Turkish Delights & Travel Highlights

Tavla

2007-02-11T18:52:00.000-05:00

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© Backgammon						Info.net

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So once upon a time, when I was traipsing about Turkey, I fell in love with a little game called tavla (a.k.a. backgammon), a tremendously popular pastime among the Turks. Once upon a time, I was also reasonable at this game ... at least, for a foreigner.

But I discovered tonight that I'd forgotten the orientation of the board, and was a bit fuzzy on some of the rules. A look back into my trusty travel diary reminded me of the board set up as above, where if you were the orange player, the bottom left would be your home (and the top left would be purple's home.) But much to my dismay, all online sources seem to show the board in a different configuration! This distresses me greatly. At any rate, I vow to learn to play respectably again, and to fight for the legitimacy of this board configuration! You heard it here first, folks.

Travel friends: the photo montage

2007-01-19T06:05:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to add this photo collection to the page for a dog's (blog's?) age. In no particular chronological order, here's a little shout-out to all of the peeps who made my adventures oh-so-enjoyable this summer.

Bicycle with graphic graffiti in Ljubljana

2006-08-28T15:03:00.000-04:00

Bicycle with graphic graffiti in Ljubljana
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

I find this gruesome image strangely captivating. I'd be curious to know what y'all think.

Blurred trees in Brasov

2006-08-28T15:02:00.000-04:00

Blurred trees
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Again with the "oops" factor on my camera which is notoriously challenged by focusing. But what a result! This one's for you, Robin.

Covered woman in red house

2006-08-28T15:01:00.000-04:00

Covered woman in red house
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Mom is a big fan of this one (a random woman minding her own business in Istanbul). It's kind of spooky, but kind of awesome too.

St Stephen's spire under cool clouds

2006-08-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

St Stephen's spire under cool clouds
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Are you beginning to notice a "pointy things under cool cloud formations" theme?

Synagogue

2006-08-28T14:59:00.000-04:00

Synagogue
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

A fantastic synagogue in Budapest

Godly clouds and light beams in Buda

2006-08-28T14:58:00.000-04:00

Godly clouds and light beams in Buda
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Perhaps it's because this is a fancy-pants cathedral that the clouds above look so stereotypically Godly??

A pair of colourful mating bugs in Budapest

2006-08-28T14:49:00.000-04:00

A pair of colourful mating bugs in Budapest
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Perhaps these little beauties took some advice from

Bouncing light patterns on emtpy staircase in Sighisoara

2006-08-28T14:47:00.000-04:00

Bouncing light patterns on emtpy staircase in Sighisoara
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

We could easily pretend that this bouncing light effect was intentional and not due to my antique digital camera's inability to focus without flash. Let's.

Colourful homes in Sighisoara

2006-08-28T14:45:00.000-04:00

Colourful homes in Sighisoara
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

I can't get enough of this cheery colourful look in eastern Europe! North America could learn a thing or two (not to mention France...)

Birds line up on a tiled roof in Sighisoara

2006-08-28T14:39:00.001-04:00

Birds line up on a tiled roof in Sighisoara
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Don't worry, I noticed this was crooked too. It's just that I'm too lazy to edit it as yet!

Hopeful clouds over the Sighisoara clocktower

2006-08-28T14:39:00.000-04:00

Hopeful clouds over the Sighisoara clocktower
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

This clocktower looks over the perfectly-preserved 13th century citadel from whence Vlad the Impaler (inspiration for Dracula) hailed

Run-down train with pensive conductor in Romania

2006-08-28T14:37:00.000-04:00

Run-down train with pensive conductor in Romania
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Not sure if this train was functional or not, but it doesn't look much different from some of the gems I had the pleasure of riding aboard!

Back in Action

2006-08-21T13:52:00.000-04:00

Merhaba,
For any of you who haven't heard, I made it back to Halifax in one piece. I count my lucky stars that I flew one day ahead of all of that foiled terrorist plot insanity. It's a shame I didn't bring any liquid on board just because I could! I did have a sizeable mass of German gummy candies in my bag, though. I wonder if they have the potential to be used as explosives? I wouldn't put it past the Germans and their space-age technologies.

At any rate, I've been asked a lot about photos from the trip. Clearly, I haven't the Blogger space nor the mental capacity to post all 800 some-odd files for your viewing pleasure. Instead, I'm going to post some of my favourites that didn't make it on to date. Enjoy!

Wouldn't it be Ljub-erly?

2006-08-02T15:35:00.000-04:00

Well it may be among the hardest city names to pronounce, but Ljubljana (Slovenia) does seem truly lovely.

Despite my good intentions to give my body some downtime these past few post-Budapest days, I gave it quite a thrashing. First, there was Revfulop, a tiny hamlet on the shore of Lake Balaton. I planned to read and swim and relax there but this wasn't entirely to be. It seems I landed myself in a "party town", complete with hostel whose downstairs bar felt compelled to play loud music till 5 a.m. nightly.

