Journal Entry 39

November 7th, 2004

"Rumelia"

 

This one's a bit long. Split into a narrative, food, and history, so jump between the sections as you please. Or just delete it, unless you're bored at work and looking to chew up some company dollar...

October 12, I fly from Paris to Athens, Greece. Not a bad place. Standing atop the Acropolis is one of those priceless goosebump moments that you don't soon forget. The Parthenon, and pretty much everything up on that hill, is under construction. Funny enough, all the 'restoration' is actually repairing 'restorations' done earlier this century. They learned that you can't use concrete to replace marble. So the 'restored' concrete is in worse shape than the old bits of marble. Go figure...the wonders of modern construction technology!

I saw lots of other old sites in Athens, probably second only to Rome as far as ruins go, in my opinion. Also visited a market and got some killer fresh olives!

Then a long overnight boat-ride to the island of Rhodes. Rhodes City is apparently the best-preserved medieval, walled, fortified city on the planet. I believe it. It's a square kilometer of stone-paved streets and old buildings with vines and flowers and churches and mosques. It has huge thick city walls, a massive moat encircling the works, and an amazing castle with a great museum and loads of ancient mosaics on the floors (I love castles, but always consider them un-liveable because they feel so cold...but this one could actually work, since the weather here is so sunny and warm). Amazing city. Good place to wander. This is the place where Byzantium kinda fell to the Turks...7000 dudes fought off 200,000 Turks for six months before surrendering.

Also on Rhodes, I visited Lindos. It's a hilltop fortress, built above a turquiose bay and a village full of white-washed buildings. How much more picturesque can you get? Spent some time on the beach as well, getting my first rays since Korea (and that wasn't much).

Then to Turkey, one hour away from Rhodes by boat. First stop Bodrum, to visit its castle and the ruins of the Mausoleum, one of the ancient wonders of the world. Then to Selcuk, site of the Temple of Artemis (another wonder) and Ephesus. The latter is a ruined city, one of the great ancient cities of the world (with Rome and Athens). Incredible place, especially the library (picture to follow at some point). But the ruins of the city as a whole are quite big and I spent hours here, wandering around and trying to imagine what it must've been like!

Then I went to Bursa, a 'normal' city a few hours from Istanbul (after my quick trip up the touristy west side of the country). I arrived at dusk, tired out, and found a hotel. As I walked in, the family that ran it, instead of showing me the room, instead invited me to dine with them. For the second straight year, I'm in a Muslim-dominated country for Ramadan (called Ramazan in Turkey)...and I walked in just as they were breaking the day's fast over a 10-course homemade meal. What a welcome!!! I feasted.

It got better. I was wondering around after dark and stumbled across a music recital, some Ramadan special, which I didn't understand. And next night, I saw a show with Whirling Dervishes. It was great to see this stuff in places where I was the only foreigner (as opposed to Istanbul)! And the city after dark??? The main square, at 11pm, is packed with people (including old people and small children) and cotton candy vendors and lights and plays and music...a veritable festival...all for Ramadan! Way to go, Islam! Compare the festivities in Turkey at this time to the sombre, dead-after-9pm, Ramadan of Brunei or Indonesia.

Off to a small village called Cumalikizik, where I hiked and saw the town's old stone houses and ate fresh apples and blueberries.

Next stop: Istanbul, the capital. Here I saw the Aya Sofiya mosque, a 6th century church converted to Islam after the Turks conquered the city. Huge dome, amazing mosaics, nice place. Visited the Grand Bazaar, a 64-street, 4000-shop maze of vendors. Nice, but unfortunately it's too touristy to be authentic. Would you believe in the main part you can't find a toenail clipper? What kind of market is that?!

I hit the Blue Mosque (probably Istanbul's most famous) at sunset as the first evening call-to-prayer ended the day's fasting. I joined the Muslim pilgrims there by setting up my own little picnic, and my neighbors shared their feast with me and offered my Coca-Cola. I love it!

My final day there, I visited a hamam (Turkish bath), where I got squeaky clean and received a massage that left me sore. And stopped by the Suleymaniye Mosque...I tend to not be impressed by these so much (they always look cool from a distance but the art and architecture up close isn't so special I think), but this one was an exception.

I have more to see yet in Istanbul, but left after only three days there (more on that later). I was actually a bit sad to leave, but already had my ticket out.

Boarded an overnight train to Bulgaria. Spent three hours on the Turkey-Bulgaria border for reasons unknown, in the wee hours of the night, but it turned out great because I noticed a lunar eclipse outside my window...first time I've ever seen one and I didn't even know it was coming! I pointed it out to my Bulgarian roommate, but he didn't seem to appreciate what I was getting at.

