Euro trash

My second weekend here and I’ve yet to see any of the sights in Istanbul. There are a ton of them, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar being just two. I have no doubt I’ll be busy sightseeing during my entire tour, but so far I haven’t been to any of them.

I’m not here on vacation, of course, so during the week I work. My first weekend was spent in a Polish village, which was very, very cool. And this past weekend I darted for the border to Bulgaria.

My vacation planning had gotten lax since, oh, Peace Corps, and I tend to just throw stuff in a bag and run. This time, I did have the foresight to buy 200 Euros, not really having any idea what I might buy but reasoning that whatever was left could go to Greece with me next trip.

And you know what? I have 200 Euros left. Why, you ask? Because Bulgaria isn’t on the Euro. I suppose I should have figured that out, but the whole European Union thing threw me.

We found out we were in a bit of trouble when we stopped to fill up. We got Cokes and gas, and went to pay with a 50 Euro bill and the cashier looked at us like we’d dumped trash on her.

“No Euro.”

Oh, man. But fortunately, Visa travels well and bailed us out. Once in town, we just got the equivalent of $25 each out of the ATM and lived it up, but we were laughing at ourselves over the mistake for awhile.

Oh my gosh, Bulgaria was fantastic. I LOVED the country and can’t wait to go back. On the advice of a colleague, my traveling companion and I set out for a city on the coast called Nessebar, which in part was a UNESCO site. It’s an ancient city and was maybe a 4.5-hour drive.

We’ve been warned the border could take hours, but we didn’t spend more than 20 minutes there. The drive was beautiful – through trees and then just along the coast.  Coastline views are always spectacular.

Once in town and having loaded up at the ATM, we found a hotel and went out for lunch, settling on a Greek restaurant right on the water.

Right upon sitting down, I became aware of a familiar voice coming out of the speakers.

Willie Nelson.

Oh, how fantastic. I just laughed and laughed. I remember hearing Blake Shelton at the French pasty shop in Seoul, and Toby Keith (Christmas music) in Jakarta, but this seemed far more odd than either of those.

I was completely dumbstruck, especially since halfway through the meal they played another. I had never heard of any of the other stuff that was coming out, but when it’s Willie, you know it’s Willie.

After meal of trout in “potato crust” (which turned out to be fish and chips, something I did not expect but was fantastic), we stood up to leave and what came through next just made my vacation.

Not just Willie, but a Scotty Emerick-penned song that Willie’d recorded: “I Didn’t Come Here and I Ain’t Leavin’.” In a Greek restaurant in Bulgaria that overlooked the water. Quite appropriate considering the writer.

Having Scotty and Willie set the tone for your vacation ain’t bad, I gotta say. Traveling Companion and I had a wonderful time, wandering around the old town. The ruins from the churches date back around the 11^th century, and the roads are cobblestone weaving things. Had we had a set destination, I’m sure we’d have gotten lost, but since we didn’t it was all good. The place couldn’t have been more than one square kilometer, but there were several churches around – apparently there are a total of 40 in the larger area, which is still pretty small. Out one of the piers there was a cross.

And boats. I was just in heaven with the boats. And of course, my phone battery had died, so I didn’t pictures, but TC promised she’d get me some so I’ll update. I’d be like, can you take a picture of that boat for me? I just love them.

The whole point of the weekend was so that I could exit Turkey and return on another passport, but the trip was so much more than a visa run. Our hotel, picked pretty much out of the blue, was really cool (though mental note for later: never say yes to the first room they show you – hold out for the better view). There was a pool on the rooftop with a fabulous view of both the UNESCO site and Black Sea.

We also sprung for massages on Sunday morning before the gorgeous drive back, on which there was no wait at the border either. The trip wasn’t totally charmed – we missed our exit on the way back and wound up in Asia again – but it was close. A beach, boats, fish, Willie Nelson and Scotty Emerick. That’s darn near close to perfection.