Sleep deprived, I moved onto the Schneider family's vineyard near Tapolca, Hungary. Needless to say, with wine and German cuisine in abundance, my liver had to endure quite an assault. What's more, I was joined at the winery by fellow backpacker Carl (N.Z.), and we somehow managed to get up to more talking than sleeping for two nights.

Thus, today I set my sights on Slovenia whilst mildly hung over and very sleep deprived. This proved to be a challenge in and of itself! Due to the frustration that perpetually ensues from trying to switch currencies every few days, I'm working on perfecting the art of taking out just enough cash to get me through my stay in a country. Evidently I fell short of this goal today, when I had 2000 too few Forints (around $10) to buy my ticket to Ljubljana. Further complicating matters, the train station doesn't accept credit cards. With the awkward translation help of a fellow traveller, I learned that I could withdraw cash from the nearby post office. Leaving my bag to the trusty eagleeye of a German traveller, I set off for the post office. En route, it began to rain. And then I walked right past the post office and had to double back. And then I discovered that I couldn't use my Visa card to withdraw cash because I was always being prompted for a PIN which my card doesn't have. And then I discovered that my bank debit card wouldn't work there. And then I discovered that there was no payphone nearby to contact Visa. And then I discovered that the nearest bank was in the next town.

I think you would all understand if at this point I broke down and cried a little. But I didn't; I just barely maintained my composure, long enough for the women to ask if I had any euros handy. And yes I did! So I was able to get enough cash (and then some) to fund my ticket. On my return to the station, I realized that my bag (and the German) was AWOL. Once again, I (barely) supressed a panic attack, and then discovered that the ticket agent had put it in her office for safe keeping when the German had taken off.

That's about all of the exciting bits! Every day is an adventure, to be sure. I now have less than a week left before my return to Canada. Brace yourselves!

Hungary Like the Wolf

2006-07-27T11:59:00.000-04:00

As you can see, I've been letting the vacation mentality get to me this past while and have fallen behind on my blog posting. The pictures that went up today and yesterday are from last week in Bulgaria and Romania.

I now find myself in Budapest, Hungary, at a very delightful hostel that makes me never want to leave. I extended my stay by a night to give me time to get my shyte together, but will take off tomorrow mid day for the Lake Balaton region (the largest freshwater lake in Europe out of Scandinavia). I'm assured that the temperature will be cooler and I'll get an eyeful of the gorgeous Hungarians on the beaches. (No, Robin, you didn't just read that.)

My big splurge in Hungary - aside from my nighttime taxi ride to the hostel upon arrival at the dodgy station - was a bike tour of the city yesterday. I managed to get a semi-private tour with another hosteller, and we went for a 3 hour adventure all over the city. Thank goodness for "it's just like riding a bike"; I don't reckon I've ridden one in almost 10 years. This inexperience showed when I wove all over the bloody place and bumped into a few walls... I won't even mention the Japanese tourist that I just about creamed. It was a splendid way to see this amazing city, though my ass is paying the price today. 3 hours of riding on a hard seat over cobblestones will get the best of us!

So far no exceptionally comedic (mis)adventures in this part of the world, but I sure am enjoying this city. I'll be home in less than 2 weeks now!

View of the mountains, Brasov, Romania

2006-07-26T23:21:00.002-04:00

View of the mountains, Brasov, Romania
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Yellow building, Brasov, Romania

2006-07-26T23:21:00.001-04:00

Yellow building, Brasov, Romania
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Patterns in the water, Bucharest, Romania

2006-07-26T23:21:00.000-04:00

Patterns in the water, Bucharest, Romania
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Heavy riding in the Bulgarian mountains

2006-07-26T02:11:00.000-04:00

Heavy riding in the Bulgarian mountains
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Close buildings in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2006-07-25T21:17:00.000-04:00

Close buildings in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Veliko Tarnovo statue

2006-07-25T21:16:00.001-04:00

Veliko Tarnovo statue
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Young drinkers in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

2006-07-25T21:16:00.000-04:00

Young drinkers in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Friendly tree in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

2006-07-25T21:13:00.000-04:00

Friendly tree in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Church top in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2006-07-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

Church top in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Ro-mania!

2006-07-21T06:47:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy few days; sorry I haven't been able to post here to tell you of all of my wild and crazy adventures. The last few hostels have offered free internet, but for only a few minutes at a time.

So I breezed through the picturesque towns of Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria last week. They were both really scenic and delightful, made all the more so by a nice collection of fellow backpackers who I got along with splendidly. Bulgaria was quite a lot of fun; once you get past the baffling cyrillic alphabet, you can decipher that beer costs about $0.70 for a half litre and the accompanying meals are also plentiful and cheap.

Adventure in border crossings also proved to be plentiful and cheap. When a threesome of us set off for Romania on Wednesday, we were armed with no native-language speakers and train tickets for only half of the journey. (The ticket agent inexplicably only gave us tickets to the mid-way point). It turns out (thanks to the translation help -- Bulgarian to French -- of a 27 year veteran of the Bulgarian opera) that the way for us to stay aboard the train all the way over the border was to effectively bribe the (ununiformed) train car conductor 5 euros apiece. This did the trick, and we eventually made it over the border, but only after having declared that we hadn't visited any slaughterhouses or played with any dead chickens in the past month.

Bucharest was grimey, so we only spent one night there en route to Transylvania. The city of Brasov is lovely, and notably less dirty than the capital! But we got our first taste of gypsy hospitality on the public bus from the train station, when our travelmate got pickpocketed and lost a chunk of money plus his bank card.

Anyhow, all is well in the grand scheme of things. I have a clean bed to sleep in and haven't lost anything valuable yet (... except perhaps a bit of my sanity??). I'll return to another cafe soon to get some pictures up. I have some real gems!

Bulgarified

2006-07-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

Hello/Bonjour/Merhaba,

My trip out of Ankara started on a high note: the rediscovery of my beloved camping knife! I may have been too quick to judge the passive-aggressive cleaning tendencies of the hotel staff, but their cleaning style must indeed have been too vigorous if it landed my knife under the TV where I found it. (Honestly! Who thinks to look UNDER the TV?)

After a whirlwind dance bar visit with Banu and Basak last night, I hopped on the 1 a.m. bus to Istanbul, and then on the 9:45 a.m. bus to Plovdiv, from where I'm writing you now. I'm already having some mini culture-shock after the month in Turkiye. All the signs are written in cyrillic, and nobody would react if I tried some broken Turkish on them. The women are all uncovered (some to an extreme degree, in fact!) and I've left the comforts of my single hotel room in Ankara to a bunkbed in shared 8-person coed dorm room in a hostel. In an hour we'll go check out the food around here. I'll be altogether too happy to eat real food, as I had to sustain myself on roasted chickpeas and snack cakes on the bus for the last 1.5 days! (Mom, take heart: I also ate two small apricots for their vitamin content).

Should be an interesting few days. I haven't any clear plans yet, but the other travellers are really friendly and all English-speaking, and we're all glad to hang out as a group. In fact, our dinner reservation is for 14 people!

Please keep visiting here, leaving comments, signing the guestbook and emailing.

Gearing up for the Turkey hangover

2006-07-13T03:15:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe tomorrow will be my last day in Türkiye. I've been here almost one month now, but will set sail for parts unknown (ie. Bulgaria) late tomorrow night.

I've gotten hooked on playing hookie these last few days. I think I have drained every last bit of interesting anything from the hospital, and am going full-on bonkers there now. I actually did learn some medically-related things on Tuesday night, when a Obs/Gyn specialist friend took me on a bit of a tour of his hospital. In the span of a few hours I got to perform an ultrasound and a digital exam (for the non-meddies: no, this is not the opposite of 'analog' in this case), watch an episiotomy repair and a C-section delivery of twins. After that action packed night I managed to justify a sleep-in to myself yesterday, and also jetted early before I gave myself whiplash in the Diabetes clinic from one of those embarassing fall asleep - snap your head awake type cycles.

I've also opted for a non-academic morning today and am about to head into the city to meet up with my friend Banu's sister, Başak.

I will do my best to keep these posts happening once I get into Bulgaria and beyond, but I can't make any promises about their frequency. All the best! Keep visiting and emailing and posting comments!

I've always wanted to visit a Tatooine parlour!

2006-07-13T03:04:00.000-04:00

It's true - all you fellow Star Wars nerds out there can rejoice - I visited Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine last weekend!

Yes indeedy, I took a tour to the magical Kapdokya (Cappadoccia in it's more irritating English spelling) region last weekend. This series of valleys and canyons has massive collections of post-volcanic rock formations called 'fairy chimneys' into which the early Christians carved out elaborate homes, monasteries and churches to hide out from persecution. (They also served as the homes for assorted creatures on Tatooine. Need evidence??) They are absolutely phenomenal - what an unlikely place to come across fantastic 1000+ year old frescoes! Mom, take comfort: I reckon I visited more churches last weekend than I ever have in my life. Ironic that it was with a tour group who were primarly Muslim, wouldn't you say?

I wish I could report more details about each photo, but our tour guide had an annoying habit of trimming down the English translations of his verbose speeches to approximately one twentieth of the detail. I actually learned more from a Turkish friend who translated Guidey's speeches to French, which I could then relay to the other frustrated anglophones. It was like a multilingual game of 'broken telephone', played in a series of dark caves.

