Yesterday I posted a daytime Bosphorus trip video… Now it’s time for the nighttime… a video of the famous Golden Horn in Istanbul (including the Sultan’s Palace, Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), Sultan’s Palace). And remember, if the video playback is iffy, just click on play, pause the video and let it load for a while.
Sorry for the shakiness 😉
Right down Istanbul’s European and Asian side, runs the Bosphorus, which connects the Mediteraenean and the Black Sea. As I recently had a job on the European side, but live on the Asian side, I was crossing the Bosphorus a few times per week. The best way to see Istanbul is from the water, but what’s also great about these boatrides is the birds that accompany your boat. I tried to capture this in the video below and hope I succeeded. 🙂
If the video playback is iffy, just click on play, pause the video and let it load for a few minutes.
My girlfriend Tsvety and I proudly present the launch of our new blog Who Gives A Duck? with this rubber duckie video!
Who Gives A Duck? We give a duck!
First person to guess which city this video was shot in gets 200 Entrecard credits! (regular readers should have no problem with this)
This is the apartment I’ve rented for a few days here in Sofia, Bulgaria for just 35 euros per night. It’s a normal price for a double room in some shabby hotel in the outskirts of most European capitals. Even in Sofia, most of the double rooms in hotels are around 20 euros per person. However, do a little searching and you’ll find yourself something way more awesome for a lot less money! 🙂
Oh and it’s not in the outskirts, it’s right in the center, just between Popa and NDK for those of you who are familiar. 😉
If you’re ever planning a trip to Sofia, I strongly advise you to find an apartment, as hotels are mostly overpriced. If you’re interested in the apartment in this video, you can call Ms. Georgieva on +359 888 502 981 (mobile number).
Tonight I’m hopping in the bus back to Istanbul, so new Istanbul updates very soon!
Last night I was relaxing a bit, since that’s the main reason why I came to Sofia, and I was looking for some documentaries on Istanbul. Hoping to learn about some interesting things I didn’t know yet in my current hometown, I came across a famous 2005 documentary called Crossing The Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul. It shows a lot of the music and culture that Istanbul has to offer, but also captures the daily life quite well. From rock to gypsie to Turkish traditional to rap to the whirling dervishes… It’s all in there! Without further ado… the documentary. (some commentary below)
Press CC to turn subtitles on. The subtitling is decent and sometimes inaccurate (both for the German as well as the Turkish parts). However it doesn’t prevent one from enjoying and understanding the documentary. So don’t let it hold you back. If you prefer to watch the video on Google Video’s site, click here.
My commentary
Ok, so most of the sights seem really special, right? That’s what I see every day. The sunsets, the Bosphorus… If I want to go to the European side, I go on one of the ferries displayed in the documentary.
At some point the video shows a group of rappers walking the street (one of them stops to say hi to a girl that’s on the phone)… I walk that street every day. It’s the street that goes from the main Kadıköy busstation to my neighbourhood, Moda. The next shot shows them walking down a street and it has the Bosphorus in the background… I walk down that street every day too. 🙂
I thought this documentary shows the daily life and the cultural life in Istanbul quite well. Some I have experienced, some I will experience, and some I will probably not experience. Having seen this documentary, I’m more inspired than ever to make the best out of my time… living in Istanbul!
So a few times per day this guy, and similar guys, come through my street selling 2nd hand stuff from their carts. To let people know they’re there, they yell something like “Yehhhhhhh”. It sounds really weird. Like a very, very sick mule.
Besides these, we have accordionists walking the street, stopping on every corner to give their concert and wait for people to throw money out of the windows. Men that sell bread (they carry a huge stack on their head), gypsy women that sell flowers, people that collect water tanks to get them refilled for you… and I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of these professions soon… (and recording and uploading them of course ;-)).
