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Can click on the larger version for a few notes on the trip.

Buying a Turkish rug

No, I didn't buy a Turkish rug. Anyone that knows me well enough to actually be following this blog, knows I would likely never spend money on such a thing...though I am evolving in my appreciation and willingness to acquire such things. But I'm not there yet.

I didn't go to Istanbul planning to buy a rug, and I did not want to spend my time there shopping for one. But the touts on the street are pretty good at roping you in. The first time I went into a rug shop, I was just doing it for the experience to learn a little about rugs, and check out their sales techniques, which turned out to be mostly cajoling and coercion, at least in the first shop. What surprised is that they thought I would be susceptible to that sort of thing...do I look weak and easily manipulated? Hmm. Furthermore, when I'm traveling alone like this I dress little better than a bum. $6 sunglasses, $8 shorts, a $12 shirt I've been wearing for 5 years, and a beat up pair of sneakers: absolutely nothing about my appearance (other than perhaps my age, race) would give the impression of affluence...but I guess you never know who has money, and the fact of my presence in Istanbul is something of an indicator of wherewithal and worldliness to be interested in such a thing as a rug.

At any rate, after an apple tea (tasty) and a short intro on what makes a good rug, I was offered one I liked for the bargain price of $2400. I can't even remember what the rug was made of, but it looked nice. It was about the size of a twin bed. I thought $2400 was ridiculous and he eventually came down to $1200 before I threw out a single number. When I finally decided to leave and mentioned in my way out the door that I would never spend more than $500 without my "wife's" approval, he then offered it to me for $501. What a scammer.

After that I had no intention of setting foot in another rug shop, but after a strange happenstance political conversation on the street as I stood there eating a kebab with two Turkish-Kurds and an American-Iranian national that ended with the Iranian (who was clearly gay) inviting me to dinner and a Turkish bath later on in the evening, the two Kurds followed me and "warned" me what that guy's real intentions were. I laughed and said not to worry, that despite my curiosity to pick the brain of any person with a connection to Iran, I had no intention of following through on the "date" we made for later in the evening. We all laughed and the Kurds proceeded to give me a tour of the Blue Mosque, in Spanish no less. After 30 minutes of that, I felt a bit obligated to at least see their family store, so in I went into another rug shop.

This experience would turn out to be much more educational and positive, though again, of course, I walked out empty handed. Things I learned: Turkish rugs are double knotted, unlike Afghan and Persians which are single knotted; a rug must be 100 years old or more to be an antique; rugs can be made of silk, wool, cotton, or any mix of these elements; knots per square centimeter can vary considerably; the Chinese are in fact copying these rugs and moving into this market; and lastly, legitimate sales people will probably make their first offer no more than double the actual price they would take.

The rug I was interested in was a silk/cotton mix, about a meter squared in size. Would have looked great and surely lasted a very long time, however, my semi-offer of $500 was not accepted and he would not go below $1350, though if I had put $1000 on the table I'm sure he would have taken it. Probably even $800 but I will never know. His original price was $2200. Nice guy and he devoted nearly two hours of his time to me with no pressure. I almost felt bad not rewarding him for his efforts. Almost.

Milan

I had a single day for Milan and by the time I got there I was a little tired of tourist activities. I did, of course, take the time to go see the Duomo, but didn't really do much else, so for this entry I will simply point out a couple things I noticed walking around the city, the best part of which really was soaking my hot and aching feet in a cool fountain in front of the Castello Sforzesco, a major tourist attraction/museum complex.

Two-wheeled vehicles

In Milan there are lots of two-wheeled conveyances, ridden by businessmen, deliverymen, everyone really. One does not necessarily expect to see so many scooters in a city that seems to be fairly wealthy. Of course, with gas around $8 a gallon and beautiful weather, why not? The motorcycles and motor-scooters on display range from Harleys, to BMWs, scooters with roofs (see picture), you name it. All were pretty nice though; style is important in Milan, so everyone rides a nice looking vehicle...even if it is just a scooter. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many women walking around carrying motorcycle helmets...but mind you, these aren't tattooed, overweight, chain-smoking, leather and jean clad women...the motorcycle babes in Milan were, well, pretty hot.

Dogs

It wasn't so much that there were lots of dogs in Milan, it was that they were in the restaurants I went in to. When I stopped at a McDonald's for an ice cream, (I ate at McDonald's more in this three-week trip, than I did in the past year at home...but this is a common phenomenon when I travel.), a man allowed his dog to bark for several minutes as he sat there slowly sipping his coffee alone. Unbelievable. But then, in places like Italy where the fertility rate is so low, dogs are the new children. And it's considered more or less acceptable for a child to cry in public, so why can't a dog bark? Of course, I think it's not only ridiculous that an animal (particularly one that eats its own feces) be allowed into a restaurant, but also amazing that it would be permitted by the management to sit there in bark incessantly. And there was management nearby in a position to have said something...this was Milan: a shirt and tie clad employee was standing at the doorway of the restaurant. Ah well, it guess it was my choice to eat there.

Costs

Of course, I have to point out the fact that I paid the equivalent of $21 for a piece of pizza (it was a large piece however) and a half liter of Coke. This was not at a restaurant on the main drag or anything, just a normal cafe outside my $30 a night hostel, a 30 minute walk from the main sights in town. I'm really not sure how people afford to live in these places. The pizza was excellent.

FCO

I flew to Rome's main international airport, Fiumucino-Leonardo da Vinci for the first time the other day. I flew in from Istanbul around 8am with an hour or so to make my connector to Milan. It would end up being enough time...but only just. Ending up in Italy was not part of the original plan, but due to flight flexibility/costs I decided to go there for a day on my way home.

Exiting the plane, I had to clear security again in order move onward to the next flight. Nothing unusual about that, and I eventually moved through security...very slowly but surely. The funny part came when it was time to clear passport control. They had exactly two windows open for non-EU passport holders, which was hilarious given the huge number of people moshing their way through on a Monday morning at 8am. No lines to speak of, just a crowd of people trying to push their way to the windows. An angry woman would come out and yell at us every 5 minutes or so to make a proper line...or at least that's how I interpreted the Italian she spoke. No one listened...but then many of us probably had no idea what she was saying since anyone that spoke Italian probably had an EU passport and was passing through passport control on the other side without even having to wait. Nothing I could really do other than laugh at it all and try wheedle my way forward.

The whole things makes you wonder why. Why a country like Italy, that depends so much on its tourist industry, would allow such a disgraceful situation to persist. A lot of it you can just sluff off to culture I suppose. But that seems a little too convenient to just blame it on a disorganized, distracted, inefficient, and lazy culture...though those things may all be true. Incidentally, on the subject of culture, I will mention here that Alitalia flights I took were the first flights I have been where the pre-flight safety video warned people to "remove your high heeled shoes before exiting the aircraft in the event of an emergency evacuation".

Anyway, culture aside, I'm thinking that Italy in this situation is comparable to the star quarterback on the football team. When a guy is really good, the powers that be are likely to accept his foibles, whatever they may be, just to keep him on the field. Italy is the star quarterback of the tourism industry. Its sights, history, geography, weather, food, fashion, style, language, and yes, even people, are just that good. You can try to stay away if you want, complaining about the inefficiencies and ineptitude of the public sector workers...but at the end of the day, it's you that is missing out if such things keep you away. So given that people are not going to stay away, there's not a lot of incentive for them to improve I suppose. And what difference do such inconveniences make on peoples' decisions anyway...I mean, when I went through passport control in Helsinki there were more guys on duty checking passports than there were people in line. Now that makes for a quick trip through...but it and other examples of Nordic efficiency are not going to make a difference on whether I come back.

In the end, it's all part of the fun, and I suppose I should thank the Italians for being so disorganized...makes me feel like I've got it together by comparison.

Hagia Sophia vs. Duomo de Milano

I visited these two magnificent structures within a few days of each other. These are two of the largest cathedrals ever constructed...but other than the fact that they both are or were cathedrals, not a lot in common exists between them. For me, the visit to Hagia Sophia was powerful - it's easy to see and feel the history inside its cavernous halls. HS has survived the ages and multiple changes in ownership and use...today it is no longer a church (as it was for 900 years) or a mosque (as it was for nearly 500 years), but rather stands as a museum of Byzantine art. Il Duomo is the new kid on the block in relative terms...having been completed in 1965, though its construction took 6 centuries. HS, in contrast, was completed in only 6 years, in the year 537. 6 years vs. 6 centuries...if that does not illustrate the difference between yesterday's and today's "Romans" I'm not sure what does.

Duomo is very gothic and heavy on the style side, with its ornate spires and gables. HS, on the other hand, is much simpler, but considerably more majestic in its end result. Both structures have many persons buried in them...but in HS thankfully they don't actually show the people as is done in Duomo. Whereas Duomo has many large paintings hanging on either side of the nave, HS has its famous mosaics, which have been vandalized by Latin invaders, covered up by Muslim conquerors, and finally now somewhat restored. That they have survived at all is something of a miracle.

In Duomo you have a striving for superficial perfection. HS is far from perfect and has no such pretension with its fading red paint on the exterior. Inside, HS shows its age with its uneven floors upstairs, damaged mosaics, visibly deteriorated walls and ceilings, and graffiti written by unknown Viking invaders from the 9th century. For me, visiting Hagia Sophia was a kind of step back in time. I only wish I could have stayed longer within its walls.

English

If you want to travel, you need English. The level of penetration of English into various parts of the world continues to impress me. Granted, I have been spending my time in heavily touristed areas, but even in the less touristed areas, such as the Asian side of Istanbul, I found the service industry people spoke some English. Other travelers I met all spoke English with a reasonably high level of proficiency (with the notable exception of the Spaniards, not surprised by that), and local young people throughout Eastern Europe all had a basic grasp of the language.

When you hear a guy holding a Turkish-language city guide speaking English to a guy holding an Arabic-language city guide, you know English has really become the world's lingua franca.

Istanbul

It's easy to see why this place was selected as the seat of several empires, and as a result there is much to see on the historical side: churches, mosques, museums, Roman ruins, palaces, etc. However, the Istanbul of today holds just as much of interest with its huge bazaars, winding cobblestone streets, people from all over the world, East Mediterranean cuisine, and of course the spectacular scenery around the Bosphorus that is easily enjoyed from the bridges, ferry boats, or from land as it quickly rises up from the sea. The wonderful weather in September and low costs only add to the charm. Truly this is the land where East meets West, and the setting could not be any better. The city is just hilly enough to make it interesting and allow for beautiful views of the Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara, but not so hilly as to make it difficult or taxing to move around in.