Another cool stop en route to Göreme was the salt lake (see below). This inland lake has such a high concentration of salt that you can walk on it, like sand or snow. The locals believe the water also has healing powers, but I didn't get a chance to confirm this myself.

Anyhow, enjoy the photos. There are plenty more where these came from!

Moon over the fairy chimneys

2006-07-10T05:25:00.000-04:00

Moon over the fairy chimneys
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Sunset over 'the camel'

2006-07-10T05:20:00.000-04:00

Sunset over 'the camel'
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

'Fairy Chimneys'

2006-07-10T05:14:00.000-04:00

'Fairy Chimneys'
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

Reflections in the salt lake

2006-07-10T05:08:00.000-04:00

Reflections in the salt lake
Posted by: crazykc on Buzznet

The Perils of a Cleaning Staff-in-Training

2006-07-06T12:41:00.000-04:00

It's clear that I've been too long in this country. After a few weeks of a goofy keyboard, I now try to type the letter 'i' altogether wrongly.

I was treated to a delightful lunch out today, which meant that I didn't feel another restaurant meal was in order for the night. Around 7, I felt a bit peckish and thought I would slice up some fresh tomato to put on some bread with cheese. Sounds good, right? Well it did to me as well... until I discovered my knife had gone AWOL. For those of you hardcore followers of my blog, you might remember how proud I was about the acquisition of the lovely all-in-one camping cutlery set from MEC. (Robin can also attest to how long I stood before the camping cutlery rack, pondering my options carefully, before excitedly deciding on that particular set.) The knife even had a built-in can opener! What more could you ask for? Well, the very presence of the cursed knife would be a start.

A frenzied search of my hotel room confirms that it really is missing. And judging by the surprising lack of items sitting upon the desk in the room, I suspect that the poor knife fell victim to an overzealous cleaning rampage by the young student hotel employees. I trust that they have good intentions, but their cleaning style is plain weird and a bit passive-aggressive, if you ask me. Sometimes they just kind of move my garbage around ever so slightly, and other times they take matters into their own hands and make decisions about what I intended to throw out. Unfortunately, they tend to guess wrong on the latter issue. Hence, I suspect, the untimely disappearance of my tomato slicing device, along with some cute food packaging that I'd purposely hung onto so that I could cut out bits for my journal. Grr!

I suspect I'm being irrationally upset by matters, but these things tend to get to a person. Especially when the only reassuring comfort place for me is the 'home' that I've carved out in my small hotel room. Is even that not sacred?

I maintain hope, though, that the knife situation will get better. Turkey has an abundance of peculiar streetside sellers, who sell everything from bandages to roasted corn on their tiny trays. As I made my way to the cafe this evening, still seething over the loss of my knife, I noticed that one of my neighbourhood's vendors sells forks (along with hair clips and underwear, of course). Thus, there is hope.

RIP handy 2-in-one knife! I'll miss you!!

The Kindness of Strangers

2006-07-05T10:35:00.000-04:00

I must confess: I've been going mildly squirelly at the hospital here. Despite the best efforts of the very kind residents, I understand precious little of the frenzied patient-doctor exchanges (in Turkish). Even if I were to understand perfectly, there would be very little educational value in whole mornings full of watching chemo prescription refills. Today I got to have a bit of a change of scenery when I went on a guided 'tour' of the bone marrow transplant facility at Gazi.

I'm trying to keep my wits about me, though. It helps for me to refocus on the positive aspects of my adventures here. Today I had a really nice surprise at the Internet cafe, of all places. As I was trying to get the mic and headset set up, the friendly cafe worker (who speaks zero English) brought another employee for back-up while they frantically waved a 20 lira bill in my face (value of about 15 dollars). They returned with a written message (from some secret english translator looming in the dark recesses of the cafe) explaining that the 20 YTL had fallen out of my pocket last week and they'd kept it for me. How adorable! I'd probably have been even more shocked, but this is the perfect example of just how kind strangers have been to me these last few weeks. I'd like to share with you a few other such examples:

- Multiple waiters in İstanbul, realizing that Jane and I were alone and trying desperately to use Turkish as best we could, brought us assorted cups of tea 'on the house';

- As I tried to figure out the ferry station to travel to Haydarpaşa station in İstanbul, a kind employee, realizing my confusion and disorientation, came to check on me repeatedly as I waited for my ferry to indicate when the proper boat had arrived;

- On the (very long and very hot) train ride between İstanbul and Ankara, a kind woman insisted that I share some of her picnic lunch. A nearby passenger (who had initially been watching me with the utmost suspicion) soon struck up a 'conversation' with me, and enthusiastically shared her ice-cold water and baby wipes to help beat the heat;

- When an older man noticed that I was hesitant to cross the road in front of my Ankara hotel (6 lanes of traffic and absolutely insane drivers, but no designated crosswalks), he gestured to me to come with him and he helped me to time my crossing just right;

- A young Turkish couple befriended me at - of all places - the Canada Day party at the Canadian Embassy, and have since invited me to their home for an evening;

- A patient at the hospital (with whom I've only been able to exchange smiles, 'hello's and 'goodbye's) gave me some gifts yesterday: some leblebi (toasted chickpeas) and rainbow-coloured toe socks

This is a country full of contradictions and chaos. But despite the perpetual madness, I can always rely on people to be exceptionally warm and kind to me.

