I guess the best place to start is with last Tuesday, May 17th. I left Sliven on the morning train to head to Sofia (the capital). I arrived around lunchtime and headed straight to the Peace Corps Office to have my yearly physical. Everything went well and after chatting with a few volunteers I saw at the office I picked up a new book to read from our fabulous Peace Corps Volunteer lending library of sort. I then went on a walk and headed to the hostel I would be staying at that night. If any of you reading this happen to travel to Bulgaria at any point, I highly recommend Hostel Mostel in Sofia. They have a wonderful staff of English speakers, provide free breakfast and dinner, and offer a great place to stay. Click HERE for more information.
Then, the best part of the day, Keegan and Matt (friends from the USA) arrived at the Hostel! I was so happy to see them and welcome them to Bulgaria. After they dropped off their things at Hostel Mostel we went on a walk to a nearby restaurant to have some drinks and snacks. Though they were tired from all of their traveling to get here, we had a great time. After that we went back to the hostel and hung out. We ate dinner there and then it was showers and early to bed for all of us as we were all tired.
Wednesday, May 18th we all got up and had breakfast at the hostel. We were able to sit next to an interesting woman who was traveling through Bulgaria which made for great conversation. Then we headed to the bus station to buy our tickets to Istanbul. We bought our tickets from Sofia to Istanbul without any major problems and even got a discount since all of us were 26 years of age or under. Then we decided to take a walk around Sofia to see some of the major sites. It was a nice walk and we ended up having a delicious lunch afterward at a Bulgarian restaurant. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals which was great. After lunch we spent some time in one of the city's parks enjoying the sunshine and just talking with each other. Later on we headed back to the hostel to pick up our bags before we headed back to the bus station. Our bus left at 8:30 pm. The bus ride was nice, we were given water, coffee or tea, and a snack for the ride. Though I didn't sleep as much as I should of I did get in a few hours. We bought our visas ($20) and crossed the border into Turkey just before 2 am. This was my first time being out of Bulgaria since I've been arrived and we ended up arriving in Istanbul just before 5 am Thursday morning! It worked out well for us as our bus company offered a free shuttle to the area of the city we would be staying in so we only paid for a short taxi ride to the actual building. We didn't quite want to search for it in the early morning hours. We dropped our bags off at the hostel and then headed out into the city in search of some food and coffee. After walking for some time we ended up settling on a cafe that was near to the Grand Bazaar where we had bread and Turkish coffee. My first impressions of the city were just that it was HUGE! Definitely the biggest city I've ever been to, it's population is bigger than all of Bulgaria.
After some breakfast we walked through the city until we came to a large park near the Topkapi Palace. It was a beautiful park and we were even able to see quite a few green parrots. I had no idea they lived in Istanbul. Once the Palace was open for visitors we headed there to check it out. Here's the History of Topkapi Palace in case you are interested. It was in a great location and was interesting to see but it became crowded extremely quickly with visitors. (Check out the "Friends Visiting and Istanbul" album under links to see photos.)
After the Palace we headed to the Grand Bazaar. This is one HUGE market filled with all kinds of things to buy. If I had tons of money I would have easily been able to spend it. Everyone was marketing their goods to the best of their ability. I ended up buying a few items. Then we headed back to our hostel to get into our room and have a little time to rest. We took showers and had naps, we went out for a walk and then decided to go out for dinner. We ended up at a restaurant near our hostel where the waiter talked us into choosing a meal which included an appetizer, main course, dessert, and tea (all Turkish food of course). The meal was delicious and was well worth the price. After dinner we went back to the hostel and were in bed pretty early from a fun, exhausting day.
Friday, May 20th we had breakfast from vendors on the street and then headed straight to the Blue Mosque. There was already a line when we got there but it went quick and it was a fun place to see. Again, check out the photos in the album as there are too many to post into this blog. After that I decided to go to the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum while Matt and Keegan headed to St. Sophia. I was happy to be somewhere quiet and calm as the Blue Mosque had so many people touring it and the streets were so busy. Istanbul was easily the most overwhelming (in a good way) place I've ever been. We all met up for lunch and tea. After lunch we decided to the Basilica Cistern. I was skeptical of it as I knew nothing about it but was very glad I went as it was extremely interesting to see. This is the place that stored water for the palace and other places. After the Cistern we headed back to the Grand Bazaar since there was still much of it we hadn't been to. I bought a few more things and then we all decided to head to the Spice Market where I could have spent LOADS of money but restrained myself. Even though it was very busy I really enjoyed being there. All the spices, turkish delights, carpets, ceramics, and other goods were fun to see.
