Spring Vacation: Part III

 Caturday, May the Fourth be with you

 

I woke up for morning prayers then rested again before dragging myself up to face the day. Day started out cloudy and it drizzled too at some point. The sun finally came out around noon. I set off and walked along Chuy Avenue to the Parliament, continued on to the State History Museum. There’s another statue of Manas in front of the museum while a statue of Vladimir Lenin stands behind the museum. I walked to the National Library, National Museum of Fine Arts with Opera and Ballet Theatre across from it, turned to Victory Square and all the way to the Central Mosque. It was an hour before Zuhur when I reached the mosque so I didn’t stay for prayers. I turned and walked back. Ala Too Square which is the main square was closed for renovation so I walked on and on until I reached Osh Bazaar. Then I turned back and returned to the hostel to perform prayers and rest. I wanted to watch the Arsenal match but it wasn’t shown live. Day 2 in Bishek: walked 15.8 km or 22,576 steps so far today. Disappointingly, I didn’t meet any cat today despite it being a Caturday.

Parliament

Manas Statue

State History Museum

Bishkek Central Mosque

At Osh Bazaar in Bishkek

Salad!

Honey

 

I was about to sit down for my dinner when I checked my email and found out that my flight for 08:00 the following morning had been cancelled but that I could opt to join the 05:00 flight. I quickly replied informing the affirmative and then contacted GoBus to change my departure time for the airport. I quickly finished dinner then went to finish packing and tried to get an early night.

 

Sunday, 5 May 2024

 

Woke up at the ungodly hour of 02:00 and finished dressing and packing up in eight minutes, what a record! Left after I’d had some drink and checked my social media and made my way to the bus stop at 02:23, feeling a bit apprehensive but then I saw there were still a few people including groups of girls on the streets. The GoBus vehicle arrived at 02:39 and we arrived at the airport just before 05:00. I quickly joined the queue to check in (chaotic, everyone was everywhere but alhamdulillah I saw the shorter queue) then went in to the boarding area. I performed prayers in the nursery (Alhamdulillah for nurseries!) then waited for the flight. Flight took off slightly later as the airline had to get a drunk passenger off the airport bus. Then some moron sat in my seat (honestly, couldn’t he tell that A would be right by the window and his actual seat, B, was in the middle?! You gotta wonder at the intelligence of these travellers) and I admonished him. We landed in Osh after 06:00 and I killed time at the airport before taking a marshrutka to the guest house (Gulshada, my hostess, informed me marshrutkas started running after 07:00). Alhamdulillah, Gulshada allowed me to leave my bag there (she had earlier informed me that there’d be extra charge for early check-in) and she advised me to go to the bazaar today as it closes on Mondays. So after joining her for breakfast and exchanging our brief life stories, I set off for and walked all the way to Sulaiman-Too and climbed it. Spent some time at the top before going down. I then walked to Jayma Bazaar which sits on the site of a large market from the Silk Road days over two thousand years ago and browsed the stalls and stores. It had started raining then and I was glad to seek refuge in the bazaar. I walked from one end of the bazaar to the other end and there are even layers of shops on both sides of the main artery of the bazaar. The bazaar has also expanded to the new bazaar across the river. I finally stopped to have lunch: some meat soup with bread. Then I walked out of the bazaar and around the area before returning to the guest house. Today, I walked 14.9 km or 21,700 steps.

Views of Osh city

It actually rained early in the evening and lasted well into the night. There were also thunders but nothing as loud as what we have back home.

 

Monday, 6 May 2024

 

I left the guest house late today and made my way to the city centre. First, I headed for the Mosque of Rabat Abdul Khan, allegedly the oldest mosque in Osh and built as a tribute to 16^th century Rabat Abdul Khan. It’s just next to Oshskiy Oblastnoy Muzey Izobrazitel’nykh Iskusstv, an art museum. I went into the mosque compound but was not allowed to enter the mosque itself by a man who surprisingly could speak English. Then I walked to Osh State University, entering its grounds. Earlier I saw some graduates in their gown so there may be a graduation ceremony going on although I didn’t see any more students in their robes walking around.