New fire pics

2006-07-04T06:56:00.000-04:00

Check out the links at the bottom of the Fires Burning! post to see some press pictures of the fire.

In related news, the Ankara newspaper featured a picture of yours truly at the Canadian Embassy on page 2 of their Saturday edition. I'm already a celebrity around here!

Adventures in Ankara

2006-07-02T05:30:00.000-04:00

Sunset in Ankara - supposedly always this nice!

With my new friend (ironically, Turkish) on Canada Day at the Ambassador's residence.

The pancakes that I made for Canada Day. Not bad when I had to eyeball the quantities - nobody uses actual measuring devices for cooking/baking in this country!

Some much-appreciated (and altogether too rare) nature at Lake Eymir, near Ankara

A woman makes some traditional bread for the gözeleme that I had for dinner last night. She was parked just out front the little take-away diner thing by the lake.

Some nice farmland near Lake Eymir. I was assured that this is very typical Anatolian landscape.

Picture-perfect İstanbul

2006-06-28T08:01:00.000-04:00

With a lot of work from the Internet cafe worker, I'm all set to post a few shots from İstanbul...

Fresh-squeezed portakal suyu (orange-juice)!

Ornate roof of the Ablutions Fountain of the cathedral-cum-mosque Aya Sofya

Jane and I delight in two desserts at the Hacı Abdullah restaurant in Beyoğlu. (We walked for over an hour to get there. Don't judge us.)

Dried delights for sale at the Mısır çarşısı (spice bazaar)

More colourful offerings at the Mısır çarşısı (spice bazaar)

Fires burning, fires burning

2006-06-28T07:34:00.000-04:00

In the wise words of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, DON'T PANIC. As per the standard among the residents at the Gazi University hospital, we were taking a prolonged break mid-morning today and wondering a) why the power went out all of a sudden, and b) why there were lots of sirens outside the hospital (we were on the 8th floor with the door closed). Then, the fellow's cell rings: there's a fire in the building and we have to evacuate ASAP! It was mass chaos: 15 floors' worth of patients and hospital staff crammed into the few staircases in the dark. They took 'every man for himself' to a whole new extreme, with most patients having to make their own way out of the labyrinthine building. Fortunately the fellow was very concerned for my safety (more so in fact than for that of the patients') and ensured that I got out safely. As far as I know so far an electrical fire started on the 15th floor (Neonatology) forcing a chaotic evacuation of the whole building. There was no organized plan for how to handle a fire and with the power out, no announcement systems or the like to help direct the patients. Although it looked crazy, I don't think anyone was hurt. I was a little shaky, needless to say; I got particularly upset when I thought of you all and realized how worried you would be if you knew what was going on. There were cameras all over the place so I'm sure it will get lots of coverage (though likely only on Turkish TV). Maybe all that good karma I'd accummulated in London for my first aid duties is running low?? At any rate, I've escaped the whole affair unscathed and only a little shaken. Although the Halifax Infirmary's perpetual testing of the fire announcement system drove me near-crazy in the past, I've never been so relieved to know it exists!

Fire trucks parked outside a panicked Gazi Hastanesi

For more evidence, click here and here and here and here! Craziness!

Ankarama

2006-06-26T12:03:00.000-04:00

Merhaba,

Turkish computers appear to be really picky about picture posting, so you may have to sit tight and wait with bated breath until I reach a more USB-friendly country (which may or may not be Canada in August).

I had my first day at the Gazi Hastanesi (hospital) today. In tribute to Mike Belding, I feel that my experiences thus far merit a top 5 list of things that shocked me to the core:

1. 30+ degree weather. No AC to be found in the hospital.
2. Sandals, bare legs and t-shirts are standard dress for hospital staff and doctors.
3. Smoking. By doctors. In the hospital.
4. Hand-washing? Manorapid?? Huh??
5. The ever-popular knock AS you open the door into exam room technique is favoured by patients and hospital staff alike.

Well, I'm cheap and my internet time is ticking... don't want to move into the next one hour bracket! To the supermarket!

Casey

Anchored in Ankara

2006-06-24T06:22:00.000-04:00

İyi gunlar!

I've made it safely to Ankara, for those of you who have been keeping track of my whereabouts. Leaving Istanbul was quite sad; our small hotel had begun to feel like home in the few days we'd been staying there, and we got to know the staff quite well. Jane and I said a teary goodbye yesterday morning as I was whisked off to the Karaköy ferry station in order to take a short ferry trip to the Haydarpaşa train station.

It was a seven hour train ride with non-functional AC in deadly heat; adding insult to injury, I had been feeling a little "off" all morning (sensitive gut and all that). The whole combination might have pushed me over the edge if not for the kindness of strangers. It seems I was the only non-Turkish speaker aboard, and therefore a bit of a curiosity for the other passengers. I first met a pair of university students who kindly invited me to join them in the restaurant car. There, we chatted for quite a while and taught each other about our respective countries, cultures and languages. At the end, we did some photo-taking and swapped MSN contacts. When they got off the train I met another really friendly group of women (this time, who didn't speak English) who insisted that I partake in their picnic meal. All the while a third older woman, very conservatively dressed, had been eyeing me suspiciously. Then all of a sudden she started speaking with me in excited Turkish, explaining that she had two daughters and wanted me to sit next to her. With the help of my handy phrase book (A GODSEND!) and a ot of frantic gesturing, we managed a rather simplistic conversation over the next few hours. She shared her frozen water bottles and some baby wipes to help me stay cool, and was really very sweet.

I rolled into Ankara at 5 p.m. and met up with my friend Banu (my Turkish teacher in Halifax) and her sister Başak. They brought me to their lovely apartment where we feasted on some mantı (a lamb-filled ravioli-ish pasta) and tea and other treats. They have been really delightful hosts and I'm glad to see how people live a little bit. The plan is to head into the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations today, which I've heard is really delightful.

If all goes according to plan, I'll be moving into my new longer-term accommodations in the city tomorrow. Word on the street is it's a hotel for hotel management students in training. Sounds like I'll get my own room and stuff, which will be a welcome upgrade. I don't know how easy it will be to find internet access from then on, so no guarantees about the frequency of these posts.

Hope everyone is well back home.

Güle güle!

Casey

Images of İstanbul

2006-06-20T13:17:00.000-04:00

A 'little prince' and his sister at the Sultan Ahmet Camii (Blue Mosque)
Obelisks in the Hippodrome
A family stops to wash at the Hippodrome
A seagull perched upon a colourful boat on the Bosphorus sea
Birds atop the Sultan Ahmet's minarets at sunset

Medic Alert in London and 24 hours in İstanbul

2006-06-19T10:22:00.000-04:00

Merhaba!

I can barely begin to recount of the past few days; it has been action packed and full of adventure!

Saturday in London was meant to be low-key before we flew out Sunday. Once Jane and I met up and found her brother Andrew´s flat, we decided to meander along the Thames in search of supper. After great debate we settled on roast beef at a carvery, then continued our walk... until we came across a pair of women, one of whom looked unconscious or near to it. We stopped to help her up, and her friend insisted that she would be fine and that they would get a taxi ASAP. We carried on but i felt guilty, so we circled back to find them. The woman was grateful for my concern and near-expert opinion, and so rewarded us with their pair of tickets to see Titus Andronicus at the nearby Globe Theatre!!! We snuck in time for the beginning of the gore, so opted only to stay for about an act or so. As we walked back home, laughing at our fate, we stumbled upon another person on the ground: this time, a young man looking confused and bruised who´d reputedly been in a fight. Our consciences once again got the better of us, so we stayed to help him out. He was thoroughly disoriented and had taken a blow to the head (and ribs) so we stuck around and figured out how to use his cell phone to summon his friend from across the city. We even fetched him some water and ice from a nearby pub! We finally got him into a cab, better oriented, about an hour later. We reasoned we´d accumulated mega-karma by the end of that evening!

The trip to İstanbul was uneventful. The flight was comfortable (though warm), and they kept us contented wıth delicious sour cherry juice and hazelnuts. Navigating the Atatürk airport was no problem, and we even found our driver OK, just in time for a harrowing trip at breakneck speed across the city. We settled into our modest hotel and were pleased to discover we had AC and a balcony. The appeal of the latter wore off when we realized that with our proximity to the towering Blue Mosque, 4:30 am prayers blasted city-wide on loudspeakers could be heard exceptionally well from our bedroom.

After our breakfast on the charming rooftop terrace (with exceptional view) we wandered off to the Grand Bazaar, where Im proud to announce we DID NOT get lost! We even tried our hand at bargaining (thanks to inviting sales pitches like, ´Can I hassle you??´) and scored a few really nice finds, including a lovely woven scarf which came in quite handy for our afternoon visit to the fantastic Blue Mosque. I´ve collected quite some lovely photos so far but am not sure how the whole transferring process will go... may have to wait for a few days until I splurge on a transfer to CD.

Much love to all!!