As if we hadn't already done enough we decided to then walk to see what is left of the Aqueducts up close. The walk there was fun as we went through a not so crowed part of town and saw some great sculptures and mosaics along the way. There was also a park we stopped at where the play equipment was based of gym equipment. It was definitely the kind of park for all ages and a great deal of fun. We then had dinner at a little local restaurant which was about 1/5 the cost of the restaurants near the tourist sites and just as delicious if not more. Finally we walked back to the side of the city we were staying on. We watched the ferries, stopped by a fish market and ended up at a cafe where we had coffee and tea to watch the sunset. It was nice to "get off the beaten path" and just sit for a while. Then we went back to the hostel to get ready for our final day in Istanbul.
After another great night's rest, it was Saturday, May 21st. We packed up our things in the morning and left our bags at the hostel as we headed out to see more of Istanbul. We began by buying bread at a street vendor.Then we headed to Galata Tower where Matt went up the tower while Keegan and I had coffee and cappuccino at a cafe below. It was a great start to the day. After the tower we headed out to see an old wall which used to protect part of the city. There were some interesting graveyards along the way and it made for quite the walk. Plus, we were able to use the city bus, subway, and tram lines to get places when it was too far to walk (in a reasonable amount of time). After the wall we had lunch and headed to see another mosque before going to the Spice Market one more time. Finally, it was time to pick up our bags and head back to Bulgaria.
Overall, Istanbul was a great trip filled with tons of walking, people, and so many sights to see. If you don't know much about Istanbul, here are a few links:
We were back in Bulgaria in the very early morning hours of Sunday, May 22nd and we ended up at another volunteer's apartment to spend what was rest of the night and see the Black Sea from the coast of Burgas the next day. We had lunch next to the Sea and took advantage of the beautiful weather. Then we took the train back to Sliven where we had dinner at my apartment and hung out for the rest of the night.
Monday, May 23rd began with buying bus tickets for Matt and Keegan's travel to Athens It was then followed by a trip to the market and a few stores which was followed by lunch at a great pizza restaurant in the city. We made dinner at my apartment and just spent time together.
Then came Tuesday. Along with Tuesday being the national holiday in celebration of the Cyrillic Alphabet this marked the beginning of the international dance festival here in Sliven. We started out at my school in the morning for a program and then headed to the city garden where there was a parade to the center square. It was an extremely hot day which was tough for a lot of the kids as many of their outfits were quite heavy. I loved watching all the dancing and it was fun seeing my students. Especially listening to the few who tried to talk to Matt and Keegan. I told all my students I would give them a good mark if they could ask my friends a good question in English. You can see photos of Tuesday under "Sliven's Youth International Dance Festival" in the links section.
Finally comes one of the best parts of Matt and Keegan's visit. We decided to go hiking on Karandila (which is mountain in a National Park on the north side of Sliven). I thought the chairlift was 6 leva one-way but it turns out that is the group rate and it is actually 10 leva to take the lift (15 for roundtrip). Therefore, we paid to go up the mountain and decided we would just hike down. There was plenty of daylight hours left and we knew we were capable so we figured why not? Well, once we got to the top and walked around a bit we found the trail maps to be much harder to read than normal. Plus some of the marked trails just became an unmarked mess. So we headed back to where we got off the lift in search of a new route down the mountain as we knew there was a path that just followed the lift most of the way. Since it was already 5:00 pm we knew the lift was done working (it stops at 4:30 pm), therefore I asked the man who was running the lift if this was a good way down the mountain. He told me it was definitely a trail and while it was "a little steep in some parts", people used it. He also told us when we would need to turn right on another trail in order to get back into the city. Well, it turns out the trail was quite steep and I definitely should have had pants on and not shorts as there were plenty of itchy and thorny bushes along the way. The major plus of the trail was that much of it was obviously not walked as much and was full of beautiful places, plants, insects, and views. Also, I now know a way off the mountain and now know where to start if I want to hike up. A short thunderstorm even went through on our way down which was actually really fun to hear since we were so high up. We made it down without anything more then some small cuts and had a great time finding our way down together. I was happy to have done it because once we were down the mountain it was hard to believe we had actually hiked the whole way. We then ate dinner at my apartment and talked for a while. We all slept for a few hours before we had to go to the bus station so Matt and Keegan could catch their 4:30 am bus headed for Athens. It was awesome having them here and nice to have a little break from my everyday life. Again, congratulations Matt on becoming an official Veterinarian. And, thank you Keegan and Matt for deciding to make your way to Bulgaria. I love you both!
One more time, check out all the photos under the Links section of the blog.
Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity.
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