The Sultan's Table

Our day starts with a trip to the bakery for the still warm, crusty on-the-outside, white and fluffy on-the-inside Turkish bread, and maybe some lighter-than-air croissants. We prepare a typical Turkish breakfast with the bread: sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, wrinkly and salty black olives (which are incredibly cheap here), tangy feta (which tastes 100x better than any I have had in the U.S.), and repeated drizzles of the super olivey EVOO. We might also have a little butter and honey with our bread or some fruit and yogurt to top it off.

The options for a Turkish lunch are many, and on Monday we ducked into a busy Circassian restaurant and were pleasantly surprised with a range of mezes (starters) and lamb dumplings/raviolis in a yogurt and chili sauce. They vary by region, but the mezes range from a bowl of big yellow beans to fresh grilled mackerel fillets, to eggplant puree (like the Greek baba ganoush), to chopped spinach salad, or my favorite: a spread made of grilled red peppers, toasted walnuts and pomegranate syrup.

The Turkish are big meat eaters and the national fast food dish is probably the kebap, which city dwellers in the U.S. know so well for late night gnoshing. There are also kofte restaurants which specialize in meatballs, borek shops which carry all kinds of savory pastry wrapped, delicately spiced meats, cheeses and vegetables, shops specializing in baklava (which is a whole different creation over here), pide restaurants (Turkish version of pizza), and of course, fish restaurants as Istanbul is a seaside city. We have also been enjoying fresh pomegranate juice from the tiny juice shops - 5 whole pomegranates in a small glass. Hello anti-oxidants!


I will try to take more photos of our food. We are just so excited, we lay into it right away and ruin the aesthetic!

Merhaba

My last post was all the way back in April, but, yes, I have traveled since then. See http://twosistersonthesubcontinent.blogspot.com/ for my adventures in Sri Lanka with my sister.

For our next adventure we are in Turkey, first stop Istanbul. We had visited Turkey together just over 11 years ago but didn't come to Istanbul, so this is quite exciting for me. Our last trip was along the southwest coast, first by boat and then by car (the screaming white cola can), a hot August jaunt along the Med.

This time we arrived to mid-70's, sunny and dry, lovely Istanbul. Helena is reveling in the cleanliness and balmy weather of this fine city after 6 months in India, and the sweltering sticky filth of Delhi. We have rented a flat in the Beyoglu district, which sees fewer tourists than the old town area of Sultanhamet, and it's refreshingly quiet. The flat is sunny and breezy with immaculate hardwood floors, 2 bedrooms and a full kitchen, and we are in heaven (Helena had sussed out this area on her last trip to Istanbul in 2009).

Yesterday we did some organizational stuff, getting a local SIM card, some groceries, etc., but also walked a lot looking at a few of the sights (and getting a taste of the legendary bazaar) before attending the art opening of Helena's old friend and mentor from Vienna, Zekeriya Saribatur (we had timed our arrival to make the opening). Zekeriya is an internationally acclaimed Turkish artist who was tutor to Helena while she was at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and is now an Assistant Professor there. The exhibition is an on-going collaborative group effort by 3 artists of diverse nationalities working mainly in oils, print and mixed media. We both enjoyed the works and the space the exhibition in is amazing, a centuries-old huge stone building of adjoined cuppolas, the kind you get only in Turkey.

Today it is more sight seeing - for me, as Helena has seen everything on her prior trips to Istanbul. Although Helena is looking for inspiration for her textile designs and there is no doubt she will find it here.

Photo: We have our first glass of Turkish tea and our first cheese borek. Yay! Food report to come.

Stockholm Clean, Bright and.... Warm??

What a difference a period of three weeks makes at the start of spring! Arriving in Stockholm today, it was 60F – a 30 degree increase from when I arrived at the start of this trip! I packed away the down coat, hat and gloves for my last day, and took to the streets of Stockholm, exploring one of the outer island/suburbs that sees few tourists. I was in search of a bakery/café owned by the confectioner who supplies the Nobel banquets. I found it and was not disappointed (remember how in my first blog entry for this trip I said I might live on desserts alone? Well, that’s almost the case!). Along the way I could see that everyone was out in the sunshine – some in shorts and t-shirts, and the neighborhoods reminded me a bit of San Francisco: young, urban, hip.

Stockholm is such a change from Riga (which is only a one hour flight across the Baltic Sea). During the Soviet occupation, large numbers of Russians emigrated to Latvia, changing the ethic makeup dramatically. Today, Riga is about 60% Latvian and 40% Russian. To me, it felt very eastern – more so than Estonia, which shares a much longer border with Russia.

On my last night in Riga, I went to the National Opera House to see a ballet. I had read Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alexander Godunov both started their careers with the Latvian National Ballet, and it inspired me to see a performance. I had hoped to see an opera too, as the National Opera is the pride of Latvia, but unfortunately my timing didn’t work out. For such a small country, Latvia seems to have an extensive arts culture, and getting to witness a part of it in the gilded glory of the 100 year old National Opera House was a treat. http://www.opera.lv/

Jumble

The recent (last 100 years) history of the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) is largely the same: Long awaited independence and national pride is crushed by Soviet invasion, followed by Nazi oppression, and then handed back to the Soviets where they remained behind the Iron Curtain for over 45 years.

Riga also has a Museum of Occupation, housed in one of the few remaining Soviet structures (Latvians tore down the rest) – a kind of fitting house for the horrors chronicled inside. Needless to say, I am becoming extremely familiar with history of this region (including Finland). Learning history first-hand (so to speak) is one of my goals in traveling, and hitting almost the whole region this time has made that a lot easier.

Riga itself is an interesting jumble of medieval, modern, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and numerous other kinds of architecture. The old town was not preserved as well as in Tallinn, and here you have modern shopping malls next to 16th century buildings. The Art Nouveau district is the most celebrated, and I took heaps of photos of the various nymphs, ghouls and dragons adorning them.

I am happy to report that the weather is warming even more, and today is the first day I didn’t have to wear hat and scarf (and gloves for the second half of the day). Tomorrow, my last day, is supposed to get into the 50’s!

I’m not sure if anyone is reading this, but I’ll do a couple more installments before I draw this episode to a close. I hope you have enjoyed coming along with me!


Left: Soviet-era bunker houses Museum of Occupation in Riga

History

My first full day in Tallinn, and the sun disappeared, leaving grey, freezing weather in its wake. I just couldn’t get any decent photos, sorry.

After a self-guided audio tour walking around the Old Town, I took in both the Tallinn City Museum and the Museum of Occupation, which was devoted to the history of Soviet and Nazi occupation from 1939 to 1991. The City Museum covered some of the same period, particularly Stalin’s reign. The combined information detailed the sad story of a young, free Estonia being swallowed, then oppressed, by a much mightier country. When I finally read about the “Singing Revolution” that bloodlessly ended the Soviet occupation, it brought tears to my eyes.
Tomorrow I have half a day in Tallin before taking a bus to Riga, Latvia, my last stop before flying back to Stockholm to catch my flight home.

Beautiful Tallinn, Estonia

As most of you reading this blog know (or just look at the archive of posts), I’ve been quite a few places by now. But it’s been awhile since a place made me go “Wow!”

Welcome to Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia! Now THIS is a medieval town, where most of the buildings date from the 14th and 15th centuries, on a site that has been inhabited since at least the 11th century. Many of the buildings have been re-worked over the centuries, with some of the original architectural details being incorporated into 17th and 18th century facades, but the overall look and feel as you stroll the cobbled streets is one of stepping back 600 years. The original city walls are surprisingly intact, adding to sense of preservation in this beautiful little town within a city.

Estonians share common ancestry with the Finns, and their languages belong to the same group. Unfortunately, Estonians historically suffered a similar fate as the Finns – being always occupied or governed by another country (the Swedes, then the Russians). As you are probably aware, Estonia was swept into the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, reportedly against the wishes of the Estonian people, who longed for independence. The 50 or so years as part of the USSR were not kind to Estonia (to say the least), and this medieval gem suffered from disuse and neglect.

Independence and forward thinking government brought Estonia back to the world in 1991, and they are now part of the EU and NATO. However, tensions with Russia remain.

I arrived late in the day today with less than ideal light for photos. More tomorrow!

Turku and Rauma

I’ve spent the last couple days exploring the southwest corner of Finland, specifically the towns of Turku and Rauma. Turku was the capitol of Finland until 1812, when the Russian tsar moved it to Helsinki. Some of old Turku remains, including a rambling castle begun in the 14th century, which is still standing due to may restorations and additions. The rest of the town is a mish mash of 18th and 19th century and modern buildings, lots of university students, and, it seems, all of the riff raff of Finland. Notwithstanding this lack of focus, the city dishes up great food, and I continue to be impressed with the innovation. Who would have thought a cepes (mushroom) brulee would work? Or that I would enjoy deep fried beef tongue with my celery root soup? My least enjoyable meal was at the Viking themed, over-the-top kitsch restaurant that was much recommended in my guide book and the tourist office.

On the second day, despite 32F weather and freezing rain, I took a bus 90 km to the north to visit Rauma, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized as a unique example of medieval architecture. Such a billing made me think of dark wood and stone huts. But the town looks remarkably like Porvoo, a blend of architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries. (I always thought of “medieval” as being a bit before that…) It was charming nonetheless, and I had a tranquil (dry) walk along the cobbled streets, with stops only for coffee and Rauma biscuits (which taste just like gingersnaps).

Tomorrow I take the train back to Helsinki, then right onto a ferry to Tallinn, Estonia – a short 2 hour hop across the Gulf of Finland.