Romsey-o-Rama 2

2006-06-16T11:56:00.000-04:00

It seems I can only include five photos per post; either that, or Blogger is just being ridiculously irritable. At any rate, here are a few more hilights from my walk around Romsey today:

A view over the River Test

The River Test "Salmon Leap", where salmon used to jump up when spawning upstream. There used to be hay bales tied up here so they wouldn't bonk their heads if they overshot.

The Market Square in Romsey

In celebration of all things historic, the small road sign to the right of this building reads "Elderly People" and has a silhouette of two people with walkers crossing. Delightful! A would-be-geriatrician's dream :O)

Romsey-o-Rama

2006-06-16T11:33:00.000-04:00

Terrible pun, I know, but I dared not start title yet another post "Adventures in..."

We had a lovely relaxed evening last night. After a nice walk and a visit to the supermarket, we caught the local BBC news on the telly. I happened to notice in the TV guide that the British Royal Marines were performing a televised beat retreat in honour of Prince Phillip's 85th birthday. It was SPECTACULAR! I got all misty-eyed when they played The Globe & Laurel, Royal Salute and Life on the Ocean Wave.

Today I took off with camera in hand to capture some of Romsey's sights:

99 The Hundred, my home in Romsey

Tea in the Maddicks' lovely garden

Bruce Maddick waters the lawn, complete with darling hat and "wellies"

Gravestones by Romsey Abbey, built 960 AD. Apparently the local townspeople pooled together the resources to buy back the church's contents that had been pillaged by King Henry VIII, something they're very proud of!

Romsey Abbey School, where Jane and her brothers went as children

Alive!

2006-06-15T11:36:00.000-04:00

I'll keep this brief as my English breakfast tea has steeped and I've been invited to join the ladies in the garden.

So, I've survived the trip to London, and the London --> Southampton --> Romsey, with no snags... just a few colourful characters on the way. I'm soaking up the full-on Englishness of the place here. After a relaxing cup of tea in the garden, I went for a walk about town with Jane's Mum, Gill. I saw all of the sights of this quaint little town, including a duck crossing the main square (which I was assured is a very English event.) I got the lay of the land so that I can do my own little walking tour of the area tomorrow, after I've done my best to sleep off the jetlag. So far, so good. And this tea is great!

More soon...

Keji Adventures: Part III

2006-06-12T10:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the utter lack of structural integrity of the PVC pants, I spent quite a bit of time perched hopefully by rolls of duct tape, wishing my pants were less soggy. (Please note the absence of any coverage in the backs of my legs.)

A day of hiking in the cold wetness meant dedicating quite a bit of time to trying to dry off my feet and warm up my hands.

We did a lot of thinking. Here, Robin ponders Peter's Point. (That sounds suggestive. It isn't.)

Alex and Kyle contemplate Mills Falls.

Overall, a grand time was had. I'm sure we all have a few more blisters and bugbites than we'd care to, but it was a great opportunity to explore the Canadian wilds! Next time I'll be sure to invest in rain pants that are made of something more structurally sound than PVC vinyl. (And yes, some very angry letters were sent to the World Famous Company and Canadian Tire!)

Keji Adventures: Part II

2006-06-11T19:17:00.000-04:00

We carried on, through various terrain

...some of it quite wet!

But sights like Snake Lake made it worthwhile!

More "Lac Snake"

We even got to see some local wildlife!

Adventures in Kejimkujik

2006-06-11T18:42:00.000-04:00

In a blatant escape from trip planning and preparation, I took off to Kejimkujik National Park this weekend with Robin and our friends Alex and Kyle. Despite perpetually terrible weather, much hilarity ensued. Just a few photos from the trip:

In efforts to prepare for the forecasted rainstorms, I don an attractive PVC hood from a rain suit set, courtesy of our friends at Canadian Tire.

We set up camp, feeling very proud of ourselves for truly "roughing it" in the wilds of the park.

Hour one, day 2: The crotch of my beloved PVC rain pants has torn out entirely. I have to do a quick repair job with some duct tape. Robin mocks me mercilessly. See this guy? There's a reason he looks entirely miserable. He too was duped by the royal blue PVC rainwear.

Not to be dissuaded by our rapidly dissintegrating rain gear, we improvise with garbage bags. It's now pouring rain, we're in the middle of some godforsaken forest and Alex is miserable.

Despite the rain and generally nasty weather, we saw some neat stuff, such as:

This neat kind of Group of Seven island

And this moss, which Robin described as "other-worldy"

Take THAT, rhinorrhea!

2006-06-06T14:54:00.000-04:00

I've been fighting off a cold these past few days, and rather unsuccessfully. I'm hoping at least to be uber-healthy by the time I take off next week, so I can be footloose and fancy free once abroad.

In an effort to merge my present need for vitamin C with a desire to rehydrate after a sweaty uphill journey from the grocery store, I half-invented this culinary delight:

MEGA VITAMINALICIOUS SLUSHIE
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate (12.5 fl oz)
1 canfull water
~ 1 cup frozen mixed berries
8 ice cubes

Puree until smooth in the blender.