 

Mosque of Rabat Abdul Khan

I walked on along Lenin Avenue to the Main Square (it was closed for renovation though) with another monument to Lenin. The city administration building is across from Main Square. I walked on to the nearby Toktugul Park before turning back. I also decided to change my remaining Kazakhstani Tenge into Krygystani Som (as I reckon a return trip to Kyrgyzstan with its parks would be more likely than a return trip to Kazakhstan); the rate was horrible but at least I won’t have excess KZT like I have Georgian Lari which I couldn’t sell outside the country.

 

I knew Gulshada said that the bazaar was closed today so I headed to the new bazaar. Most stalls were closed but there were some that were operating. I walked on before turning to find Globus Hypermarket. Then I turned back to the new bazaar and walked on and on until I found a place to have my late lunch. I had laghman again, this time with more gravy which is the way I prefer it. It was so good and cost less than half of  what I paid at Café Faiza in Bishkek! I also bought some buns for the following day.

 

I then returned to the guesthouse and started packing before resting.

 

Tuesday, 7 May 2024

 

Another early start today. I woke up at 03:45, freshened up, performed ablutions and performed prayers. I had asked Gulshada to help arrange a cab for me for 04:30 and the cab arrived at 04:35. I hugged Gulshada and thanked her for hosting me then left. The ride took only ten minutes. There were lines queuing up to check in and all seemed chaotic except for one row and I headed for that. Then there was another confusion before we were allowed to proceed to passport control because there was another early flight bound for Moscow. After going through passport control and security check, I went in to wait.

 

We were soon called to board the bus to the plane. The time difference between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan had somehow slipped my mind and it was during mid-flight when I realised it would be a five-hour-and forty-minute flight. What a long flight! And I would be spending the whole day in airports so it was a long day too!

 

We landed at Istanbul Sabiha Airport and I followed the lane for international transfer. Then I sat down and cleared my emails and read while whiling away the time. At 13:00, I went to the prayer room for prayers before making my way to the gate.

Leaving Istanbul

We landed at Bologna Airport at 15:30v and as we were descending, I thought of how much I loved Italy. It took a while to disembark and then when we finally did, we had to queue for more than an hour to clear passport control! It was the first time that my bag was out waiting for me instead of the other way around. If you want to fill up your water bottle, there’s a water dispenser in the baggage claim area and another near RyanAir check-in counters.

At Bologna Airport

I had visited Bologna before and while I wouldn’t mind visiting it again, I didn’t feel like dragging my bag behind me. I would also have to pay to use the washroom in the city and face problems finding a place to perform prayers (on my first visit, I performed prayers at the basement of a halal Indian restaurant). So I decided to just stay in the airport and only board bus no. 944 to Bologna Centrale at 00:45 to minimise the time I would have to spend at the bus station.

To be continued

Spring In My Step: Step II

Tuesday, 2 May 2017

I woke up early today and left after performing prayers and a light breakfast. I walked quickly to the bus station at 18 Stycznia for my 07:03 bus to Modlin Airport. I arrived at 06:50 and stood there waiting. 07:00 came and went. Then 07: 03. 07:05. 07:07 and still no sign of the bus. I was starting to panic and thought of my options. I had run out of Zlotny and my other option was to hike it to the train station and take the train to Warsaw Central and take a bus to Modlin Airport from Plac Defilad. I was starting to really panic when the bus finally arrived after 07:10. Alhamdulillah! The bus was quite empty but picked up passengers in other towns. Despite the late start, we arrived Modlin Airport at 09:56 (ETA 10:15). I sat down and repacked my toiletries. My larger ziplock bag tore at KL Sentral just before I boarded the bus to KLIA and I filled up my smaller ziplock bag and then placed it in the larger ziplock bag (I usually bring a lot of toiletries and would need about three ziplock bags but alas, each passenger is only allowed one bag). After a light meal and repacking, I went in and Alhamdulillah, cleared security check.

