Long walk down the European shore

After finally getting my visa to teach in Korea (after 6 months!) BH and I took a long walk in Istanbul. We started out at Boğaziçi Üniversitesi and made our way down to Bebek, which is south of the second bridge spanning the Bosphorus. The houses on the waterfront were gorgeous and we continued walking for some two hours before getting to Ortakoy and then Beskitas to get back to Asia and Katy's apartment. A long journey but worth it!

Bogazici University

Mansion in Bebek

These mansions in Arnavutkoy were gorgeous. The ones on the right were on this tiny island surrounded by a highway on both sides, yet still had an envious position on the waterfront.

What a huge ship!

The Princes' Islands: Heybeliada

Katy recommended Heybeliada as the best of the Princes' Islands and I have to agree it was beautiful. One problem: I hate paying for beaches. The cheapest one was 10 lira, but it was gross. I ended up not going swimming, but just wandered around the island.

Anna would have loved these horse-drawn carriages

Bostancı

One of the main side streets lined with restaurants and bars

Bostanci is one of the nicer areas in Istanbul. Located on the Asian side, I would say it is kind of like the Kangnam of Istanbul; although there are nice shops, restaurants and coffee shops, there really isn't that much cultural capital. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time mostly because some of our new Turkish friends.

Everyone with their iPhones near the coast

As I mentioned before, it is Ramadan right now in Istanbul, and although it doesn't look like it has effected the life of the city very much, there are Turks who are fasting during the daylight hours. Out of the eight new friends we met, only one was abstaining from fasting. While BH and I were snacking throughout the day, our friends couldn't even have a glass of water! I felt a little guilty, but it was hot! Around 7 pm, we headed over to a restaurant so everyone could break their fast when the sun set. We ended up at Pizza Hut because they had a ten lira all you can eat pizza buffet with free tea, soup, and dessert. We were there maybe a half an hour before it was time to eat, so our friends grabbed food and had everything ready for the opportune moment. Finally it was time to eat! The buffet line was swamped as every person observing Ramadan rushed to get more food. The pizza was not very great, but I love pizza so I might have eaten just as much as our friends who hadn't eaten since five in the morning. Even though BH and I were not fasting, it was still great to see a glimpse of this interesting holiday.

Lost in Kağıthane

On Friday morning, I took the Metro Bus (first time!) from Kadikoy to Perpa in order to apply for my E-2 Visa to teach English in Korea. After filling out some paperwork, I had plenty of time left in the day to do some exploring. Walking away from the sun, I figured I was heading westward toward my eventual goal; once I got to the Bosphorus I could take a ferry back to Asia. (Un)fortunately, I got very lost in the huge district of Kagithane.

A neighborhood in Kagithane

From no vantage point could I see the water and I couldn't really figure out my cardinal directions. I knew it was going to be a long walk, Istanbul is a gigantic city, but I figured I'd be able to find my way. Instead, I spent two or three hours walking around in a huge spiral looking for signs that would lead me to a part of the city I actually knew. At one point, I stopped for a drink. I love how different countries have very similar products, but with slightly different names. I don't know if Le' Cola is a French product or what, but the green soda that I chose tasted a lot like cream soda. With my can of Fer Gazoza in one hand and a delicious doner kebab in the other, I hoped I would have enough energy to continue hiking up and down these hills searching for the sea, but I slowly became more and more worried. What if I was walking in the wrong direction? The sun was around noon, so I couldn't positively know if I was going east or west. Kagithane is definitely not a tourist destination, so I didn't expect anyone to speak English and the only thing I can do in Turkish is ask for two beers. I was starting to freak out when I finally spotted a minibus that said 'Metro Bus'. After deciphering which bus would bring me to the Metro Bus and not closer to Bulgaria, I paid a lira and a half for a 'seat' on the minibus. Katy warned me about these minibuses and I see why; in a vehicle the size of a minivan, twenty-five or thirty people were packed in. Even though the driver couldn't shut the door, he would stop and pick up some more commuters. The dolmus are comfortable and convenient, the minibus has neither of these features. I was just excited to get back on the Metro Bus and back to Katy's apartment.

