Baltics24: Days 19-20 – Istanbul – Home

Home.

Not Istanbul, nor Constantinople, nor Byzantium.

Not Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm.

Just a couch with a dog that has mostly forgiven, and the heater on, because we’d certainly acclimatised to 30 degree weather and are feeling the chill of an otherwise mild Perth winter.

The journey home was uneventful, Singapore Airlines generally took care of us well (except for their website stuffing up L’s gf selection, and their online help being next to useless to correct it — Jeshua I’m keeping my eye on you). We bounced through Changi with enough time to grab some duty-free, and it’s good to see Changi airport has a lot more stores opening/reopening, even if a large chunk weren’t open at 6am. Watched the Singaporean Drama/Comedy King of Hawkers on the last flight, it had lots of great food stuff, but i think some of the plot just didn’t translate well in the subtitles, either that or the premise really was that if the hawkers lost the competition their stalls and recipes would be franchised. Or something. But the acting was great, the movie felt “Singaporean” to me, if that makes sense.

Now at home and the cases are unpacked, though the thoughts and reflections on the trip will need some unpacking still. So much seen, so much done, so much not seen, so much not done. So much eaten.

Istanbul is a big crazy city, its public transport covers a chunk of it, certainly the parts that we wanted to go to, and it’s quite cheap. It’s also packed, was a rare thing to not have to fight to get onto a tram. It was also a bit more expensive than I expected, I wasn’t necessarily converting every price I saw, but the base price of a lot of food seemed steep. I know we were generally in tourist areas, where you’d expect everything to be more expensive, but we were certainly paying prices at the higher end — the cheapest turkish coffee I saw was 90 TRY, or $4.50 AUD, and meals were generally around $30 AUD each — you get a decent portion size for that but I guess after several trips to Viet Nam we’ve been spoilt.

Pride. I didn’t mention it while we were in country, but casting a cloud over our time in Istanbul was reading that the authorities had cancelled Pride for this year and last year, and had set up blocks to any sort of display or parade. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have a list of places I’d like to go to, just a list of places I’m unlikely to go back to, and Istanbul you’re on that list until you improve your dealings with the LGBTQIA+ in your city.

I’ve been to a number of countries with authoritarian/democratic authoritarian governments, but even these have, in recent years, allowed Pride events to take place (even Cambodia, and the United States). In my privilege I’ve taken this for granted, as even places that still have anti-LGBT laws have allowed at least some Pride events (excepting some horrendously notable exceptions). So this has given me something to consider for future travel plans.

So, Istanbul, 3.5 stars. Which, coincidentally, is about all that can be seen in the evening thanks to the massive light pollution. But any city that lets you buy turkish delight and baklava after midnight should allow Pride events.

The Baltics, I never did get around to writing that final wrap-up post. So what follows are thoughts from a long way away, with more benefit of hindsight, and further obscured by time, jet lag, and me now keeping one eye on the UK election results which, for the first time in 14 years, give me some joy.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, three small countries with similar recent past, though their differences span centuries. And they do feel different. Tallinn has a distinct Nordic feel, both in architecture and its people. Riga seemed more eastern European, possibly the overcast weather on the first day giving that extra dour impression. There was a definite contrast to Tallinn, Riga’s streets and old town seemed a little less clean, and while there’s a joke among the Baltic states that the Estonians are the most introverted, the folk of Riga seemed more reserved, though whether that’s because they were all hungover from their midsummer festivities who knows? Vilnius seemed the most slavic-european, it felt more like Poland, which given their shared history is understandable.

Did we have long enough to really get to know each country? Not really, just glimpses of three nations that have been through so much in recent years, each with its own national identity yet still working to establish that identity in a changing world. Land that Germany, Poland and Russia has fought for control of over in recent centuries, some now enjoying their longest period of self-rule since the pope decided these crazy pagans should be converted or killed. So many modern parallels, where folks claim christianity yet are really just greedy, self-interested and hateful arseholes. I also see parallels in the world of unlikely allies, echoes of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in Russia and the US Republicans, and in Australia, the Dutton-Bandt alliance seeking to undo actual reform (though I’m also attracted to the idea that the australian greens are more like Vichy French collaborators). Speaking of France, sigh. The Land of Liberte seeks to embrace the rise of fascism. In the Baltic states there was definitely a concern around the Ukraine situation, that despite their membership of the EU and NATO they may again face Russian aggression. Maybe my wish at the miracle tile in Vilnius should have been for a world without power-mad despotic arseholes. Or a world where we aren’t encouraged to venerate those who have too much.

The Baltic states offer great experiences for travellers (food labelling/allergen information aside) and they genuinely seemed happy that folks from Australia would come to visit. Happy though amazed, Why come here? was asked. Why not is an easy reply, here there is good food and drink, amazing sights, fascinating history, art, culture. There is fresh air, sunshine (for part of the year anyway), friendly people. These three countries offer much to the right kind of traveller. Would I return? Sure.

Now it’s time to plan the next trip, which, life and budget permitting might be a long weekend in Singapore before the end of the year.