We boarded the plane and as luck would have it, my seat was at the very last row (row 33). I saw that there was a row of three vacant seats at row 32 so I moved up after the door had closed so I could stretch out and also perform prayers.

We landed at Bologna Airport at 14:40 but it took a while before the doors were opened. At the terminal building, I bought an Aerobus ticket for €6 to the train station (I had earlier bought an ordinary bus ticket for €1.30 as I had planned to walk to Birra; unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any pedestrian lane and no one I asked could point me in the right direction so I had to return to the airport and buy the Aerobus ticket). The journey took about 25 minutes.

I went into the station briefly before heading out. Spotting a hotel across the road, I headed for it to ask for directions and a city map. Ever since my bad experience in Madrid years ago, I had found that hotels are the best place to head for to ask for directions or at least get someone who can speak English. I was not disappointed; the kind lady at the reception handed me a map and some general directions and I set off. I walked down the seemingly endless city arcades until I reached Le Due Torri (Two Towers), i.e., Towers of the Asinelli and Garisenda, which are the main symbols of Bologna before walking back towards the train station. I also managed, with the help of another lady at another hotel, to locate the canal of Bologna.

Back at the station, I queued at the ticket office to buy a ticket to Rimini. The chap who attended to me was a jolly friendly man and he told me to take the 17:35 train as it would take me less time and cost me less. I reached Rimini just as it was beginning to get dark and went to find Hotel Alibi (I had booked and paid to stay at another hotel but due to their system error, the other hotel was unable to accommodate me and arranged for me to stay at their another hotel in their group). Unfortunately, there is no underpass at the train station which meant I had to walk the long way to cross the train tracks to get to my hotel which is on the other side of the tracks. I finally found my hotel (got a bit confused with the directions) after 30 minutes. I checked in and went to my room and stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Wednesday, 3 May 2017

After prayers and showering, I went for a brief early morning walk to the beach. It was an overcast morning and as I walked, it started to drizzle. I walked up to the beach which at that hour was deserted except for a lone jogger. I returned to the hotel shortly after and gathered my things before checking out. Turned out I had to pay €1.50 city tax for every night of stay. The bloke at the reception told me I had to pay this tax at all hotels in Italy.

I left and began the trek back to the train station. It took ten minutes brisk walk to reach the station and I bought ticket for the 11:47 train to Bologna for €9.85 (I could have bought a ticket to Siena – with a train change at Bologna - but this would cost me either €52.10 or €57.10 depending on time of travel. I found it more economical to break the trip: Rimini-Bologna ticket for €9.85 and Bologna-Siena ticket for €36.10. Total cost would be €45.95 compared to €52.10/€57.10! When I first started my research, the total cost was €31.10 from Rimini to Siena *cries*). It would leave me a short time to visit San Marino and although I could have taken a later train, I wanted to reach Siena earlier. Then I walked to the bus stop for the bus to San Marino which is outside Albergo Moderno, a 3-star hotel. The bus arrived at 07:55 and after storing my bag in the bag hold beneath the bus, I went up and paid for my ticket. I didn’t manage to buy a return ticket from the driver (I later found out that I could do that at the Tourist Information Centre. A return ticket costs €9 while a single ticket costs €5) and settled in for the ride. We reached San Marino bus station at 09:10.

 This is what I meant. If I had bought a train ticket from Rimini to Siena, it would cost me either €52.10 to €57.10 depending on time of travel. Ticket price had increased since I first did my research!

I decided to check the Rimini-Bologna and Bologna-Siena ticket prices and they turned out better. I only had to queue at Bologna station to buy the ticket to Siena but still, it gave me some saving

From the coach station, there’s a lift going up – the Old Town of San Marino is very hilly and I had to struggle walking uphill with my bag (no left luggage that I could spot). The republic is made of a few towns with the capital (also called San Marino, like Singapore) high on a mountain top. The day started to clear when I was there and I could see the Adriatic Sea far in the horizon. It was fun walking the narrow winding streets although I could do without the cobbled parts and the steep climb especially when I had to haul my bag behind me! You can appreciate why San Marino has one of the highest life expectancies in the world when people there walk up- and downhill every day and observe a healthy diet.