Kagithane is pretty residential: broken down cars and kids doing laundry

Fenerbahçe, Istanbul

BH and I decided to make a trip to Uskudar, but on our walk from Katy's apartment to Kadikoy, we got a little befuddled. You'd think it would be easy to find the coast (it is quite clear from the apartment!) but we kept choosing the wrong rights and making erroneous lefts. We did end up, however, in a very nice neighborhood. Fenerbahce is the home to one of Istanbul's most popular sports club and is right next to the Sea of Marmara. Pride is displayed with all of the navy/yellow striped flags with an oak leaf in the center. The colors reminded me of polo shirts, and the neighborhood had almost a New England feel. When I saw the nice houses throughout the neighborhood and interesting looking restaurants, I decided we had to explore Fenerbahce and leave Uskudar for another day. One restaurant near the marina, the Bow Bells, had a particularly east coast feel. We stopped in for a beer— 10 TL for an Efes— and browsed the menu. I swear, they took this menu straight out of Maine! Other than lobster, I felt like this could be any seaside restaurant in the US. Delicious.
After our beer, we wandered around the beer. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and there was hardly a person on the hundreds of docked boats. The harbor wind whistled through the ships, blowing at bells that owners had set up next to their Turkish flags. It was the first time I have ever felt melancholic in Istanbul and I immediately thought of writer Orhan Pamuk. In his tribute to this city, Istanbul: Memories and the City, he used the word melancholy on every page. I had never thought that Istanbul had this feel to it, but I stumbled upon this moment next to the marina where I connected to his experience of Istanbul as a place of melancholy. I think this candid reflects that feeling.

Kadıköy

Since BH and I will be in Istanbul for around twenty days, we have decided that everyday we are going to try to explore a different neighborhood in this huge city. While a lot of tourists only see Sultanahmet, and maybe Taksim, we have so much time and a nice list of places we want to see. Kadikoy was a very easy destination. From Katy's house, it is only a ten-minute dolmus, shared taxi, but most people would be getting to Kadikoy from the European port of Eminonu. 
The must-eat at Kadikoy is balik ekmek. These fish sandwiches are amazing, and you can buy one for three or four Turkish lira. Simple to make, they are extra tasty with the added spice of the pickled peppers. As Rachel Ray would say, 'yummo!' Not far from the port is a semi-pedestrian zone with fish and vegetable markets, clothes shopping, coffee shops with nargile and backgammon, and an entire street devoted to wedding dresses. While it lacks the beauty and architectural grandness of some of the other areas we have visited in Istanbul, it feels more real. Sultanahmet is teeming with tourists, but most of the people in Kadikoy were Turks enjoying their Sundays. The waterfront is also a great place to just sit, relax, and watch the sunset over the European side of Istanbul. In one of the Kadikoy grocery stores, they had Ramadan packets. Starting today, some Istanbullers will be fasting while the sun is up for the next 29 days. For the busy ones, though, they can buy these packets to save some time in the evening. Pretty cool.

Our last stop in Kadikoy was the fish market. We wanted some mackerel to make our own balik ekmek, and we were able to get two fish for five lira. After the man behind the counter cleaned the fish, he threw it to the salesman.

Don't worry, he caught the fish

When we got back to Katy's apartment, this time on foot, we were ravenous. BH cooked up the mackerel, we placed it on a french loaf, and then added lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickled hot peppers, and lemon juice. So good.

Pink Palace

Pink boozey summer camp

Our original plan was to camp on the Greek Island of Corfu. When staying in Berat, however, we heard that the Pink Palace was an awesome hostel in Corfu and the place to be. We looked at the website, and sure enough, it looked great. Free breakfast and dinner, free pickup, and activities most days of the week. In Sarande, we ran into some guys who were just at the Palace and they had some horror stories; they described it almost like a drunken prison. We were worried that the place was going to be really isolated, and that we could only leave the hostel at the once-a-day six in the morning bus. In actuality, it was really cool. Aside from the mess hall.
Upon arrival, they gave us shots of uzo and then ushered us to dinner. Saturday night is toga night, so we dressed up. With a six-hour long happy hour, we ended up getting a little tipsy, and when combined with all the plates that were smashed on our heads (it was Greek night) we woke up pretty hungover. We'll be at the Pink Palace for three nights, but I can see how people end up staying longer.