When I woke up, mid-morning, the Bulgarian landscape was surreally beautiful. I hadn't realized it's such a rugged country (2/3 mountainous), and the train was passing through hills and forests in full autumn colour! I stopped in Veliko Turnovo (north-central part of country) for a few days. The town's built on a hill, several of them really, and a lazy u-shaped river splits it into pieces. Full of stone roads and old houses. I hooked up a room in a house with a balcony overlooking the valley.

Spent my days there going on long walks along leaf-lined trails in clear, cool air, with sunny skies. Saw some churches and monasteries in the neighbouring hills and villages. They had innards that were completely, I mean 100%, covered, with paintings of saints and religious scenes showing what bad things might befall you if you dared sin. Instructive. Visited one monastery only attended by an ancient, white-haired, hump-backed monk with a cane. In hindsight, you almost expected him to stand up and cast a spell.

Off to Sofia, Bulgaria's capital. Highlight is Alexander Nevski Church, a dark and spacious place. Didn't stay long...jetted off to Rila Monastery, a 4-level square complex that encloses a church, an ancient tower, and a large stone courtyard. Slept here, then the following day hiked up into the mountains and spent a night at 2300m (8000ft), alone, at an unattended mountain hut. Buried myself in blankets at 8pm, but still was cold all night. Winter's definitely getting close here.

Emerged from the hike in a small village and learned that George Bush had won the election. Damn. Yes, I voted. And yes, Kerry won in my state. I did all I could do. I've said I wouldn't return if he got reelected, but honestly, I don't think I have the cash to stay away for four more years. I'll do my best though. I truly wonder if people understand the negative connotations that simply being 'American' has these days in ANY other country. There was a time when people respected my nation and it's a bit sad what's happened. I'm an optimist though; I'll hope for the best!

Back in Sofia, I stayed one more night, then caught a bus to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Strange place. South side of the river is all modern and wide and concrete and expensive. North side is a bit chaotic: stone roads, a ruined castle, mosques, a massive tangled crowded market, and generally cheap. Stumbled across an old caravanserei, a two-story building with 2000-yr-old statues and steles, and a woman cleaning some excavated bones and putting them into black plastic garbage bags. Bizarre.

Then I left Macedonia, but not before having a conversation with a fascinating character who talked for over an hour, telling me and my Aussie travelling companion stories, histories, anecdotes, and jokes about Macedonia and the surrounding region. It's he who gave this journal entry its title 'Rumelia', as he claims that 'Byzantium' was a 19th c invention, and that the Eastern Roman Empire was always called Rumelia prior to that. I don't know.

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If hearing me talk about food pisses you off, skip this section.

Greece:
* Dolmades: Vine leaves stuffed with rice, olive oil, and spices.
* Tzatziki: Yogurt, cucumber, and garlic dip (for veggies or whatever).
* Pastitsio: Baked pasta with meat and bechamel (some white) sauce.
* Mousaka: Aubergine and meat dish, baked and kind of like lasagna.
* Figs stuffed with almonds and stacked in layers between bay leaves.

Turkey:
* Fresh purple figs. Yum!
* Sahmet: some kind of milky hot thick drink with cinnamon sprinkled on top.
* Helva: Sweet dessert made of crushed sesame or nuts or flour. Actually I don't know or understand it, but sometimes they add pistachio or cocoa. It's good. And you can mix it with water and make a sort of pea-soup-type concoction and dip burek (flaky greasy bread) into it.
* Dolma (see Dolmades, Greece)
* Fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice! The first time since Xinjiang (western China) that I've had this potent and wonderful concoction. Honestly one of the most heavenly tastes on earth!!!
* Iskender kebab: pieces of grilled lamb served over pita bread with a red, tomato-ey sauce on top, and yogurt on the side.
* Apple tea. No tea in this, but it's good.
* Baden ezmesi: A puffy pastry made with egg white and sugar and coconut. Brilliant!
* Golzeme: Turkish pancake. Huge! Filled with cheese and vegetables, then folded a few times so that it can fit on a plate. Eat with your hands.

Bulgaria:
* Kavarma: Pork/vegetable stew baked in a clay pot.
* Banitsa: Breakfast pastry, flaky bread stuffed with white cheese.
* Boza: Millet drink. Strange strange.
* Shkembe chorba: White soup with chunks of stomach/intestine.
* Gyuvetch: Clay pot stew with white cheese (consistency of scrambled eggs) and
vegetables and dried sausage.
* Roasted red peppers, skinned and salted.
* Roasted chestnuts from sidewalk vendors.

Macedonia:
* Tovce grovce: Seasoned beans baked in a clay pot till they're nearly dried out, then served with meat or roasted peppers.
* Don't-know-the-name: cold yogurt and cucumber soup.

