A glimpse at 3 cities (Nurnberg and vicinities; Istambul and Minsk)
Just coming back from 10 days abroad, on a short vacation to visit old friends. Often we travel to relax and visit new places. Diversity is expected but it is just human to compare and look for familiar environments… A few highlights:
Surprises
- Lack of speed limit on the highways of Germany.
- Did not see any policeman in Germany… Is everything monitored by video cameras?
- Very difficult to find a menu in English in the restaurants in Nurnberg.
- Dogs in Nurnberg eating at restaurants with owners and behaving very well…
- Villages in Germany almost empty of young people and very few old people in sight.
- Very few supermarkets accepted international credit cards in Nurnberg.
- Visa for Minsk quite expensive…
- The thick beautiful white snow in the Minsk fields around the city.
- The high quality of house finishing in Minsk compared to Ethiopia.
- 95% of the ladies seen in Minsk dressing elegantly and wearing high boots.
- Duty free at Minsk airport does not accept credit cards.
- Banks in Minsk open until late afternoon.
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- Tulips in Istambul
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- Windows in Germany
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- We could almost feel the ghosts in the corridors of the Rabenstein castle
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- Roofs in Istambul
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- Church in Bamberg (Germany)
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- Flowers and pumpkins at the Kamarovsi market
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- Dry fruits at the Kamarovski market
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- Snow in Minsk
Good impressions
- The typical Kamarovski fresh products market in Minsk.
- The cleaning ness of Minsk city.
- The amazing benefits (and sometimes also challenges) of using a GPS around unknown places in Germany.
- The beautiful countryside and old castles in Germany.
- Friendly attitude of Turkish people and willingness to help without asking rewarding (like it happens in Egypt).
- Turkish restaurants accepted to bring food to consume at the table (Mc Donald’s meals for the girls…) without any problem.
- The amazing thousands of multicolored tulips blooming on the side of the airport road along the shore in Istambul.
- The great (and difficult to choose) colorful glass ceiling lamps with mosaics in Istambul.
Similarities
- Cold but sunny in Southern Germany, Istambul and Minsk.
- I did not see any poor people in any of these places (something very unusual from one coming from Ethiopia).
- Very difficult to communicate (or even survive for a longer period) due to the barrier of language.
- Very few people fluent in English.
- Great food in all places.
- The joy to spend a great time with old friends.
Dislikes
- Unfriendly attitude of some German people.
- Unavailability of good accommodation in Turkey (perhaps due to Obama visit?).
New words learned
- Da, Spasiba, karacho (Belarus). I quite liked the Russian language.
- Something definitely interesting to learn if there is an opportunity…
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Estoy conociendo por primera vez tu blog. Me gusto mucho toda la información que encontre en el.
Comment by Maite April 15, 2009 @ 10:14 amUn abrazo, Maite
Minha querida Xana,
Comment by Alexandra Dias April 15, 2009 @ 3:38 pmA selecção de fotos está óptima. Se bem te conheço perdeste a cabeça não só com os candeeiros de vitrais em Istambul??? Imagino as novas adições à decoração.
Numa visita visitaram amigos e lugares cheios de contrastes: a Europa nórdica, a futura Europa (????) que aproxima civilizações e junta o Ocidente e o Oriente e palavras que ecoam os tempos idos da Guerra Fria. Que lufada de lugares, gentes e culturas. Que escape até à neve para quem saboreia 13 meses de sol (eh eh eh!!!!!) mas o melhor foi mesmo terem dado esse presente fabuloso à vossa filha e terem aproveitado para estarem em família fora do vosso habitat quotidiano e visitado amigos.
Adorei o post.