Sarande and Butrint National Park

We got on the three o'clock bus to Sarande and six hours later arrived to the coastal town. In Western Europe, this drive would have maybe taken two hours, but the roads were bad, and the driver never drove over 30 mph. Our view from the Hairy Lemon hostel, however, were fantastic.

You can see Corfu Island in the distance

Sarande is not a very beautiful city, and is just full of half-finished hotels. Development of the Ionian coast is huge right now, but Katy pointed out that only a few buildings were actually being actively constructed. Projects seemed to have started, but didn't look like they would be finished anytime soon. What can you do with a bunch of skeletal buildings? Although Sarande wasn't beautiful, it is a great point to reach Butrint National Park. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Butrint was first a Greek and later Roman city. Exploring the old ruins was fascinating, especially the 6th century baptistery.

 

Berat, Albania

Berat was a great stop after disappointing Tirana. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Berat's old town is charming, with rows of houses built on a steep incline looking over the river Osum.

The town of a thousand windows

Even though it was hot, BH and I climbed up the hills on both side of the city. One gave us a good view of the town, while the other side had the Berat castle. The fortress, rebuilt in the 6th century, has been damaged mightily throughout the years, but still had some interesting sights—especially the churches. Definitely not the cistern though... I'm pretty sure it was full of rats.

The most interesting part of our day, however, had to be the xhiro. Every evening, Albanians dress up and hit the streets at around 7:30. They then walk up and down the main promenade. I'm not certain what the reason is, but one other traveler told me it started under Hoxha, when there was a curfew in Albania. Before the sun went down, people went out to meet, chat, socialize, what have you. If this happened once a week, it might not be that exciting. But when the whole town comes out to do their evening stroll every evening, well, that is pretty cool.

Getting off the beaten path in Tirana

While we have been seeing a LOT of tourists so far, it seems that nobody but the most seasoned of travelers head on to Albania. The second-poorest country in Europe, after Moldova, is not well connected to Montenegro. In order to get from Budva to Tirana, a person would need to take a bus to Bar, transfer to Ulcinj, take a twice-daily bus to Shkodra and then transfer again to Albania. Yikes. In order to save time and sanity, we did a second tour organized by the Hotel Montegro and got a mini-bus to take us to Tirana with a stop in Stari Bar and a quick photo of the oldest olive tree in Europe (scraping the bottom of the tourist bowl, don’t you think?)

Something like 2000 years old

Our first driver dropped us off in Shkodra, which is the old Albanian capital and definite border town. The atmosphere in Albania immediately felt different: dusty streets, grand mosques, crazy traffic, and guys picking at their belly buttons Chinese style. Our driver than passed us on to a new guy to make the last leg to our hostel in Tirana for ten euro a person. Not too shabby!

Cevapcici!

We stayed at a nice hostel near the center and spent the first evening just relaxing and chatting with other travelers. While a lot of people in Croatia were traveling for two or three weeks, the people we met in Tirana were all on gap-years or around the world trips. It was exciting to hear their stories and wonder if I could do the same myself- after two weeks of traveling, I tend to get homesick. I like living abroad, but I don't know how much I like nonstop traveling. Dinner was a disappointment. We were told to go to this traditional restaurant, but they definitely microwaved all of our food. At least it was cheap. If you are in Tirana, definitely stick to the street food. Roasted chickens, sausages, fresh bread. Mmmm... We got cevapcici the next day for lunch. How can you not like hot bbq, with fresh bread and raw onions? Did I mention it was only a dollar a portion?

Tirana was kind of a disappointment. It was a big city, with a lot of blocs. Unlike other architecturally unfortunate cities, Tirana decided to do something and painted many of the buildings with bright colors and interesting designs. However, there still wasn't much to do. We went to the art museum, walked around the fashion district, drank coffee, and saw the hideous pyramid. This building was originally a mausoleum for Enver Hoxha, who was the dictator in the late 20th century. Designed by his daughter and son-in-law, it is a real eyesore. 

Gross gross gross

Ugly building rebooted!

