I was a bit agitated to hear so much anger and hatred being talked about in these times when people here should be trying to reconcile and look into the future. I also never like when the Catholic church in Bosnia is associated only with Croatian people, because I am not one. I am Bosnian. The priest was emphasising that lay people should evangelize too, but at the same time he requested that the Croatian national anthem be sung just before the final blessing (if it was after I would have left). How can we bring other people into our faith if we don't open it to all the nationalities?

Mom and I then went for a stroll, kabobs in the old city, and a coffee in a new restaurant on top of a tall hotel with 360 views. By the evening my leg was feeling better.

Next week I'll be in Sarajevo, finishing up some small chores, visiting few places and people. We hope to go to the coast the week after.

One In a Million

Well, actually, one in a twenty million. That is how many people live in Istanbul, and we saw someone that we knew.

We were sitting in the bus at the first stop, and chatting about our plans for the day, when a lady walking toward us said something in Bosnian to us. I didn't recognize her, but she even knew my name, and mom knows her well. She used to live in the same building, staircase next to ours, before the war. Her son was just couple of years younger than my brother. They were in Sarajevo during the war, and helped my mom when she was moving. She was visiting her husband who now works in Iraq, and on her way back to Sarajevo she stopped for one day in Istanbul. She was staying in the same hotel as we did, and was traveling back on the same flight as we. What are the chances! One in twenty million. :)

While mom was busy reacquainting with the old friend, I started talking with the man sitting next to me and his friend, who were from Iraq. One of them lived in Sydney for nine years, and I was showing him my Australian hat and aboriginal pin. The other one was moving through his fingers the Muslim prayer beads, and I asked them what, if anything, are they saying when doing that. They explained they may say different things, like say to God "you are the almighty", or thank Him, or ask for protection. The beads were in Turkish style with blue see through glass and an eye looking decoration. I asked if they knew what that symbol meant, and he said it's like an eye that is looking and guarding you. Then the former Australian man took that rosary from his friend, who didn't speak much English, and gave it to me. He thought his friend is not really praying it because he also drinks, which Muslims are not supposed to. I told him that's may be exactly why he needs it, at which we all laughed.

Our plan was to be in the bazaar 12-2, go over to the Asian side again and be on the beach 2.30-4, be back in the hotel by 5, leave for dinner at 6, so we can still pack our bags that evening as we were leaving in the morning. As often goes on a relaxing vacation with loose plans, we didn't make them. The bazaar, which has some 4000 shops, is a maze. All the little shops and stuff they sell outside look similar. We would find something and would want to come back, only to spend 10 more minutes walking in circles because we couldn't find our way back. I finally figured to start writing some sings down, so we can ask for direction back. We bought pretty much everything we wanted, all small things and souvenirs, and we bargained for all of them. They are usually simpatico toward Bosnia, so that helped to mentioned where we're from when negotiating the price. Some items we got for less than half price. Their usual selling phrase was, "It is $X, but just for You, it's $Y." - for everyone it's "just for you" :)

One hour behind our schedule already, we walked down the hill, through more of the street markets bustling with people, to spice bazaar again, to get natural salep. We realized that the one we bought the day before was an already prepared mix, and mom wanted the pure salep powder, which is better. (It's a type of creamy, milky, sweet yellow drink)

We could have spent another hour there, but we went onto the 20 min ferry boat over to Kadokuy again. The views from the boat of the old city were much better today, as there were virtually no clouds, and the air was really clear. We met couple of girls students on the boat, who told us at this time of day the trip to the beach town will take a bit longer because of the traffic. This time we knew which direction to go to once we got to the lend, and we quickly found a dolmush toward Djatebostan where I heard there are nice beaches on the Sea of Marmara.

People here are generally very nice, even if they can't understand all we are saying. As we were asking people for the dolmush we needed, they were all very ready to help us. Then one dolmush driver offered to take us some 200 m where the particular van we needed is. That place had some 50 vehicles and when we started looking for the right one, a girl that was in that first dolmush called us to follower her as she was going in the same direction. The van to Djatebostan only had 2 more seats left, and she offered them to us and she was going to wait for the next one. Isn't that just nice!

It took us about 30 min to get there, and then maybe 10 min walk down to the small public beach. It was close to 5 already. The beach was OK; they had showers, changing cabins, an ice cream street shop, and umbrellas and chairs for rent. There were only maybe 10 people on the beach. The water in front of the beach, however, was not clean. They had a little bouie divider in the water for swimming, and stop the little boats from parking there, but there was stuff floating in the water, some sea weed, little breadcrumbs-like particles, and some trash like a plastic bag and watermelon skins. We walked in only up to our knees, and then fearing some skin disease went straight to the shower. We had a really good ice cream there, and after about an hour, and also because the sun was really strong, we started heading back.