Wham-O! That'll knock you and your cold dead. It's tasty, too.

I picked up some foreign currency yesterday at the bank. Did you know that the Brits have Darwin on their 10 pound notes? A country after my own heart.

"Cannes" not get enough of Turkey??

2006-06-05T21:13:00.000-04:00

I haven't seen this movie yet, but Gmail magically showed me the review atop one of my windows, and it sounds neat. If you follow the link to the official site, you can watch the trailer. Looks kind of cool, huh?

Let me know if any of you find it available for rental.

And now for something completely different!

2006-06-04T17:18:00.000-04:00

Here is a little tidbit that has absolutely nothing to do with the upcoming trip; I just wanted to share. I was having some troubles with my new (used) Sigur Ros album as it felt the need to skip like nobody's business. The solution for surface scratches on my CD laid in a bottle of wood duster: Endust. A little wipe down with a lint-free cloth and some Endust, followed by a plain water wipe... and voila! I can now rock out in Icelandic without it sounding like a poorly-done eighties remix. Apparently any mild household abrasives will do the same.

Robin and I went for some adventures at the mall yesterday. I picked up my paper tickets for my flights, so things are feeling very official. I also picked up some appropriately conservative yet breathable clothes to be worn in Turkey and beyond. Oh, and lest we forget the 2' piece of chain for lashing my backpack to assorted inanimate objects whilst I'm traipsing about assorted cities.

SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

1/2 MDeeeeelicous!

2006-06-02T12:09:00.000-04:00

Sweet! I just finished up my final exam of year two. That puts me half way to being able to write prescriptions. If that doesn't make you lose sleep at night, I don't know what will!

My brain was totally fried yesterday, so as I puttered in blatant avoidance of studying, I had a chance to pick up some more goodies for the trip. Another trip to MEC was in order, of course, and I found some new handy things for eating on the go: a utensil set and a magical plastic origami-like folding multidish.

I also gave a trial run to using my new favourite scarf as a head wrap. Word on the street is that women are asked to cover their hair when visiting mosques out of respect. I'm cool with that, but boy oh boy do I ever look bizarre with my hair invisible.

PS - Andrew: I chose to go with a different hit counter that had more features, so I can stalkersishly monitor who's visiting from where, and stop counting my hits. The original counter was up so high because I kept checking the page for new comments etc. The current value is a better reflection of just how popular this page is :O)

Photomania!

2006-05-28T18:05:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try out an interesting way of displaying photos from the trip. I just signed up for a buzznet account and will see how that goes. I've synched it all so that you can see my five most recent posted photos on the right sidebar -->

Am I the only one driving up the counter hits on this page? Jeeze, people, get on it.

Gratuitous postage

2006-05-28T10:35:00.000-04:00

Since many of you have been keen to see photographic evidence of Robin, here goes.

This was taken at the Dalplex tennis courts mere days ago. Please note that I look happy. This is because I was playing tennis and not reading about the kidneys.

Gearing Up

2006-05-27T16:22:00.000-04:00

I've been finding that shopping for bits and pieces of travel 'necessities' has been a pleasant (though expensive) alternative to studying the kidneys.

Today I picked up a lovely shoulder-bag/purse type carry-all at MEC ... check it out!
MEC also supplied me with a charming little camera bag to protect my camera within the confines of the aforementioned bag... you can see this too.

And Mom, you'll be proud - I found myself a nifty little carabiner key chain/LED flashlight/compass combo to adorn my new bag.

Isn't this far more interesting than pre-renal azotemia?

Preview of Coming Attractions

2006-05-26T18:15:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of DepartsmartTM

I must confess that this graph predicting my supposed "emotional well-being" for my travels is a bit disconcerting, to say the least. Please note that there are two big peaks of emotional health/happiness: "honeymoon phase" - and let's face it, that doesn't really count - and "excitement at returning home." What??! I don't get to be anywhere beyond the middle-of-the-road "adaptation" throughout my trip? What a rip-off. As Jane would say, this this merits an angry letter.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

2006-05-25T23:03:00.000-04:00

Handy, because I don't have enough to write about yet!

With my Istanbul travel buddy, Jane

If we can survive the tall ship Silva filled with a bunch of creepy single men in the heat of summer, surely Istanbul should be no problem.

On the Air

2006-05-25T22:27:00.000-04:00

In less than three weeks, I take off for parts unknown (at least, to me). A 4-day London adventure, followed by a week of action-packed Istanbul tourism, then a respectable three weeks of medical "observership" in Ankara. And finally, a big ominous "?" between Ankara and my departure from Germany three weeks later.

What will become of our heroine?

As per some of your requests, I will use this page to inform you all of what's become of me. Check often, and keep in touch.