Black Sea Blog # 4

ISTANBUL

We had a total of 3 days in Istanbul before and after our Black Sea Cruise.  We were also in Istanbul for 1.5 days a couple of years ago.  This certainly doesn’t make me even close to an expert on this wonderful tourist city but I will share some thoughts.  We were so impressed that Istanbul is now on my list of the top three cities for tourists to visit (along with Buenos Aires and Barcelona).

Istanbul was first named Lygos, but in 667 B.C. when the Greeks took over from the Tracians it became Byzantine.  In 330 A.D. the Romans replaced the Greeks and re-named it Constantinople.  Of course the Ottomans renamed the city Istanbul in 1453 and despite the best efforts of the Ames Brothers 1950’s hit song the name has never reverted to Constantinople.  If you don’t know the song to which I refer you are probably too young to bother reading my blog.

At 18 million Istanbul is the world’s 6^th largest city and it ranks 5^th in number of tourist visits (almost double New York).  The city is divided by water into three distinct areas.  The original city (referred to as the old European city) is on the north side of the Strait of Bosphorus.  This area is the main business and shopping area and contains many of the tourist sites.  It is separated by an inlet called the Golden Horn from a newer (by a few 100 years) European area.  However, the majority of the population lives across the Strait on the Asia side.  Most of the people living in the Asia part of the city commute to the old city to work.  The look and feel of the Asian side is somewhat different with wider streets, more greenery and newer buildings.  The three parts of the city are connected by bridges and a tunnel and an unbelievable number of ferries cross back and forth.  Looking out my stateroom window I counted 19 ferries at one time passing the ship.

In addition to visiting some of the main tourist sites such as the Blue Mosque (one of 2000 in the city), the Dalmabahce Palace, the Grand Bazaar (world’s largest enclosed shopping area), the spice market, etc. we spent hours walking through the narrow streets of the old city.  In fact, walking seems to be the best way to get around.  Shopping is everywhere and prices are much lower than in Canada, even without the semi-obligatory bartering system.  Restaurants are almost as pervasive but (with the exception of McDonald’s) are primarily Turkish.  This is not a problem as everything Turkish that we tasted was yummy.

A WORD ON CRUISING.  Those of you who read my blogs know that Betty and I have fallen in love with cruising.  We have been on different ships on three different cruise lines and have liked them all.  We generally choose by which ports of call are included.  And, there is nothing better after a long day of touring than to get back on board and face an exquisite meal accompanied by several glasses of good wine. 

We generally choose a certain type of line which is primarily for adults.   Lots of really old people (our age) on the ships but most seem to be having a great time.  One of the entertainers in the evening show noted that she started her singing career at the age of six by visiting nursing homes.  “Now”, she added, “I know longer perform for old people.”  I’m not certain everyone in the audience was amused.

Every time we have cruised we were sorry to see the excursion end. 

A HINT FOR EXCHANGING CURRENCIES.  Travelling means that everything is paid for in some currency other than Canadian.  Credit cards are useful but not always accepted.  Buying foreign currencies sometimes adds excessive fees, particularly if you are dealing with a Canadian bank.  Recently while travelling in New England I tried an experiment.  I pulled up to an ATM and withdrew $400. U.S. from my CIBC account.  I then borrowed $400. U.S. at the same ATM using a Mastercard drawn on Chase Bank.  The fees for the withdrawal came to $13. while the fees and interest on the loan came to only $5.77.  Chase Bank is the only bank we have found that doesn’t charge a percentage of the exchange.

When in Istanbul we discovered that the best exchange was trading Canadian cash for Turkish Lira at one of the hundreds of money exchanges in all the shopping streets.  Never would have thought that I should have taken more Canadian cash with me.

Black Sea Blog # 3

FROM SOCHI TO SINOP

SOCHI DAY TWO:  Saturday’s rain ended and the sun was bright for our second day in Sochi.  Our tour included not only the compulsory cathedral but a promenade through the seaside park, a hard climb to a mountain-top tower, and a cable ride to the top of the botanical gardens followed by a steep hour’s walk back down.  However, the most interesting visit was to Stalin’s Dacha, which is on the outskirts of Sochi, but carefully camouflaged so that it couldn’t be seen from any of the surrounding areas.  We heard lots of anecdotes about Stalin and his life but the one I liked best related to the main highway which passed the street into his Dacha.  After Stalin built his villa here (close to the local medicinal springs) it became illegal to drive one’s car on the “Stalin” highway if the car was dirty.

We had lunch in a local restaurant and as we wanted something light we ordered bread with cheese and some Georgian dry red (Stalin’s favorite).  The bread was a flattened loaf that looked like an elongated pizza but with melted cheese and a soft egg sitting in the middle.

THE POLITICS OF CRUISING:  On most of our past cruises the majority of passengers have been Americans.  This cruise would have been no different except after the Ukraine crisis began the ports of call were changed (stops in Crimea were dropped and Bulgarian and Turkish ports were added).  Hundreds of Americans cancelled the cruise (perhaps to boycott Sochi) and the cruise line sold the empty staterooms by offering deep discounts to the British.  Dinner conversation is quite different in that politics is never raised, whereas with Americans it can’t seem to be avoided.  The British also seem to drink less and on this trip we never see hard liquor at the dinner table.

TRABZON, TURKEY:   We sailed overnight across the eastern end of the Black Sea from Sochi to Trabzon.  I must confess that I never heard of Trabzon, although it is an ancient city which for centuries was part of the silk route from Asia.  In fact in the 13^th century it was the capital of an empire of which I am also woefully ignorant.

Trabzon appears to be a city of Halifax size although others think larger.  After breakfast we walked up the steep hill from the port to the city centre where the shops began.  Three hours of walking may have covered 1/3 of the shopping streets.  I usually hate shopping but the scope was so great and the variety so interesting that the time flew by.  I must have walked by 15 shops that specialized in wedding dresses.  I almost wished that I had a teenage granddaughter so I could have bought her one of the 100’s and 100’s of “prom” dresses on display.  I settled instead by buying Betty a dress for the next formal night.

In Turkey one is supposed to bargain for everything.  However, it is hard to bargain for a beautiful leather belt when the first asking price is $4.  I needed a tube of shaving cream ($7.50 in Shoppers in Antigonish) and I was charged $1.5.  John Hanlon tells me that at the next formal night he will wear his new dress shoes that he had hand-made this morning for $30.  I could easily have spent longer wandering by the shops but we had to get back to the ship for cooking class.

The streets in Trabzon were very busy, although with the exception of people from our ship it appeared to be only locals.  I doubt very much that I shall ever be back here and I suspect most of you will not experience this place either.  However, if you have a lot of shopping to do it would be worth the price of a plane ticket.

SINOP, TURKEY:  We had sunny and warm weather for our visit to Sinop, a small semi-walled city of about 50,000.  The town is very pleasant with a lovely waterfront.  Perhaps not too many tourists visit here as there was no McDonald’s and no money changers.  However, the shopkeepers were happy to quote prices in either Lira or Euros.

Unfortunately our cruise is almost over as tomorrow we return to Istanbul where we will spend a couple of days before squeezing into the back of an Air Canada plane.

Black Sea Blog # 2

FROM VARNA TO SOCHI

BULGARIA DAY TWO:  We tendered off Varna (3^rd largest city) and drove north to the town of Balchik.  Unfortunately we stopped just short of the Tracian Cliffs Golf Course which I would have loved to see as Golf Canada Magazine rated it as one of the 10 best golf courses in the world.

We did a lot of usual tourist stops.  One of the more interesting ones was a visit to Queen Mary of Romania’s summer palace.  The part of Bulgaria around Balchik was ceded to the Romanians after WWI and the Queen (grand-daughter of Victoria, daughter of Tzar Alexander) spent most of her time there.  After her death in 1938 her heart was buried at the Palace but when war broke out the Bulgarians joined the Axis powers allowing them to get their land back from the Romanians.  The heart was returned to Romania.

After we finished up with the museums and churches 12 of our travelling companions wimped out and returned to the ship.  However, the Hanlon’s and Johnson’s decided to spend a little time walking around the beach/shopping part of Varna.  I should say the Hanlon’s walked around while the Johnson’s took refuge in a sidewalk café.  We ordered delicious lunches of salads, with sides of prosciutto, deep-fried mushrooms, tapenade, sardines, etc., as well as ½ bottle of a Malbec blend.  When the wine came the waiter gestured for Betty to try it.  I almost laughed as I wondered (given we had no Bulgarian currency, no language skills and had ordered the wine randomly) how bad it would have had to be for Betty to have sent it back.  In fact, the wine was excellent and I wished we had ordered a full bottle.  In any event the total bill which, went on a credit card, came to the equivalent of $19.

SEA DAY:  The sail from Varna to Sochi takes two nights and one day which gives a break from touring.  The relaxing day included lying by the pool, a Captain’s Club cocktail party and eventually attempting to squeeze into my tux for a formal night dinner.  In the morning we attended an interesting lecture by an Anthropologist (clearly not from StFX) who talked about Russian culture and values.  We learned that in Russia if offered a vodka, or any other alcoholic drink, there are acceptable responses and non-acceptable responses.  The best response is:  “thank you very much”.  Also acceptable is “no thanks, my liver is failing and I am waiting for a transplant.”  Not acceptable is a simple “no thanks”.  That response is interpreted as meaning that you are untrustworthy and that there should be no further social interaction.

SOCHI DAY ONE:  Sochi is the southernmost city in Russia and the most favored resort area because of the miles of beaches and the warm/hot weather in the summer.  Also, of course, there are the nearby ski mountains for winter vacations.  Sochi was first developed as a resort area by Stalin in the 30’s.  The city was also favored by Yeltsin and now it is where Putin makes his home.  In the summer the normal temperatures are near 40 degrees and in the winter the temperature still reaches 15 most days.

It was 17 degrees when we disembarked but by the time we got to the Olympic ski slopes and took the 40 minute cable car ride to the top (and another 40 minute ride back down) it had dropped to freezing and the snowfall kept us from enjoying the views.

Sochi is quite a lovely city on the sea, and with the mountains in the background it reminded me a bit of Vancouver.  However, it is cleaner than our west coast city and the new and architecturally interesting buildings give it a fresher feeling.  Of course, much of the city (roads, hotels, etc.) was built in the 7 years leading up to the Olympics.  In fact, it is staggering to believe that so much construction could have been completed in such a relatively short period.  The Olympic village is immense with stadium after stadium.

At lunch we were taken to a 5-star hotel where the food was very good and interestingly enough the accompanying wine was from Chile.

From Istanbul to Burgas

FROM ISTANBUL TO BURGAS

October 14:  For anyone who has flown overnight in Economy you don’t need an elaborate description of cramped seats, long line-ups for the toilet, but very healthy food (meaning it’s too tasteless to ingest the  unnecessary calories.)  Nonetheless after 10 hours in steerage on a flight from Toronto to Istanbul we arrived tired, but optimistic.

Our hotel had sent a driver to the airport and after he had finished fighting heavy traffic we arrived at our lovely little hotel in the heart of the old part of the city.   We dropped off our luggage and had a very nice lunch at some sidewalk place before heading to the Topkapi Palace.  We were not in the mood to stand in the ½ kilometre line for tickets so we made our way to the spice market.  Many wrong turns made a 15 minute walk last 30 minutes but we were rewarded with exotic smells and beautiful displays.  Then back to the hotel for check-in and a shower and a shave (2 of the 3 essential “s” words that make life much more pleasant).  Then we walked to the grand bizarre where Betty unbelievably found the same jewelry store where she had purchased earrings two years ago.  She then cleaned me out of my Turkish Lire by matching the earrings with a pendant.

Our feet screamed “sit” so we returned to the hotel and proceeded to the roof top bar for complementary sandwiches and beer.  By this point the Hanlon’s had joined us and we switched to surprisingly drinkable Turkish wine.  Betty insisted I stay awake and we walked around the corner to one of seemingly thousands of restaurants where we chose one that distinguished between Turkish and Ottoman cuisine (don’t ask me the difference).  We were joined by Tori Anderson (a charming young Antigonish woman who was sent to Istanbul on business by her London investment firm.)

The meal was very, very good (my sea bass in particular) but we wished we had ordered the Testi Kebap.  This is dish of lamb, chicken and beef sealed in an earthen crock.   The crock is heated at your table over open flames and when ready the top of the crock is smashed off revealing the meal.  Again the Turkish wine (a Cab/Petit Verdot blend) was nicer than I would have guessed. 

We stumbled back to our hotel and slept so soundly that we didn’t hear any of the calls to prayer that normally jumpstart the tourists five times per day.

BULGARIA (Day 1).  We docked in Burgas (4^th largest city in Bulgaria) a little late because of fog.   However, our guide was waiting and treated us to a very pleasant day. 

Bulgaria is a small agricultural country of 7 million people.  However, in recent years 500,000 Russians have immigrated and bought up many beachfront properties.  Now, the Bulgarians are very worried that there may be a repeat of the Ukrainian crisis, particularly if Putin decides to protect the Russian minority.   A large part of the Bulgarian economy is based on tourism (traditionally Russian), but since Russia has taken over Crimea her citizens are discouraged from going to Bulgaria.

We skipped Burgas in favor of a 30-minute drive to the UNESCO city of Nessevar.  Needlesstosay we visited more churches than enough but the town was very pretty and the people in the stores were extremely pleasant.  Later we drove through the countryside to a Chateau where we tasted 3 Bulgarian wines along with local cheese, sausage and bread.  All three wines were extremely good, but I’ll save more detailed comments for my next wine blog.  We also did some early Christmas shopping in the village by the Chateau.   Our final stop was at a 2500 year old tomb of a Tracian king.  The tomb was architecturally interesting but perhaps not more so than the 6-foot snake that wriggled by the entrance on our way in.