Budva, Montenegro: a mini-Dubrovnik exploding with development

Our third night in Montenegro was spent thirty kilometers south of Kotor in Budva. When compared to the charm of Kotor, Budva was not very pleasant. New hotels were springing up everywhere, and at night the city looked like a casino. Nevertheless, the old town is quaint and the beachfront is quite impressive. In the afternoon, we took a twenty-euro water taxi to explore Sveti Stefan some more, which is about ten kilometers south of Budva. We were planning on hitting up the beach at the resort, but it had an entrance fee of fifty euros! Even more surprisin, there were actually people that had paid. I guess when you are really rich it’s worth it to be on the most picturesque beach in Montenegro. As we walked back north toward Budva, the beaches became more and more plebian. Restaurants transformed from having marble-columned pillars with grape vines to having lawn chairs and canned beer. Hilarious.

We finally stopped at one of the middle-class beaches and got in for a swim. The geological features of the beach were beautiful, with slate cliffs dipping into the water. BH has becoming a better and better swimmer, and even jumped from a low cliff into the water. Unfortunately, he also stepped on a sea urchin. Ouch!

Water taxi to Sveti Stefan

Sveti Stefan

Chilling on the beach

Big Montenegro Tour Review

Our hostel, Montenegro Hostel: Kotor, arranged a huge tour around the country for those who didn’t have many days in Montenegro. Since we fit the criteria, BH and I decided to do the tour while Katy and her friend Melissa went whitewater rafting. For just 35 euro, the hostel takes you to some of the main sites in Montenegro, fills you in on the history, and leaves plenty of opportunities for some stunning pictures.

The tour started with some more jaw-dropping views over Kotor’s fjord, a breakfast of Montenegrin style ham and goat cheese, and then a tour of Lovcen Mausoleum.  Prince Bishop Petrovic-Njegos is interned here-he was a poet king who transformed Montenegro from a theocracy to a secular state. Visit to the mausoleum is apparently a must for Montenegrins, and the view at the top is worth the 500 stairs.

Our next stop was Cetinje, which is the old capital of Montenegro. In the heat of noon in mid-July, we decided to just sip on some ice coffee and soak in the town’s atmosphere—faded glory, quaint houses, and distant mountains.

We jumped back in our car and drove through twisting mountains through the interior. Although our driver was obviously experienced, it was still hard to not be nervous as he made hairpin turns on one-lane roads with long drops to our right. We finally arrived to Rijeka Crnojevica, a tiny village with a beautiful bridge spanning its small river.  I got a picture with Val after she tried shoving me into the river. For a sixty-year old, she has got a lot of energy!

Oh Val...

To stay on schedule, we needed to get back in the car and make our way further north. The twisty roads brought us to an overlook of Tara river that looked like something you would see in China, not Europe. With lily pads crowding both banks, idling away hours on a river cruise sounded like a great idea.

Unfortunately, our Big Montenegro Tour had no time for breaks! We snapped our pictures and got back in the car. For the next hour, I was able to have a very nice conversation with our driver, who was very levelheaded, open-minded and willing to discuss the recent history in southeastern Europe. He helped clear up some of the questions I had about the Bosnian story and was willing to expose his own beliefs, prejudices and hopes.  Unfortunately, this was followed by the most disappointing part of our tour: lunch. My fish soup was watery and BH’s sea bass was not very fresh. Luckily, lunch was quickly put out of mind when we visited my favorite destination of the day: Ostrog Monastery. Built in 1665 by Saint Vasilije Jovanovic, the monastery acted as a symbol of defiance under the Ottoman rule. The monastery is built in the side of the mountain, and legend has it that Jovanovic climbed up to the site to work on the monastery every day— barefoot. His bones are still displayed as relics in the monastery, and BH was blessed by a priest as he peered at the holy remains. 

Next on the list was Lake Skadar, which is the largest lake in the Balkans. If we had more time, it could have been nice to rent a boat, but we zipped out as the sun was setting and arrived at our last destination, Sveti Stefan, with barely enough light to take pictures. Once a fishing village, a smart investor transformed it into a resort. Apparently, it was very famous in the 1980s, but it lost its appeal with the collapse of Yugoslavia. It looks like its popularity may be coming back with recent development projects and the regrowth of the tourism business in Montenegro.

I haven’t been on an organized tour in ages, but this tour was great. We only had three nights in Montenegro, and this gave us the chance to see a lot of the small country without having to schedule buses or spending money on a ton of guest houses. About half of the thirteen hours were spent in the car, but I would recommend it as an option for those in Montenegro without the luxury to explore the country slowly. Just make sure your guide speaks English! While our car was full of jokes, history, and insight, apparently, the second car’s driver never spoke and the passengers lacked the enthusiasm of our car. 

