First Days in Istanbul

[Once again, apologies, as I started writing this on Wednesday, but put it aside & I just finished it on Sunday evening…oh, bother!]

Istanbul Wed March 1 Hi: 11°C/52°F Lo: 8°C/46°F Overcast & windy

Lyle & Anna arrived from the airport in the middle of the afternoon, yesterday; my flight was the day before, Monday. Since I woke up in Istanbul, I was able to make contact with the Airbnb host after breakfast and he told me that since the apartment was empty, I could take the apartment at any time, no need to wait for the 3 p.m. check-in. I thanked him for the courtesy, not wishing to trudge around town with my luggage in tow. The rental was easy to find, as it was just up the hill from the last station on the M1 tram line, no missing my stop, everyone off! 

I had stayed the night, Monday, at a small hostel in the Sultanahmet section of Istanbul, close by the Hagia Sofia & the Blue Mosque. That became clear at 6 a.m. the next morning, when the 'call to prayer' rang out across the city. Being so close to, like, 4 major mosques, the sing-song cadence was more 'cacophony' than musical. Unlike hostels in other major European cities, this backpacker inn had a working kitchen on the ground floor, and the following morning, there were Turks coming & going, ordering breakfast, even though they were not staying at the hostel. When I asked for coffee, my table-mate laughed, as it was a large mug with cream; the young man, from Australia, asked if I had ordered such a  'tall white;' I shook my head, no. He speculated that the cook heard my American accent, if you will, and assumed I wanted an 'Americano,' not a shot, as he was drinking it (an espresso). My breakfast consisted of a couple of pieces of sliced salami, a small piece of hard cheese, olives, sliced green pepper, a ramekin of rose hip jam and 3 cookies(!); with a side plate of scrambled eggs topped with a Turkish spice mix. Oh, and a large basket of sliced baguette. It was 'lezzetli,' delicious.

The Australian looked to be in his mid- to late-20's, traveling around Europe for six months. I asked him why he was here in winter, when it was nice & warm in his part of the world. It was apparently a matter of timing; he had the time, so he made the trip. A very pleasant & handsome man, we did not talk long, as he was to meet some friends he had made, to go exploring Istanbul, much as I was.

Our rental apartment is conveniently located at the junction of five different means of transportation: the M1 tram, the Metro Red Line, a funicular, many buses & a plethora of public ferries chock-a-block at all hours with commuters crossing over to the Asian side of Istanbul, across the Bosporus Strait. We can easily get to any part of Istanbul we want, which is terribly convenient. But the apartment itself leaves much to be desired, with some things needing repair, but the inexpensive rent is worth the hassles. More on this later. 

Happy Birthday to Me (Me, not you!)

Budapest Monday Feb 27 Overcast skies Hi: 5°C/41°F Lo: -1°C/30°F

Thank you to everyone who wished me a "Happy Birthday," yesterday, and a 'shame on you,' to all who forgot 😅. This morning, I am in Budapest; I have a flight out to Istanbul at 15:30/3:30p.m., this afternoon. For the next two weeks I'll be spending time with Lyle & Anna Breaux, from Uptown N'Awlins, in the Beyoglu section of Istanbul, on the European side of the Bosporus. Last October, I spent a week in Istanbul with Mary & Dave. At the time, we had visited all the major sites, and I thought we had seen Istanbul; on my last day in town, I had a couple of hours before catching my train to Bulgaria, so I took one of the harbor tour boats around the Strait that lasted a little over an hour, and boy, was I mistaken: we had seen only a small part of that city. It is huge and we had yet to step foot on the Asian side. So I mean to rectify that on this trip.

The news says that the U.S. is dealing with record cold & snow in the Northern reaches, while the South baked in 80° temperatures(!). In February!?! That doesn't sound right, and it does not bode well for the summer. This was shaping up to be a mild winter in Europe, until the middle of January, when the temps started acting more like winter and it got cold! It will barely reach the 40's today here in Budapest, after a string of mild Spring days in the middle of last week. We were excited, thinking Winter was receding, until it didn't. Istanbul should be in the high 50's, low 60's during our stay the next 12 days. Perfect.

More later.

Happy Mardi Gras, ya’ll!

Vienna Mon Feb 20 Hi: 4°C/40°F Lo: 14°C/57°F Beautiful Early Spring Day

This morning, I am on a very nice Austrian train slicing thru the lovely verdant countryside…it's so much better than the trains in Hungary, I must say…this, after a German overnight sleeper, shared with a young American student from Tampa Bay; Trey is studying at a Christian Brothers school in a very small Austrian town (which I now forget the name)…he did not board the train until 2am, waking me; he was in Dortmund for a Bundesliga soccer match (for those who aren't aware, this is one of the top leagues in Europe, and Trey was pleased with himself for even being able to get a ticket; he said it was a bucket-list item he could check off)…Trey is an older student, in his 30's, studying to become a priest; we had quite a lot to talk about.

I am on my way back to Kaposvár, a change of plans, after spending the weekend in Cologne with Robin & Fanni…my original idea was to leave Cologne and head for Zurich, for a day or two, then board the famous Swiss Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur, which I have been looking forward to since I arrived in Europe…unfortunately, I am feeling a bit sore and my throat has been bothering me; also a nasal drip that has exacerbated my throat…Robin suggested I skip Switzerland for the time being, as it is very cold there and it is possible I might be coming down with the flu or a cold…it would be best to go home & relax, stay warm, wash my clothes and prepare for the trip to Istanbul on the weekend…sound advice, which I am taking. 

While in Cologne, Robin took me around to see their version of 'Mardi Gras,' called simply Carnival…Cologne is known for the largest celebration in the EU…it reminded me of New Orleans, but dare I say that the young'uns dress up more here than we do now…and we found a small orchestra playing N'Awlins Mardi Gras music…mostly Jazz, but instrumental covers of classics from Professor Longhair & Big Al Carson…I asked if any of the guys in the band were from New Orleans, which pleased them, but no, they just love the sound…don't we all. 

It was great to see Robing & Fanni; unfortunately, Robin is in the middle of his tax season, and being an accountant, he had clients at his home office throughout the day, today, and I made a hasty retreat, so I wouldn't be in his hair…plus, I am looking forward to making up a 'mess' of chicken soup.

More later…

From Last Week…

Budapest Wed Feb 15 2023 Cold Hi: 8°C/45°F Lo: -2°C/28°F Spring Springs?

[I meant to post this last week, and forgot! Go figure…]

I'm back in Budapest! I do love this city; it has come back from the pandemic in a big way; there are crowds wherever I go, even tho' it's February(!)…for accommodations, I'm staying at a small hostel on the square called, Oktogon, which is somewhat like Times Square in New York City, but not so much…in one of the bunk-bed rooms, 5 young women from Poland arrived yesterday, and Felipe, the Chilean desk clerk was answering their questions about their safety here in the heart of BP (how the locals say, Budapest)…they need not worry: this is the safest city I have ever lived in…in another room, 3 American women are sharing space; I'm very interested in asking them why they are here in the middle of winter…unfortunately, I haven't seen them since we 'checked-in' at the same time and it wasn't the right moment…there is a couple with 2 teens from Poland, and a single mother with 2 pre-teen boys and an older teen girl from Scotland…I can't understand half what they are saying, but they are very sweet… I needed to see the Dentist Zsofia, as there was an inflammation in one of the molars…it turns out NOT to be a cavity, thank the Lord, but that doesn't mean it didn't sting when she started scraping away the dental plague to get a better look at why there was bleeding and tenderness around the tooth…she wants me to return next month for a deep cleaning(!) 😨

Population Decline

Since the start of the new year, I've noticed a greater number of articles related to 'population decline'…I assume this is a result of the changing global climate, with its toll on economic issues for young families going forward (the cost of raising children)…I direct your attention to this link, below, addressing China's changing demographics…this does not seem to be a problem in India, which is projected to take the 'prize' of most populous state…there was another article that made mention of the conservative family values in India: that if more women were allowed into the workforce (given access to more educational opportunities), the Indian economy would/could/should expand by 60%(!) [depending on source; unfortunately, I can't find the article where I saw this statistic]…unfortunately, this increase in education for women portends fewer women having children, curtailing future growth…the graph below was part of an article discussing how hard it has been for the French government to shore up its pension obligations…Macron wants to change the age of retirement from 62 to 64, which doesn't sound draconian, but is causing crippling strikes across France…as the population ages, there are fewer workers to fund pensions…what to do? 

Since Brexit, businesses in England have found it harder to find employees; EU citizens working in the UK were 'kicked-out' and there aren't enough native workers, at least, not enough wanting to do the work that the 'others' were doing…I had a conversation with a young Hungarian woman (I'd say in her mid-20's) on a plane-ride from England a few years ago, who was returning home on holiday…she was one of those workers, at her job at a pizza joint in London, hoping to save enough to attend college…she mentioned how she made 'much more' there, than in Hungary (and also said she would definitely return home for said education).

There are, of course, plenty of people who would gladly take those jobs…Europe has the same problem as the U.S.: too many economic/climate refugees looking for a better life…the challenge is to create an orderly process of absorbing them…getting over our fear of the 'other,' doing the hard work of weeding out the 'chaff' from the 'grain,' to paraphrase the Bible…our Christian duty?

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/china/china-population-drop-explainer-intl-hnk/index.html

Good News!

I thought we might all benefit from some good news, you know, for a change:

______________

Native to the waters of Australia, sea dragons are a stunning and unusual fish. But they face a number of challenges in the wild because of warming oceans, harmful fishing practice and more.

In 2019, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography - part of U.C. San Diego - opened an exhibit intended to create an ideal habitat for breeding these colorful cousins of sea horses. And last week, the aquarium announced a breakthrough: the first successful transfer of eggs from a female sea dragon to a male.

As with sea horses, sea dragon males - not females - are responsible for carrying eggs. [That ain't right! D-] After a courtship dance, the female transfers the eggs to the male's tail, where he fertilizes them and then carries them for four to six weeks until they hatch.

"We're elated to be able to witness this at the aquarium," Jenn Nero Moffatt, senior director of animal care, science and conservation at U.C. San Diego, said in a statement. "It's extremely rare for sea dragons to breed in captivity, so this is a monumental milestone for all of our staff."

Újévi Fogadalomok!

Kaposvár Sunday 1/8/2023 Unseasonably Warm: 13°c/55°f [Normal: 5°/41°]

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood! When it should be freezing cold, our weather continues to be mild. This does not bode well for nature, of course, knowing that it puts everyone and everything off-kilter. Too warm for snow to accumulate in the mountains, which kills the ski resorts, but also impacts reservoirs and lakes in the region; ground water isn't able to replenish amidst our drought.

But I would be lying if I said I didn't relish the warmth. Old bones seem to be affected more than young. Then again, I didn't enjoy the increased warmth during the heat-wave, last summer, and I can't imagine these extreme conditions won't be more frequent in the future. Oh, bother.

Christmas was enjoyable: spent Xmas Eve & Day at Andrea's, along with the rest of her local family, my family, our family: Tamás and Édi; Tomi & Korci; Ádám & Vera and their two little ones, Bence & Janka; Fanni, visiting from Germany; Cameron & Celi (visiting from Austria); Alexandra & Beni; and Vanda. The best part is the feast on Christmas Day, when everyone brings a dish, although, truth be told, Andrea & Édi do most of the cooking (thank god!). I sat next to Tomi, and as he dug into another plate of  roast pork, smothered in a paprika-rich cream sauce, over home-made dumplings, he said in his imperfect English, "My fay-vor-eet!" Yes, Tomi, mine, too! [Andrea gets up at 4am to place the prepared pork loin in the oven. I think this is called, 'paprikás sertéssült galuskával.' But don't quote me. I've seen it also called, "pörkölt." Delicious at any rate!]

I spent the week between Christmas and the New Year at Andrea's, house- & dog-sitting. Bruno is a beautiful chocolate Lab puppy, who is loving but a little too frisky for my blood. It's easy enough to get him to run around and exhaust himself, but for me, only in small doses. Andrea spent the time in Dubai, with Dominic, for a relaxing holiday. [I will say that Bruno did quite well with the noisy, explosive New Years' celebrations; after his initial shock, I sat on the floor with him, letting him know it was 'okay,' no one was going to hurt him. Soon enough, he calmed down and even went out later to do his 'business' without seeming fear. Go figure.]

Happy New Year!