I always have liked melancholic, sorrowful music but when I years ago for the first time discovered Turkish music I was deeply touched and became a great fan of an instrument called Bağlama, widely used in Turkish folk music. I do not know what appeals me so much about this music, but when I am listening to it I calm down and can almost see landscapes of hills and grasslands passing by my eyes as if I was looking out of the window of a train.
A more sweat goodbye from Turkey I could not have imagined. What is better than leaving and having made new friends? Friends that are, to make it even better, skillful musicians giving me the chance of listening to their music, and even playing together with me. Never has Turkey made me so much wanted to go back.
With saying farewell to Turkey, Bulgaria was greeting us with grim, heavy autumn winds blowing in our faces the first day back in the European Union. However, the weather was soon getting more biking friendly again as we continued riding through lonesome villages in beautiful late summer atmosphere. I never thought that Bulgaria would give me the feeling of being almost home – still there are about 2000 kilometers to go – but I clearly could feel the difference of being back in Europe. Suddenly, there are graffiti and street art again, tramways and trolley coaches, but I started wondering if I could find good features that, one the one hand are unique enough to represent this continent and on the other are not too special to only represent a single European country (as for instance these Bulgarian style death notices posted on a tree).
Here a list of some things I came across, please correct me if you think they are not European features.
- Waste containers in different colors to indicate what sort of recyclable or non-recyclable material goes in. I was happy to see these often ugly shaped containers again after being in too many places where environment is drowning in waste.
- Cobble stone paved streets – not too nice to ride your bike on, but I like them.
- Retired people who offer to measure ones weight with scales for a small donation. This probably only holds for eastern Europe where many elderly cannot make a living of their little pensions and are thus forced to earn some extra money.
- Few people on the street, especially in smaller towns and villages. In comparison many settlements in Asia are bustling bazaars and it is almost impossible to go through unnoticed.
Tomorrow we leave for Serbia and Bosnia. I am looking forward to get to know some of the Balkan countries.
pedalsk 