 Palazzo Pubblico and Piazza della Libertà

Looking down at the town below and the Adriatic Sea in the distance

After a whirlwind tour of the historic centre, I returned to the coach station for the 10:30 bus back to Rimini.

From Rimini, I rode the train to Bologna and queued to buy ticket to Siena. As I had time to kill, I went for a walk around the train station. I found a kebab restaurant and asked if they have a prayer room. Yes, they do have it at the basement and yes, I could use it to perform prayers so I hauled my bag down to the basement. After prayers, I returned to the station and had to go to platform 18 which was a few levels below ground. I was glad I decided to return early to the station as it was quite a bit of a walk to get to the platform. The train was a very comfortable one and we travelled mainly in tunnels under the Apennines for it was dark outside most of the time except when we neared Florence. I had ten minutes to change trains at Firenze Santa Maria Novella and of course the train would have to stop just before the station. We finally pulled into the station and I practically jumped off and ran to the boards to see which platform the train to Siena would depart from. I made it to the train with about 4 minutes to spare...

We pulled into Siena on time and I followed the directions to exit via the shopping mall. A series of escalators connect the train station to the old city; I think the escalators took me up about 4 or 5 storeys and I was so grateful for this because no way could I climb up any hill that high with my bag without help. From the station, I walked to the Airbnb which I had booked – accommodation in Siena is frightfully expensive. The nearer to centre, the more expensive of course but I wanted to stay as close to the centre as possible as I planned to visit San Gimignano and Pienza the next day and the buses depart from different stations in the town centre.

It took me more than thirty minutes to get to my Airbnb at via Cecco Angioleri, mainly because I stopped every now and then either to take photos of the buildings or to consult the map. I enjoyed the map and no one bothered me, no one looked at me strangely and at no time at all did I feel any hostility or being treated like a stranger. I did ask a few locals to determine I was indeed going in the right direction. This is yet another thing why I love Italy and the locals: it’s a beuatiful country and the locals are unfazed at strangers.

I didn’t realise I had to turn off at Piazza Tolomei and went on and when I discovered I had missed my turn-off, I retraced my steps back to the piazza. I finally reached the building and buzzed my host. The apartment is right on top of the building and I huffed and puffed up the stairs with my bags. I got acquainted with Eduard (my host), received some tips, placed my bags in the room and had a quick online connection before leaving to explore the historic centre. Good thing I had performed prayers in Bologna eh. I heard some drum noise while in the apartment and when I looked out the kitchen window, I saw people practising drums for the annual Palio di Siena at the little square below.

The heart of Siena, the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, is literally a couple of minutes’ walk from the Airbnb apartment with the Gothic Palazzo Pubblico and Torre del Mangia forming one side of the piazza. Before heading there however, I went to check the bus station at via Tozzi for the bus to San Gimignano the following morning. I walked around the area before asking at a hotel about the buses and was told I could buy the ticket at the ticket office below the street level. So I returned to via Tozzi and searched for stairs to go down. I then bought a return ticket for the bus the next morning and a good thing too for I found from the timetable given to me that the first bus for San Gimignano would leave at 08:20 and not as indicated in the timetable. I then walked along the streets of Siena before heading for Piazza del Campo. I then had a quick visit to the Duomo, a mixed Gothic and Romanesque building, before returning to Piazza del Campo. Dusk was settling then.

After a while, I walked to Pizzeria San Martino at via del Porrione and bought a slice of pizza margherita for dinner. Eduard recommended this pizzeria. It was good but I think the pizza at Pizzeria Spontini in Milan was wayyy better. I then explored some alleys before taking a circuitous route back to the apartment. There was some noise again and when I looked down the kitchen window, I saw some people enacting a play in the square below. This at almost 11 in the evening!!! The Sienese are indeed fiercely proud of their culture and history and take them very seriously.

To be continued