macrakis@harvard.UUCP (Stavros Macrakis) (02/27/86)
I've spent a few days in Bulgaria, almost a month in Istanbul (and two in Turkey) and some years in Greece. Here are some suggestions. Copyright 1985 S. Macrakis -- Usenet distribution authorized. = Istanbul = Istanbul is fascinating. I hope you plan to spend at least a week. Istanbul was the capital of the Roman Empire longer than Rome before it became the capital of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1908/20). Most of the Roman remains are either underground or converted. It is essential to have a good serious guide. I strongly recommend the excellent Blue Guide (NOT the French Guide Bleu, the English Blue Guide) to Istanbul, which was written by two English teachers who lived in Istanbul for many years. I --urge-- you to order this through your local bookstore or mail-order place well in advance of leaving: book orders can take a long time. It is distributed in this country, so you don't need to worry about importation etc. Another very good guide -- covering all of Turkey -- is by Tom Brosnahan, published by Lonely Planet; Brosnahan was studying Ottoman history and lived in Turkey for a couple of years. The Companion Guide to Turkey is less detailed and more impressionistic than either of these, but good in its way. The reason it is so important to have a good guide is that much of the fascination of Istanbul comes in the details that only become meaningful with explication; most things are not labelled even in Turkish and I would never rely on local guides. If you read Arabic and Ottoman Turkish, that helps, since all the inscriptions are in those languages.... I recommend that you take a hotel in the old city near Aghia Sophia (Ayasofya Camii), not in the European area (where the Hilton, ... are). You won't find any luxury hotels in the old city, but there are some good ones. Of course, if American standards of plumbing and carpeting are important, you should go to the Hilton or whatever. The other alternative for hotels, if you prefer to stay outside the city itself, is further north up the Bosporus, in the direction of Tarabya. At Tarabya itself is `the' luxury hotel, which could be very nice (yes, it's modern and all that, but at that point you're there for the `resort' aspect). Also at Tarabya and surrounding towns are the best restaurants. I particularly like the Garaj (yes, it means `garage') Lokantasi (restaurant). Order a selection of seafood appetizers. You could stop there (just have a lot) or go on to a main course. They speak foreign languages and take credit cards. Expensive by Turkish standards, not by ours. There are also several good fish restaurants in the Kum Kapi section of town, just southwest of the historic center. One problem with staying outside the old city is that traffic is horrid. From Galata (the European section) to the old city is only a mile or so, but a bus or cab or car can take 1/2 hour! Better to be in a section of the city where you can walk everywhere. Oh yes-- language. Turkish is unrelated to any European language (well, extremely distantly to Hungarian and Finnish). However, it is a fairly simple and logical language. Foreign languages are spoken in shops, tourist sites, ..., but it's best to know a few words. Beyond the phrases in your guidebook, you could always try GL Lewis' Teach Yourself Turkish, but I'm probably just projecting my own enthusiasms. Another hint. Marlboro cigarettes are widely appreciated in Turkey (Camels won't cut it). When I was there, they were worth something like $1.50 a pack on the street. Although rumor has it that they're cheaper now, it can't hurt to get a couple of cartons at the Greek duty-free shop at 33c/pack -- even if you're not a smoker (I'm not). Use them as tips where you'd use $1-2 here (porters, guides, building caretakers, ...); to be friendly, offer a smoke. I remember I tipped the porter at my hotel two or three packs because he'd walked across town to pick up some paperwork for me, and he asked his boss if he could keep it, and wasn't it too much.... = Greece = Even though you have friends there, I would suggest you pick up a good map and guide. This will help you get some perspective on what you're seeing and help you not to miss things that might seem `the same old stuff' to your friends. First, let me strongly recommend the Michelin Map to Greece. It is far better than most maps you get in Greece. You should also get the standard packet from the National Tourist Organization in NYC. Perhaps the most useful thing there is their pamphlet-map which identifies most historic/cultural sites with little pictograms (a little castle for medieval site, etc.). As for guides, I am split between the American Express and the Michelin (available only in French, perhaps?). Don't let the sponsorship of the Amex guide put you off -- it's nothing like their magazine (Travel & Leisure or whatever). It's a very intelligent but compact pocket-size guide which includes both information on places to visit and practical information on hotels and restaurants (unlike the Michelin). If you would like to have a `reference book' along with you, to get details on particular sites (mostly for classical things), get the Blue Guide. It's stodgy and hard to use for deciding where to go, but useful once you're there. Much more impressionistic are the Companion Guides. I find the Companion Guide to the Greek Islands especially good, and it is strong where the other guides are weak: in giving you a sense of recent history, how things have changed over the years, the character of each island. English is very widely spoken in Greece. Although most signs are written in both Greek and Roman characters, do learn the Greek characters and pronunciation for place-names (note also that the transliteration used in your guidebook may not be the same as the one on the signs). = Bulgaria = Bulgaria is the most Stalinist Eastern European country. Take their rules fairly seriously. Get a Tourist, not a Transit Visa (this means you must get it in advance, I believe); Tourist visa gives you a better rate of exchange (!) and less pressure to travel too quickly. I'm not too fond of the Bulgarian cities; the countryside can be very pleasant; I haven't been to the coast-- I think it may be heavily package-tour-hotels. The monasteries can be beautiful but are often very recent (19th, 20th c) and heavily `restored'. Russian is widely studied, English isn't. I don't know of any good travel guides for Bulgaria. I used the Nagel, which was its usual Nagelish self -- heavy, pedantic, overpriced, .... Perhaps Let's Go covers Bulgaria. I systematically avoid Fodor's. === Enjoy your trip. -s