These countries have deep roots with each other, so you can find virtually any of these foods in any of these places. I listed them simply by where I tried each thing, but it doesn't mean it's indigenous to that country.

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Someday, it'd be cool to write a book on world history. But I'm not so patient and find so much of it boring. But in interesting bits, it's fascinating! My 'Complete History of the World, from Cave Man to Present-Day' would be under 100 pages, I promise. But I ramble. Some facts I'd include on this part of the world:

Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. Okay, ages ago, it was little kingdoms. Then Greece got pretty important and had good times around the 5th century BC, when all those famous philosophers and teachers were around. Macedonia came and kicked some ass (noteably, Alexander the Great) in the 4th c BC. Then the Romans kinda took everything (roughly the whole region I discuss here) over in 2nd c BC. This was cool for a while, a few hundred years it seems.

In 395 AD, the Roman Empire split into two pieces, and our piece here was the eastern half, generally called Byzantium. The capital was Constantinople and the works was Christian. It was kind of Greece and Turkey at first, and in the next centuries took over Bulgaria and Macedonia. These two were the first to 'escape' and form a Bulgarian Empire in the 12th c AD, but the whole works got pretty screwed when the Ottoman Turks conquered everything in the 15th c AD.

Got that? Things get a bit complex in more recent times. 19th c, everyone decides they're sick of the Turks. Bulgaria wins independence in 1870's and was huge. They join the wrong side in both world wars and end up losing Macedonia and the rest of the Balkan peninsula. Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia and got independence in 1991.

Meanwhile, Greece got independence in the 19th c sometime and got a German king to rule. It's been messy in the 20th c and borders have changed a bit (they got kicked out of Turkey in 1923, and got half of Macedonia sometime later. And Turkey as we see it today is the Ottoman Empire, minus all these other pieces that people have got back. Ataturk (important dude) made Turkey a forward-looking place in the 1920s by separating (Islam) church and state, giving women a vote, changing from Arabic to Latin alphabet, and abolishing polygamy.

If I'd learned history like this in the first place, I think I'd know more. A few other things are worth mentioning. Would you believe Turkey is the home of Homer, King Midas, St. Nicholas (really!), and St. Paul? And St. John and Mary moved here in the 1st c AD. And this is where the church officially decided that it's official line was going to be that Mary was the Virgin mother of Jesus (in 431 AD...up to that point, it was more just speculation, apparently). Troy's here, too, and NOT in Greece.

And finally, in a span of four days, I visited three of the 'Seven Wonders of the Ancient World':

* Colossus of Rhodes (Rhodes, Greece). A 30-meter bronze statue of Apollo (who lived on Rhodes evidently), that spanned the harbour so entering ships passed under his legs. Built 209 B.C. Lasted 70 years before earthquake cracked it at the knees. Fell into sea, where it remained until 7th century when the 20 tons of bronze in the sea was sold to a Syrian trader who carted the remains across the Middle East on 80 camels. So obviously, I didn't really 'see' it.

* The Mausoleum (Bodrum, Turkey). A big old tomb from 5th century BC or thereabouts. Destroyed in 16th century by the old Crusaders, Knights of St John, who used the marble to fortify their castle (which they subsequently surrendered without a fight). There's foresight for ya. Now, it's a pile of rubble.

* Temple of Artemis (Selcuk, Turkey). A big temple. Appears in the Bible because the apostle Paul preached here and wasn't popular at this temple. Anyway, there's not much left apart from annoying postcard salesman and a lone column.

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Finally, some general impressions...

Greece and Turkey are rocky, scorched, places, where green scrub battles (and loses) to brown hills. It's a landscape that grates on me a bit, unsettling, one of the reasons I moved quickly here (Eastern Turkey is another story...and where I'm returning).

I like disorder. And Turkey's more ordered than I thought. But still, you gotta wonder about a place where you can pass cotton fields being picked by hand, then five minutes later pass a fancy outlet mall with huge Levi's and Adidas and Nike billboards. Also didn't expect so much blonde hair and light eyes in Turkey--it's NOT the Middle East!

Bulgaria. The countryside and small towns have a bit of a post-apocalyptic feel. Broken. Old vehicles. Restaurants with no food, no customers. The cities are filled with people trying to be cool, and somewhat pulling it off. But it has some work cut out for itself yet. It's the Eastern Europe I'd imagined, if slightly further than I had thought it'd be.

That's it. I'm in Kosovo now. But that's for another entry. A soon-to-follow entry will have very little about where I've been, but a whole lot on how I get from A to B...if you're interested.

"So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks."
(-They Might Be Giants)

 

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