June had arrived and with it the end of my classes at Bogazici University. Of course there were still final exams to take, but let us not forget that I am a carefree exchange student (except for the fact that my grades actually count unlike most of the exchange students).
The final exam period at Bogazici is much longer than the exam period I was used to at Emory. Instead of only a week, the exam period lasts for two weeks. This can be both good and bad depending on how your exams are distributed. I would say that for me it was mostly good. The first three days of the exam period, I had three exams: Turkish language, EU Relations with Russia, and International Law. With the exception of International Law, my easiest exams were first. This was good because I got those out of the way early without having to stress too much. Then, my final two exams (Political Economy of Turkey and Turkish Politics). Political Econ is probably one of the hardest classes I've ever taken anywhere...so I expected that one to be ugly. The professor of Turkish politics is so lazy that I didn't know what to expect from his exam. Since these exams were at the very end of the exam period, I functionally had about 10 days off with nothing to do.
Certainly, I wasn't going to waste those and so with the suggestion of Brooks and Tyler (two exchange student friends I made over the semester), I decided to find a flight to Budapest. From there, I would meet them and we would travel to Bratislava. I decided after that that I would spend a day in Vienna (the Music major in me could not pass up the opportunity of traveling to one of the music capitals of the world when I was only 40 miles away!).
So there was the idea. I got on a Malev Hungarian flight to Budapest from Istanbul (round trip only $200) which I thought was an incredibly good deal. I met up with Brooks and Tyler at the hostel and we went out for a traditional hungarian meal. I took pictures but couldn't tell you what it was. It was some sort of red meat dish and it was delicious. There was also yogurt involved and some sort of pasta-like dish. I also had a local beer (which by the way only costs about $2 in Hungary).
Brooks, Tyler, and I went back to the hostel and went to bed early since we had an early train the next morning. We took the train for 3 hours and finally arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Once we got off the train, we made our way to a hostel to put our stuff down and explore Slovakia. We then began walking. We didn't really have a plan...we were just hoping to see cool stuff. We walked across the river under the famous futuristic disk thingy that people associate with Bratislava. One thing I did notice as I was walking across the river was the remnants of the old communist apartment buildings. They were not nearly a pronounced as they were in say Armenia or Georgia, but it was still an interesting reminder that only 20 years earlier the entirety of eastern Europe was under communist rule.
We walked to a castle (another famous landmark in Bratislava) but unfortunately we couldn't tour the structure because it was under construction/renovation. It was nice just to walk around. Walking over the Danube River, you could see a good portion of Bratislava. We then walked down a hill near the river to a main courtyard. It looked as if the area had been especially made for walking. We knew we were in the center of town because we were close to the American Embassy. It was funny to compare the American Embassy to the other embassies in Bratislava. The others looked like normal buildings, but the American one was equipped wiht metal detectors and intense equipment to keep out unwanted visitors. I was surprised because I didn't think Slovakia was known to harvest people hostile to the United States but I guess with embassies abroad the US can never be too careful.
We walked around for a bit and then decided to have lunch. Unfortunately, everything in this area was going to set us back at least 10 euros. Oh well, at least the hostel was cheap.
After lunch, we continued walking and saw some neat buildings (including the famous opera house). I definitely took some cool pictures. We also went inside a church (not that going inside a church in Europe is all that surprising). We finished off by randomly stumbling across the Jewish museum. We spent about an hour going through it and seeing Jewish items from this area. They had everything from prayer shawls to menorahs to yads and it was all very ornate.
After the Jewish museum, we walked back to the Bratislava castle and took pictures and admired the view. It was situated on the highest hill in Bratislava and allowed us to see the entire city. We then made our way to a restaurant to meet with a family friend of Brooks'. Doug and his wife had been doing missionary work in Slovakia for the last few years and had been living here. Doug was religious but a really nice guy. He suggested some authentic Slovakian cuisine for us to try (it was some sort of pasta in yogurt with meat on top) and he also suggested some Slovakian beers for us. At the end of the day, we wandered back to the hostel and went to sleep. At this point, Brooks and Tyler left me to return back to Hungary and to Turkey. I decided to take an extra day on my little excursion to head to Vienna since I was so close!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Metrobus
I wanted to take this opportunity to write about another amazing aspect of Istanbul: the Metrobus. When I refer to the Metrobus, I am not talking about the busses that stop every few minutes along the streets. Instead, I am talking about an express bus that can take you across the city in about 45 minutes -- truly remarkable. For most of you, this does not seem that remarkable because you are used to the ease of transportation in a car in the United States, so I should qualify this statement by saying it is truly remarkable for Istanbul.
It took me about 45 minutes on the normal bus to get to Taksim Square, which is only a few kilometers from my apartment. The metrobus is a project of the AKP Government and is able to bypass traffic. This is a huge asset in a city of 18 million. On the 2nd outer loop of the interstate (and now it goes over the Bosphorus Bridge as well) 2 center lanes were built on the limited access highway that goes through parts of Istanbul. In the center of these lanes, there is a bus stop every few kilometers where people can get on and off and walk on a bridge over the interstate to either side and catch a local bus. Because the only vehicles permitted to travel in these two center lanes (and they are completely blocked from the main traffic), the buses never experience any traffic. Between stops they travel 60-80km/hr, which is generally faster than the cars on the interstate due to traffic.