Kotor: the must see in Montenegro

Our first stop in the tiny country of Montenegro was Kotor. Located right in the largest (false) fjord in southern Europe, the old town was idyllic. Narrow streets, stonewalls, and pedestrian area zones: what’s not to like? After checking into our hotel, BH and I made our way up the fortress the looks out onto the triangular old town. The views during the climb were remarkable, but so was the amount we sweated. Although we were climbing in the evening, the sun was still pounding on our backs as we made our way past the old church. At this point, we were only a third of the way up yet had probably lost a couple of kilograms of water weight.

Continuing up our climb, many people encouraged us / warned us that there would not be any water at the top. Luckily we had brought a couple of water bottles. We finally reached the top, but were panting like crazy. We have been carrying around these backpacks for three weeks­— you’d think by now we’d be in better shape. The ascent was worth it though. From the top of the fortress, you could see all of the old town, the fjords, and the mountains to the east. Beautiful. I was really excited to see fjords for the first time in my life, but apparently they were not made glacially so they don’t fill all the criteria. As you can see, that doesn’t take away any of their natural beauty. 

Seriously, at least two pounds of sweat

Labyrinthine stairs

Magnificent Kotor

Beware this man

To get from Dubrovnik to Montenegro, we needed to grab the 10:30 bus. Unsurprisingly, the bus was an hour late. This guy jumped out to get our baggage into the van. Note: When traveling in the former Yugoslavia, a lot of these buses will charge you about a euro to check your bag. It really isn’t that big of a deal, but this guy went loco when people didn’t give him the fare quickly enough. He would throw their bags out of the trunk and wait until they give him the right amount. Ridiculous. BH handed the guy a euro in coins and he was pissed. I ended up giving him a twenty-euro, and for a while I thought he was going to just pocket the extra eighteen. While he may have been taking a couple of extra cents here and there, he did end up giving me my change. He kept shouting at EVERYONE though, and yelled at us all to hurry up even though he was the one that was an hour late. Not cool.
His anger did prove to be an asset later when we got to the Croatia-Macedonia border. Instead of waiting politely in a line that looked to be about an hour long, he burst to the front.
Near the front of the border, some of the people wouldn’t budge, but he finally wedged his way in. Every once in a while, he would hop out of the bus and freak out at the other cars even though he was definitely in the wrong. At least he got us to Kotor safely!

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is the biggest tourist destination in Croatia so we had to visit. Like Venice, it was teeming with tourists, but of course it was popular for a reason. 

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the old town is gorgeous. Street after street of pearl-white walls and red-tiled roofs made the Stari Grad the most beautiful old town we have seen on our trip so far.

The only thing we missed out on was a walk around the city walls because of the heat: around 100 degrees. To cool off, we made a quick fifteen-minute boat trip to tiny Lokrum Island. After some small cliff jumping into the locals’ favorite lake, BH and I made our way to an FKK beach on the southern shore. Beaches in Croatia tend to be rocky, but they make up for it with the crystalline water and breath-taking scenery.  

We made our way back to Dubrovnik after our swim and explored the streets again. As dinner approached, we searched for a restaurant that our campground had recommended. If you are in Dubrovnik, you must try Nishta. Located on Prijeko Street, this vegetarian restaurant is perfect after eating Balkan meat everyday. The serve-yourself salad is especially delicious, but they also have Thai curries, Chinese egg rolls, and falafel. Delicious.

On the boat to Lokrum Island

The lake on Locrum Island

Food without meat!

Mostar

Mostar is located in the latter geographical area of Bosnia & Herzegovina and its old bridge is one of the symbols of the country.  The original twenty-one meter high bridge had been built in the 16^th century, but during the war in the 1990s, the Croat army destroyed this beautiful monument of cultural integration. Although it was a strategic attack, its collapse represented the breach between the three main religions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Luckily, it was rebuilt in 2004 and hopefully can work toward re-integrating Bosnian society. 

Our time in Mostar was brief, but of course we saw the old bridge. We contemplated jumping into the water from the bridge, but the view from the top was quite high. We put our toes in the water, and it was ice cold. In late July, there is a festival and Mostarians jump from the bridge... some even dive!