We asked for directions, two policemen and a couple standing next to them, and none of them knew English, except a 10 year old boy who was then translating some. Walking back toward where we were told, we found a great restaurant, in deep shade and very friendly waiters, and had a much needed Turkish coffee and water with ice! I think that was the first ice we saw while in Istanbul. :)

The van on the main street came just as we arrived there. The dolmush vans stop and go wherever you tell them. A lady inside changed seats, without us saying anything, just so mom and I could sit together. Again we had trouble figuring out how much it cost, as the driver didn't understand English. That same lady then translated to us the exact amount. These people are just nice.

In the split of a moment on the main pier we decided to change boats and take the one that would take us on the other side of Eminonu, across the canal. We asked around for directions toward Taksim, until a journalist who speaks English offered us to follow him. He helped us buy the ticked for fornicular. It's is a type of tram going up and down the hill underground pulled by cables, the oldest type of transportation in Istanbul. My leg was really hurting and I didn't want to have to walk to the hotel. It turned out this tram was only going to the lower side of Taksim hill, so we still had another 15-20 min of my slow limping to our hotel. More than 3 hours later than our schedule, we were in the room.

Our dinner plans included dinner in the sea-food restaurant on the water. An answer to an unspoken prayer came when we discovered a brochure in the lobby of a nice restaurant that offers a free shuttle service to the hotel guests. So, around 10.20 PM we were escorted to the restaurant under the bridge between Karakuy and Eminonu, an area full of restaurants. We had a great bass for dinner, by candle lights, local musicians, and water with awesome views of the old city. It was a great ending to our vacation.

Not to break the tradition, we got to the room just after midnight, and just then started packing. Our airport ride was at 10 am tomorrow morning.

A Day In Asia

Thursday we spent mostly on the Asian side of Istanbul. We took a subway and then a tram to Eminonu, just over the bridge in Sultanahmet. We then walked through the spice market, admired all the birds and parrots they sell there, and then bought some spices, saffron and salep. Then we walked down to the port and caught a ferry over to Kadikoy which lies on the Sea of Marmara. Our plan was to find another open market there, supposedly things are cheaper on the Asian side, have a coffee by the water, and maybe check out the beach.

We walked around for about 45 minutes, and tried to ask people for direction to bazaar. I am surprised how very few young people speak English. Many adults, I assume because they deal with tourists in their shops or restaurants, know more languages than young people. But still, it took us to find a tour guide and couple of ladies from the US who live here for the last 10 years, to figure out that this place doesn't have open air markets, just shops. So, we changed our loose plans and took dolmush, a mini van, toward Ushkudar and then another one toward Beylerbey.

It is just by the Bosphorus bridge, and there is a great 19th century palace there, but it is closed on Thursdays. We found a cute little restaurant just on the water, and had coffee there. The young men working there are still inexperienced waiters, and when I asked for some more sugar by pointing and the sugar cube on my mom's plate, he brought me one single sugar cube on another plate. We also ordered fried Horse Mackerels, and fed with fish heads some 5 stray cats, which there are many of in Istanbul. We had a really nice and long break there right on the water, next to one of the world's largest suspension bridge, the Bodjazichi Bridge, linking Europe and Asia.

It was already 5 PM when we continued on, thinking the boat docks are just around the corner. The few people we talked to, either didn't know any English, understood us just enough to tell us that Sultanahmet is in the opposite direction than we were walking (of course, we just wanted to catch a boat back), or kept telling us to keep walking because boat is further ahead. We realized that if people don't understand us in English to try to say the same words in Bosnian, and chances are they would understand some of it.

After an hour of walking, we were pretty tired and there was still no boat ramp. We actually couldn't even walk by the water, or even see the river for the most part, because there are huge mansions along the way, we 7 ft tall walls and solid metal gates. Finally, we found someone on a valley parking who told us there is a port just 500 m further, and they gave us a ride in what was the first air conditioned car we've been in here (it was out second car, but even the buses don't have AC's either) By the way, we stopped in few banks along the way while walking to cool down under the AC. At the port we find out that we can only take the small boat across Bosphorus and then would have to take a bus to Taksim, which would probably be an hour judging by our last night's experience on the road along the river. Otherwise, we'd have to catch a bus on that Asian side back to Ushkudar, the same distance we walked for an hour only took 15 min. The ferry took us back to Eminonu.

I was hoping we could catch the last half hour of the market on Kapali Charshi, so we walked up the hill from the ferry. But, we walked slow this time, and got there too late. We just went straight to the bus and to our hotel. Today's transportation: metro, tram, boat, dolmush, another dolmush, (an hour of walking), bus, boat, bus - total of 8.

Since we had some food during the day, unlike the previous two days, we wanted a simple and quick dinner. Plus, my left lower calf muscle was hurting since yesterday, and the unplanned walking today didn't help, so I was hoping to eat somewhere in Taksim. On our way we saw KFC and a pizza hut. We checked out few side streets off of the main pedestrian street, and after practically being stopped on the street to enter their restaurant, we set down at one open table outside, had Efes beer and doner, like Greek gyros. Again, we got to our room after midnight.