Observing and using the Metrobus makes me wonder if the Turks got it right in some aspect of public transit. All of the facts and figures in the US indicate that to built rail lines (like new MARTA lines in Atlanta) it would cost a million dollars a mile (or some close astronomical figure). In Atlanta, there wouldnt be as much of a need for this sort of metrobus system because MARTA already follows the interstate, performing the same function (but maybe on I-75 north of the split with 85 or 285 it could be useful). It's hard to compare Istanbul with American cities because its much more compact and everything is much closer together (though it takes twice as long to get everywhere). Perhaps it would be a more viable solution in places like LA.
The conditions of the metrobus were nice and they ran rather frequently (unless you're taking 1 at 2am in the morning). All in all I thought it was a really cool thing to see and thought it was worth a posting (but that might have something to do with my weird fascination for interstates and limited access highways). If you ever find yourself in Istanbul, it might save some time if you take the metrobus (especially now that they have expanded service across the Bosphorus) or you can always take a ferry.
It took me about 45 minutes on the normal bus to get to Taksim Square, which is only a few kilometers from my apartment. The metrobus is a project of the AKP Government and is able to bypass traffic. This is a huge asset in a city of 18 million. On the 2nd outer loop of the interstate (and now it goes over the Bosphorus Bridge as well) 2 center lanes were built on the limited access highway that goes through parts of Istanbul. In the center of these lanes, there is a bus stop every few kilometers where people can get on and off and walk on a bridge over the interstate to either side and catch a local bus. Because the only vehicles permitted to travel in these two center lanes (and they are completely blocked from the main traffic), the buses never experience any traffic. Between stops they travel 60-80km/hr, which is generally faster than the cars on the interstate due to traffic.
Observing and using the Metrobus makes me wonder if the Turks got it right in some aspect of public transit. All of the facts and figures in the US indicate that to built rail lines (like new MARTA lines in Atlanta) it would cost a million dollars a mile (or some close astronomical figure). In Atlanta, there wouldnt be as much of a need for this sort of metrobus system because MARTA already follows the interstate, performing the same function (but maybe on I-75 north of the split with 85 or 285 it could be useful). It's hard to compare Istanbul with American cities because its much more compact and everything is much closer together (though it takes twice as long to get everywhere). Perhaps it would be a more viable solution in places like LA.
The conditions of the metrobus were nice and they ran rather frequently (unless you're taking 1 at 2am in the morning). All in all I thought it was a really cool thing to see and thought it was worth a posting (but that might have something to do with my weird fascination for interstates and limited access highways). If you ever find yourself in Istanbul, it might save some time if you take the metrobus (especially now that they have expanded service across the Bosphorus) or you can always take a ferry.
Monday, June 7, 2010
The Saturday Markets
In my little neighborhood of Rumeli Hisarustu, far from the city center, they have a really neat thing they do on Saturdays. From 10am-6pm, they have the neighborhood market. I had taken advantage of the neighborhood market sporadically throughout the semester (some weeks more than others) but don't think I ever really wrote about it. To me, the markets were a pretty cool concept (much like a Farmer's Market you would see in the US).
These markets were, of course, slightly different, selling Turkish foods and produce. The market was set up about a 5 minute walk from my apartment along the main road north. Every Saturday, the sellers would set up big white tents covering the area. I really liked the markets for 2 reasons. Firstly, it was without a doubt the best place to buy fresh produce. I am pretty sure this stuff came straight from the farms to our neighborhood. I suppose that in itself is not overly surprising or impressive considering the same thing happens with markets here in the United States too (they are just fewer and further between).
I walked down the streets to find any sort of produce imagineable. They had fresh broccoli, fresh peaches, potatoes, lemons, etc. The best part was the price (my 2nd reason for loving these little markets)! 4 Lemons for 1 TL and 3 TL for a kilo of potatoes was pretty much the norm. They also sold all sorts of authentic cheeses (but I wouldn't touch the cheese in an outdoor market because I am superstitious). They even had freshly caught fish, laundry detergent, toilet paper, and clothes.
I think the diversity of items beyond the produce (which is typically what one would expect at a farmer's market) is what surprised me most. On some Saturdays I would go and buy what we needed for the apartment and come back with bags full of things for only 10 or 20 Lira. It was out of control! They even had "Turkish bananas" which were like the South American ones but smaller and different. I really did enjoy going to the fresh markets and it was another of the aspects of life in Istanbul that I will miss.
These markets were, of course, slightly different, selling Turkish foods and produce. The market was set up about a 5 minute walk from my apartment along the main road north. Every Saturday, the sellers would set up big white tents covering the area. I really liked the markets for 2 reasons. Firstly, it was without a doubt the best place to buy fresh produce. I am pretty sure this stuff came straight from the farms to our neighborhood. I suppose that in itself is not overly surprising or impressive considering the same thing happens with markets here in the United States too (they are just fewer and further between).
I walked down the streets to find any sort of produce imagineable. They had fresh broccoli, fresh peaches, potatoes, lemons, etc. The best part was the price (my 2nd reason for loving these little markets)! 4 Lemons for 1 TL and 3 TL for a kilo of potatoes was pretty much the norm. They also sold all sorts of authentic cheeses (but I wouldn't touch the cheese in an outdoor market because I am superstitious). They even had freshly caught fish, laundry detergent, toilet paper, and clothes.
I think the diversity of items beyond the produce (which is typically what one would expect at a farmer's market) is what surprised me most. On some Saturdays I would go and buy what we needed for the apartment and come back with bags full of things for only 10 or 20 Lira. It was out of control! They even had "Turkish bananas" which were like the South American ones but smaller and different. I really did enjoy going to the fresh markets and it was another of the aspects of life in Istanbul that I will miss.
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