Think I got that one mixed up, but no time to look it up for sure. I went to Istanbul for a week. It was great. But before that, I had an opportunity to host 5 scouts from England for a weekend. They were young adults, aged 18-24. One of the projects they have is to go to a different country and learn all about the culture and customs, then, when they return to England, they give a report about the country. Obviously, these young men and women chose Macedonia. They traveled first from Skopje, then to Gevgelija, Strumica, Kochani, then to Veles for a weekend, before setting off to Bitola and Ohrid. Basically, it was my job to show them a good time around Veles. Admittedly, this was a pretty easy assignment. If there is one thing this experience taught me, its that the English are more polite than Americans. For example, I was cooking eggs one morning for them and I was setting the table. Before I set my own plate, I went back to mind the eggs for a minute when one of them asked "Aren't you going to have any?" I assure you, an American would not have cared. But, the coups de gras was after one of them took a shower, he said to me "I cleaned your bathroom...", which in and of itself is like the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I've never had anyone ever spontaneously clean my bathroom. But, that's not even the nicest part. Because if I complete the quote, he actually said to me "I cleaned your bathroom. Is that alright?" I nearly shat myself when he phrased it in such a manner. Yes. It is alright. But, thanks for confirming first. Kidding aside, I had an absolute blast with them during the weekend. Best of luck, guys!
Here they are at the bus station, getting ready to leave for Prilep and Bitola.
So, back to Istanbul. We took a 12 hour bus ride from Skopje to Istanbul. That was a long ride, but I've dealt with worse. Our hostel was in the historic district, approximately 5 minutes from the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia. I'll give the usual testimony of how beautiful the city is. It really is. Especially because the Muslims really go all out on their mosques. And, its not just the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia (which was originally a church in the first place). But, even the run of the mill mosques are impressive structures. Anyway, if you're considering going, definitely see the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia (they are like right across from each other), the Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, and - I'll say it - the Museum of Islamic Science (I posted pics on facebook, so I'll decline to put them here). All great places. We also went to the Prince's Islands via ferry which were just south of Istanbul. Fun day of beaches and sun there, even if the beach itself is rocky (and excruciating to walk on).
Best story of Istanbul is on our last night, we went out to the "New Part" of the city, where all the night clubs and stuff are. First off, a beer at one of these clubs cost like 5 or 6 Euro, which is truly outstandingly high. But anyway, we were walking around when a really drunk guy broke a glass beer bottle at our feet. He and I made eye contact and then he chased after me looking for a fight. He threw a punch that glanced my right ear before the crowd subdued him. Truly a cherished memory.
Good morning how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately it’s impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Macedonia? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Macedonia in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez