The Midnight Train to Belgrade

A couple of weeks ago I had to make a trip to Macedonia to deliver a car and so I needed a cheap way to get back to Belgrade.  I also wanted an experience, so I chose (instead of a bus) to take the night train from Skopije to Belgrade.   I had heard horror stories for colleagues bout the night train and how terrible it was so I thought lets try that!  The train leaves at 8pm and arrives at 6am.  This choice was made because I knew it would result in a great blog.  You know wacky characters on the night train, suspicious people, finding the answer to the question: Why are you on this train?

Things started out great.  I arrived at the train station and it was deserted other then a few loiterers.  The station is kind of run down, and very seedy looking.  I thought ok this is a great start.  So I bought my ticket and reserved my bunk in a 6 person sleeping car (see hoping to meet some new people who will create at great story).  I still had a couple of hours before the train left and there were no restaurants or cafes at the train station so I wondered across the street to the bus station.  The bus station was teaming with life, back packers, families, well dressed people waiting to go places.  Now I am a little worried, these were the people I wanted to meet, so who was taking the night train?  (remember the loiterers)

 After a long prayer and an espresso it was time to head out.  I went to the platform and boarded my train (circa 1960, very communist) and found the ticket guy.  He showed me to my car and told me I had the whole thing to myself (good for my comfort level, bad for blogging).  I left the door to my car open hoping to discover those great characters.  I met two families who chose the night train because it was cheap, and the kids could sleep and a couple of British students who new it would be easier to sleep on the train.  That's it and those people were not very interesting.  Turns out I was the interesting guy.  Why was the American alone on the night train.  All the border people kept coming buy to ask me that exact question.  So who knows maybe I am the subject of some Macedonian or Serbian customs officer's blog.  All in all the train was a great trip (if you are not hoping to write a great blog).  It was clean, the bunk was relatively comfortable and the 10 hour trip went pretty quick because I slept. 

Turkey Part 3... Kids having Fun

For part one of the Turkey Blog click here
If you want to read about the Carpet Scam click here
Ok so if your dad is a History nerd and drags you to lots of old buildings there has to be something fun for a kid to do right?  Luckily my kids are easy to please, and we came across some great places for them to be kids.  Our trip got started off with a Bang when our airport transfer was in an a great van we could face each other in.  Wilson was ecstatic!!! He said he loved turkey and gave us the quote of the week "I EAT TURKEY FOR LUNCH"

 STARBUCKS is not just for mom and dad, these girls love a frapucino, and Wilson became a fan too

When you live in Eastern Europe you forget about hings like soft mowed grass and flower beds.  We found them in Istanbul and the kids loved it.  They ran and did cartwheels and rolled in the grass.  You thought we had found the secret garden.  We also went to the beach and although it was still a little cold, that did not stop my crew from getting wet.

Just a swingin

Beautiful ladies and tulips

Cartwheels

In the grass

We finished our trip on the beach and with a little prize.... Domino's Pizza!

Turkey Part 2... The Carpet Scam

My least favorite part of Turkey was the constant people trying to sell you something, show you something, take you somewhere, give you a tour... well you get the point.  This was terrible in front of the big sites (the blue mosque and Hagia Sophia).  My natural inclination is to be rude to these people but this trip I tried to be nice and say no thank you and politely walk away.  Unfortunately this did not work, they just kept following so you had to just run.  Well in the blue mosque, I ran out of room to run.  One of these very nice guys began "taking care of us" and helping us get in to see the mosque.  He assured me he wanted no money and just wanted to show his culture to us.  He explained things in the mosque to us, took pictures (good ones I might add since he took my camera from me and went to places I could not) and was our guide.  As he showed us around he kept mentioning his family business very near the mosque.  After our tour he took me to show me the Business.  I went upstairs in a very nice carpet store met his uncle and cousins and had some tea.  They then proceeded to sale me extremely expensive carpets.  The thinking being if I could afford to vacation in Istanbul I could afford carpet.  (shows you what they know!).  I tried to be polite and explain I could not take a carpet on the plane - that would be outrageous.  No problem they ship worldwide!!!!  Finally I knew this was could take forever so I said I could not buy carpet and got up and ran out of the store (really I ran or at least speed walked it right on out the door).

Apparently I was not the first person to fall for this scheme but I wonder how many people actually buy carpet?

Turkey... Seeing the Sights

This is Part One of the Turkey Blog.  I loved Turkey so I have no idea how many parts this may end up being but indulge me.  Also some great stories will be told, over the course of this series. 

The last week of March we had the chance to go to Turkey.  Our company was having a meeting on the coast so we took a couple of days to see Istanbul. A quick history lesson... Istanbul used to be Constantinople and in 330 become the capitol of the Eastern Roman Empire.  In 1453 the ottomans took the city and renamed it Istanbul.  It sits on the Bospherous Strait and is the edge of mainland Europe.  Controlling this city means you control trade from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.  As a lover of history I have wanted to go here for a very long time.  So this was a big treat.

We only had two days in the city, and we needed to be really cheap and save money so we stayed here:

DO NOT STAY HERE

 It was a dump, the outside is the best part.  Jen would not let the kids bathe while we we there.  However it was cheap and close to the sights.  Also there were no bugs (that we could see) so that is always good.
After getting over the initial shock of our room/flop house we headed out to the Grand Bazaar.  This is one of the oldest covered markets in the world.  It attracts 300,000 visitors daily and you can find anything here (except pork, no pork in Turkey... or turkey now that I think of it).  Sense our family has American written all over it we were lightly hassled for a couple of hours by merchants wanting to sell us scarves, bags, carpets, jewelry etc. I broke and the girls all got scarves.  (this hassling would get worse outside the bazaar and will result in a blog all its own later in the week)UPDATE: click the link and you can read about the carpet scam.

Inside the bazaar, after scarf shopping

Day two was the day I had been waiting for.  We were going to see the Hagia Sophia - The Church of Gods Wisdom.  But before we went there we went to the Blue Mosque.  Essentially this is a 500 year old mosque that is an architectural rip off of the Hagia Sophia.  It was neat to go inside and see but on a 1 to 10 scale about a five.  The interior is decorated with 22,000 blue tiles, so that is impressive.  It did not change my life much... but I did get roped into a carpet scam which you are going to have to come back and read about later because that's a separate blog.

Stevens Family in the Blue Mosque

Now for the Hagia Sophia (History Nerd Alert)...
Emperor Justinian commissioned the building of the church in 532 and it was completed in 537.  At the time it was a structure with no equal.  Upon completion Justinian is rumored to have said  "Thank you for your glory God... Solomon I have outdone you".  Justinian's goal was to create a church that the people could experience the wonder of God in.  He very well may have succeeded.  This was the largest church in the world for 1000 years and after the ottomans took the city it became a mosque.  In 1930 the turkish government declared it a museum.  Today it stands as a contrast between the muslim and Christian world as signs of the mosque still exist next to 1500 year old frescos and mosaics depicting Christian figures.   It very well may have been the coolest place I have ever stood.  

In front of the Hagia Sophia

One happy history geek inside the church

We finished our day with some great friends and a traditional turkish dinner.  Of course like any good American we went to Starbucks for coffee on our way back to the hotel then down to the sea to stand on the edge of Europe, becasue will we ever have that chance again?