The old town and fortress are remarkable and once again the local people can't do enough. Had an eye problem today. Went to an opticians and it turned out he was on his day off. The shop assistant called him and he came in to give me a check over. I was with him 40 minutes and he charged me 20 Lev - £6 in real money!! Otherwise, and in spite of the write up in Lonely Planet, I have to say a tad dissapointing!
G x
A couple more general shots and looking across Victoria Square - which to all intents and purposes is a large roundabout!!
According to Lonely Planet driving in Bucharest is to be avoided at all costs. I can tell the author of this particular statement to spend 2 or 3 days in Istanbul before he commits to such a statement!! Like everywhere I have visited so far in central and eastern europe, the people were brilliant. Open and friendly and at pains to communicate, even with limited or no English. The game of charades lives on!! Architecturally, Bucharest is a city of marked contrasts between the old and the new. Not so much of the old and huge amounts of the new, mainly in the form of high rises which are generally decrepit. There are old towns and old towns I guess. And whilst Bucharest's old town is very pleasant, it's comparatively limited in size and atmosphere. Again cheap as chips. A 4 mile taxi journey - 90 pence!! A two course meal with 2 beers and a litre of wine - £ 20!! A twin room in a good quality four star hotel £45!! We're glad we've been but unfortunately would not rush back! Having now returned to Bulgaria to drop John off at Plovdiv tomorrow however I had better hope the Romanian border guards don't get a hint of this critique or I've no chance of getting back in!! Couple of shots in the old town first off
G x
Left Sozopol on Sunday, heading north up the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Initially stopped off in a city called Varna but, after a quick recky, moved swiftly on to a very pretty little seaside town called Balchik. Dropped on our feet with a very nice four star hotel with a great gym and swimming pool. £15 each per night for dinner, bed and breakfast!! So we stayed 2 nights!! Moved on this morning to come into Romania but got turned away at the first crossing. The reason was that I only have a copy of my vehicle registration document, as I forgot to bring the original!! Forgive me if I've told you this before. Just another senior moment. Anyway, we drove along the border a bit and had a tey at another crossing and after much deliberation the guy let us in!! Only problem is I have to go back into Bulgaria on Friday to drop John off at Plovdiv airport and whether I can get into Romania again remains to be seen! Hey ho!! In the meantime, supper in Bucharest tonight!!
Much love,
Glen x
Managed to get out of Istanbul (unscathed!) on Thursday and headed back into Bulgaria. Ended up in a pretty little seaside resort on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast called Sozopol. The coastline here seems similar in some respects to Cornwall. Been resting up here 2 nights now and will stay again tonight before moving up towards the Romanian border to a place called Varna and then on to Balch. John and I will go into Romania and visit Bucharest together in the course of the next few days and then drop back down into Bulgaria yet again for him to fly back to the UK from Plovdiv on Friday.
Another great day in Istanbul. On balance, I think I would rate it at the top of my city list so far. Absolutely buzzing!! Took a tour bus round the Golden Horn, had coffee and Baklava in Sultanmeht, haggled for tea shirts in the Grand Bazar, checked out the Egyptian Spice Market (which is actually a general market these days), ate fresh fish sandwiches for lunch on banks of the Bosphorus, and treated myself to a new pair of shoes!! Handmade leather - £30!! I have to say the Spice Market experience was fabulous!! I've quite taken to the people here. Friendly, fun, impetuous, nosey, ridiculously impatient and very excitable! Minor skirmishes explode into major shouting matches in an instant. Great to watch and up to now all bluster! A city, if not a nation, of traders!! And by God they're good at it. If only they could drive as well.
Hope you enjoy the pics. I should explain that the first one is with a group of young people who'sent role is to give advice to tourists. They can be found all over Istanbul. All youngsters participating in the scheme wear t-shirts with 'ask me' on the front. They were great kids and great ambassadors for Turkey, and the picture was at their request. When we talked to them about their role, we learned that all participants are volunteers and give up their time free of charge. When we asked them why they did it their collective response was 'for our city and country'!!!
G x
Bought into a bus tour for the morning which actually turned out better than expected. Istanbul is a big spread out city and the tour allowed us to at least get to everywhere. It also included the Mehmet Bridge and a brief visit to the Asian quarter. On the back of tour we were able to decide which places we might want to spend more time in. Consequently we elected go to Taksim Square and Beyoglu, before dropping down to Galata bridge and the Bosphorus, during the afternoon. Really friendly and helpful natives!! We now have a number of things to pick up tomorrow which will include another bus tour, this time of the Golden Horn!
As usual, some pics from the day attached, starting with Taksim Square.
Be good and take care,
G x
