Out of Africa

After a certain amount of time in Cairo, you get a "pollution cough." I'm pretty sure I have the black lung now, after the unbelievable amounts of dust, tar and smog I've inhaled. In order to keep loving Cairo, you have to leave periodically. So this week we spontaneously decided to head to the US and the UK for thanksgiving.

As soon as we arrived in London I had to outfit myself with boots and gloves. We returned to all our favourite haunts, caught up with friends, indulge in cider and were happy to be 'home' for a few days. In NYC, we went to Duane Reade probably every day, watched too many episodes of Top Chef, went out too much in Brooklyn and spent time with the fam. Then we headed to New Hampshire, and stuffed ourselves silly with green vegetables, turducken, and pumpkin desserts. P is used to eating meat all day every day, but I can't really handle that, and Egypt is particularly hard in that respect. I kind of just grabbed every single green vegetable I could see on this trip, to make up for the lack of fresh produce one is forced to suffer through in Egypt. When we got back to London it was snowing (eek) and miserably cold. We had just enough time to see the Christmas decorations up in Carnaby street before we left for home. I was kind of sad to leave, but I was so relieved to arrive in a warm climate. Here's hoping that our little break will give me renewed patience to deal with al-shawar'3a, aka the mean streets of Cairo.

Ordering food

So Cairo has an amazing food delivery service. Or should I say HAD. Otlob.com was the bee's knees about 4 years ago, particularly because of the bomb brazilian restaurant O Negrao which has, to my chagrin, since closed. The service is now spotty and orders often get cancelled... but sometimes I still need my food-fixes. (For the record Yemeksepeti of Istanbul beats out Otlob and GrubHub as best food delivery site) Par example, I was craving some sweet stuff. I ate a bunch of dates but it didn't really satisfy me so I bought a box of Egyptian brownie mix, and it was AWFUL. Then I made brownies from scratch, and was happy. Anyway, today P wanted some sushi, so we ordered from Otlob and had to wait forever until we finally found out the order was cancelled (twice). This is my chat with online customer service:

PTO:
i have no order status on my food. whats up with that?

Welcome PTO! Your request has been directed to the Otlob.Com Customer Service department. Please wait for our operator to answer your call.

Call accepted by operator Otlob. Currently in room: Otlob, PTO.

Otlob:
Hello MIss PTO
Otlob:
Welcome to otlob.com
Otlob:
This is Talal from Otlob customer service team
Otlob:
Can you kindly give me your order number?
PTO:
one sec
PTO:
5431789
PTO:
i'm really hungry!
Otlob:
Can you kindly hold on with me till we check please?
Otlob:
we are trying to reach the restaurant but it's no answer there
Otlob:
and we are not able to reached you as your mobile was switched off
Otlob:
would you like to try again with them ?
PTO:
yes i would but i already ordered twice
PTO:
my number is ******
PTO:
im super hungry and don't know where to get my food from now
Otlob:
well miss we will try to reach them for another 5 minutes and we will call you back if we couldn't reach them
Otlob:
if you would like to place another order from anywhere else we are at your service
PTO:
ok so is the restaurant closed?
PTO:
or can you just not reach them
Otlob:
we are not able to reach them
Otlob:
it's no answer there
PTO:
ok
PTO:
could you please let me know if bob sushi is open?
Otlob:
Can you kindly hold on with me till we check please?
PTO:
nevermind I just ordered from Bob. Hopefully they will deliver asap
PTO:
I'm really hungry!
PTO:
my order status on the order from sheboya never changed
Otlob:
well miss your order has been routed successfully
PTO:
great. my stomach will appreciate it

(Otlob calls me on the phone and tells me that the price on my order has changed in the last minute. I tell them politely that I'm not thrilled with their service. I get a lot of ssorry's and bleases.)

PTO:
please let your manager know about my complaints
Otlob:
and we will forward your complaint to otlob management and the restaurant management so that they can take it into their consideration.
Otlob:
We are so sorry sir for this problem, and we promise we will do our best to make sure that such problems not to be repeated again in the future
PTO:
i think you meant miss
Otlob:
Your comments help us improve
Otlob:
It is pleasure to serve you
PTO:
great. thanks for your help.
Otlob:
You are most welcome anytime and thank you for using Otlob.com
Otlob:
We are always at your service anytime Miss

My food is finally on the way. Insha'allah it will arrive any minute now!!

Canakkale

After taking the 9am ferry from Lesvos to Ayvalik we had a satisfying Ayvalik tost at the bus station and started asking around about buses to various cities on the way to Istanbul. The earliest bus available was to Canakkale, so that's where we went. The 3 hour ride turned into a 5 hour one, but we were dropped off in the main square just in front of the ferry terminal. The heavy tourist traffic from down under means that there is plenty of decent accommodation around the centre. You might want to book a hotel way in advance if you're coming around ANZAC day though. We checked out most of the hotels in town, and almost all were in the 100-120 TL range with a few for 70-80 (for a double room), and after looking at a couple of rooms eventually settled on Hotel Helen Park, which had the cleanest and prettiest rooms. Hotel Temizay, Hotel Helen, Hotel Anafartalar (someone should tell them this name is a total stitch-up), and the Boutique hotel in the side street across from Anafartalar are also safe bets. For a budget place, the ANZAC hostel on the main street is alright but doesn't have ensuite bathrooms (40 TL for a double, less for a bed in a shared room).