As said in the previous posts, I live very close to the sea. The first evening that I was in my apartment, I got a bit bored and went to walk around a bit. I found a gorgeous sun setting in the sea. Check out the video below… It’s really soothing, relaxing, meditative. 🙂
Sorry for the crooked horizon… see it as artistic expression.
Subscribe to my RSS feed now! 🙂
I have my flat and here’s the video! Enjoy!
Oh, and within the first 24 hours I:
Let’s hope that’s the last of my bad luck in this apartment. 😉
You can read about my struggles finding it by clicking here.
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Since I’m hoping to move out of my dorm this Monday or Tuesday, I decided to make a video last night to be able to show you where I’ve been living during the first two weeks of my stay in Istanbul. In the video I just show my floor and the floor below. The building has 7 floors, 5 study areas, an internet café, cafeteria (a crappy one), laundry shop, crappy recreation basement, big iron fences around it, security, and a few hundred men living in it.
I’m sure you’ll understand I want to move out of here as soon as possible 😉
Even though they haven’t caught the spotlight of the big media, there’s quite a bit of ‘Tibetan’ protesting going on in Beijing. One of the protests was on Tiananmen square and lasted for ten minutes before the participants were detained and deported. Have a look at this video:
As China kicked off the 2008 Beijing Olympics yesterday, Tibetans and supporters in every part of the world staged hunger strikes, protest marches, solidarity vigils, and other direct actions to highlight China’s oppression in Tibet.
Just hours ago, five Tibet supporters held a dramatic protest in Tiananmen Square, calling for an end to the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet. Four of the activists, lying down and draped in Tibetan national flags, staged a mock die-in with the famous portrait of Chairman Mao in the background. A fifth activist spoke about their reason for protesting there today. They were detained by security ten minutes after the protest began.
Yesterday, three Tibet supporters, including SFT’s Grassroots Coordinator Kalaya’an Mendoza, protested near the entrance of the Bird’s Nest stadium, wearing Team Tibet t-shirts and holding up Tibetan flags in the air. Within 40 seconds, security guards tackled them to the ground. They were detained for several hours before they were deported. We are also happy to inform you that Iain, Lucy, Phil and Tirian – the four activists who were part of the banner hang action outside the Olympic stadium – are safely home after receiving a warm welcome from their friends, family and local Tibetans in their respective home countries.
Meanwhile, Chemi Dolkar, a Tibetan-American who traveled to Beijing to speak out for Tibetan freedom, was detained at Beijing Airport for 15 hours and eventually deported. Chemi arrived in her hometown Minneapolis last night, and right now she is speaking with the media to keep the Tibetan plight in the spotlight. Many dozens of Tibetans planning to go to Beijing to protest against the Chinese government have been denied entry into China.
The world is watching China today as the Olympics begin, and with the hundreds of actions taking place around the world – from Delhi to Kathmandu, Brussels to London, New York to San Francisco, Hong Kong to Toronto, and many more – the voices of the Tibetan people will be heard loud and clear despite the attempts of the Chinese authorities to silence them.
Continue to check out www.freetibet2008.org for further updates on the global uprising for Tibet and to find out how you can join actions in areas near you.
To support SFT’s continued efforts for Tibetan freedom, please make a donation today.
Tibet will be free,
Lhadon, Tendor, Kate, Heather, Han, Amy and the whole SFT HQ crew
Great message I’d say.
Meanwhile, during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, some Burmese people were commemorating the 08/08/’88 events.
The demonstrations of 1988 culminated in a massive nation-wide show of People Power on August 8 in which hundreds of thousands of people marched to demand a change in government. These peaceful demonstrations were violently crushed by army troops who fired relentlessly on the unarmed crowds in Rangoon and other cities killing more than 10,000 student, civilian and Buddhist monk protesters throughout the country. Thousands were arrested. (Burmawatch)
It’s a shame that we seem to have forgotten about Burma and I’m taking this opportunity to put another spotlight on the situation there. Burma Global Action Network just released an exclusive video from the International Burmese Monks Organisation containing a plea to the international community.