Canakkale seems, on the whole, a chill and livable place, but it's not much to look at. The city was the site of a bloody battle in 1915 between the England/France and the Ottoman Empire for control of Constantinople (now Istanbul). It's an historically rich area for military and ancient history buffs, with all the archaeological and battlefield sites nearby and the giant guns and cannons displayed around the city.

After a brief once-over of the restaurants and bars in harbour area - where, incidentally, the giant horse used in the movie Troy is displayed - we walked through the whole city to find the archaeological museum. It's mildly interesting, small and unimpressive, but still, seeing the ancient ruins discovered in the area makes you ruminate on the nature of time. It's worth a quick visit, if only to get a sense of the layout of the city on the way there. We tasted the famous and absolutely delicious "Peynirli Helvasi" or cheese halva (which doesn't really taste like cheese) that is unique to the region and of course ate the best Turkish food ever, Lahmacun. It's kind of like a thin Turkish pizza, covered with tomato sauce, chillies, and ground up meat and served with lettuce, parsley, lemon wedges, and tomatoes. Always cheap and always delicious!

Lahmacun!


Peynir Helvasi


By the canal


Canakkale by night


Trojan Horse from 'Troy'


Statue of Emperor Hadrian at Arkeoloji Muzesi

For tomorrow, we've decided to avoid that tourist traps of Gallipoli and Troy and head to Bozcaada, Turkey's second largest Aegean Island and one of the larger producers of Turkish wine. For those who do want to go to Troy or Gallipoli, there are frequent buses and minibuses from the otogar, or you can take a tour from one of the many agencies near the ferry terminal.

Kapitan Andreeevo

A couple of weeks ago we ventured across the border. The Turkish authorities reduced the time for Polish passports from 90 to 30 days, so we have to leave and re-enter every month. We took a two hour bus from Istanbul to Edirne, then crossed the border to Bulgaria at Kapikule/Kapitan Andrevo. Like any immigration experience, this one was time-consuming and tiring, but worsened by the fact that we had to endure the searing heat at 2 am. Worse, the Bulgarian border control "office" was swarming with flying roach-ants. That, coupled with the unbelievable stench on our bus, made for a pretty awful 8 hours. Budget travel, I can't wait to forsake you! Nevertheless, our time on both sides of the border was fairly enjoyable.

Things Edirne has:

Amazing old mosques, delicious lokum, a fun main street, kokorec (a supposedly tasty, haggis-like, turkish specialty that I do not have the guts to try), and other yummy-looking street food. And super friendly people!







Things Plovdiv has:

Budget ruins, a pretty old town, old ladies with blue hair, scandalously dressed helmet-haired women, and a penchant for body-builders (both male and female)






Apparently a friend of a friend in Plovdiv (the turkish "mis" tense would be so handy here) discovered ruins while excavating for the foundation of a house and decided not to declare the find to the government. Also, one can attend concerts in a roman amphitheatre... on the regular. Oh, and did I mention that Bulgarians shake their heads from side to side to say yes, and nod yes, up and down, to say no? VERY CONFUSING. Oh, Bulgaria, I don't think we'll be back anytime soon....

The bread basket of Europe

Every single time I go to Poland it rains, hails, snows, sleets, and there is just generally shit weather. And I've been about 6 or 7 times, so this sucks. But I'm not about to let some frigid rain get in the way of eating good Polish food. Any trip to Poland requires a cow-like stomach, because the food is delish, and the eatsies are plentiful. I think I ate about 5 meals a day on my last trip to Krakow, because I liked everything so much (but also because it was snowing and it was too cold to do too much else).
Anyway, more to the point: I was in Poland recently to visit family for a 30th wedding anniversary. There was much merriment, and of course, not speaking very much Polish, I took comfort in my war-hero-killingly strong vodka drink, and copious amounts of marinated pork.
22 of us squeezed into the dining room, and the eating commenced at 4pm. 25 minutes later, after a starter, salad, main meal, and snacks, I sat back satisfied, holding my belly so I didn't explode. But no! there was more food coming! Everyone continued to eat until NINE PM! thats five hours of continuous eating. No breaks. I was amazed. I also couldn't move for the next day. The only downside was that at the time of farewells, after 3 kisses from each family member, I was accosted by one wife-of-an-uncle who went in for the kiss. . . ON MY LIPS. OH HELL NO. I saw it coming, and I tried to proffer my cheek instead, but she grabbed my face and planted a nasty wet smooch on my innocent, previously polish-aunty-untouched lips. I was so sad. My insightful fiance insisted that she was probably a hidden lesbian and had been waiting all her life to kiss a nice brown girl like me. Tragic.

In order that you too may enjoy the fun and oft-unintelligible singing, I offer you, the reader, a sneak peak into post-communist Polish life: