Dean Christakos

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July 31, 2006

Not Exactly Mykonos

I'm here in Calgary, Canada at the Summer Simulation Multiconference where somehow one of my papers snuck past the reviewers and managed to get accepted. Unlike the location of the last conference I attended, my current location is considerably less picturesque:

This is the view outside of my room at the Coast Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. I should note that in the bathroom, I found a "Botanical Cleansing Bar" and a "Glycerine Bar" wrapped up by the sink as well as a dispenser of "Bath Gel" in the shower. I'm wondering where the heck I can find the "soap."

UPDATE: My talk was well-received! Life is good.

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July 29, 2006

Getting Greek Coffee Right

Ok, ok, almost two months ago I promised a post on how to make good Greek coffee, and my friends have been on my back ever since about it. Finally I got around to documenting the process, so here you go:

Ok, first, I should note that one of the things I never quite understood was why my grandparents always had these tiny little Greek coffee pots (called a briki in Greek) to boil their coffee in. It seemed impractical, especially because if you wanted to make a larger portion or multiple cups, you'd need to buy yet another, larger briki. I, figuring I'd be more practical about it, just bought the large one pictured above, so whether I wanted to make a little coffee or a lot of coffee, I figured I'd be all set. However, my coffee didn't come out quite right, and it wasn't until spending some more time travelling through Greece and Turkey and finally making my own at my grandparents' house in Greece that I finally realized what I was doing wrong.

The directions for making Greek coffee are pretty straightforward-- mix about 1 teaspoon of finely-ground coffee for every 3 oz. of water, boil the water until it foams up to the top of the briki, and pour it in your cup. If you boil it for too long, the foam boils away, and you end up with burnt coffee, poor tasting coffee-- kind of like Starbucks'. When I got everything right and didn't blatantly scald the coffee, it still didn't turn out right. I'll show what was happening after the jump, as this will require several pictures showing the process and the results.

Continue reading "Getting Greek Coffee Right"

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July 28, 2006

Still Around and Posting

I have not stopped updating merely because I am no longer traveling. Last night I had plans to get some pictures of the appearance of a D-list celebrity with plenty of kitsch value (ok, it was Vanilla Ice) who was supposed to appear in Boston, but after waiting around for 2-3 hours, he was a no-show, and I decided to go home. Rest assured I am on the lookout for new blog fodder.

UPDATE: Notably, I promised a post on making good Greek coffee. Apologies for not getting on that. I'll have it soon. Really.

Posted by Dean at 7:11 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 25, 2006

Into the Rila Mountains

The last part of my stay in Bulgaria involved a 2-day hike through the Rila Mountains, through the 7 Lakes and down to the monastery of St. John of Rila (Sveti Ivan Rilski). The mountains are primarily granite allowing the formation of lakes since the water doesn't soak through the ground.

Some locals use the park for grazing horses, which can be seen along the way:

St. John of Rila lived in the 10th century in a cave near these mountains and ultimately founded a monastery which I reached after a couple of days of hiking (there is, of course, a means of getting there by car, but I started at the other side of the mountain and reached the monastery on foot):

More pictures of the Rila Mountains in my photo archive.

See also: more info on the Rila Monastery.

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July 24, 2006

Dodging a Metaphorical Bullet So I Don't Have to Dodge Real Ones

A few months ago, I realized that I would be heading out to my cousin's wedding in Amsterdam in July 1st, and I realized that I had nothing else bringing me back to the USA after that. I figured that I would just buy a one-way ticket to Amsterdam and worry about how to get back to the USA later. However, while I was travelling in Greece this past May, I received notice that one of my papers had been accepted to the Summer Simulation Conference of the Society for Modeling and Simulation which occurs at the end of July in Calgary. Thus, I had to cut my planned indefinite vacation to one of 3 weeks in length, which I have just returned from.

What were my plans for the long-term vacation I was planning to take? Well, along with more extensive travelling in the Balkans than I had time for this past July, I wanted to go to eastern Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon.

Hm. I'm kind of glad that paper got accepted.

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July 22, 2006

Some wanderings in Sofia

So, oddly, it seems that most nights in Sofia there are fireworks being fired off into the sky. It's like a celebration every night.

There are two major monuments to the Russians in Sofia. One is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which was built to honor the role that the Russians played in liberating Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877. The Russians suffered losses of around 200,000 soldiers. These massive casualties probably should have tipped off the Russian czar that if, say, 40 years hence the country were to be attacked by Germany, they'd run into some military problems, but apparently no one thought that anything was amiss.

In the crypt of the cathedral is a large collection of icons from all over Bulgaria in a large variety of different styles, from traditional Byzantine to a more Russian style to a highly westernized aesthetic.

Another monument in Sofia is dedicated to the Soviets for ending Bulgaria's alliance with Nazi Germany and bringing Bulgaria over to the side of the Allies during World War II. However, local residents seemed more transfixed by the half-pipe that was right beside the monument:

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July 21, 2006

Returned to the USA

So the T-Mobile hotspots at the Frankfurt Airport were inoperable Friday morning, and I was unable to post some updates about my trip to Bulgaria as I had hoped. However, now that I'm back in the USA, I can upload my pictures and keep you, my loyal readers, updated about my travels. So here we go...

I arrived in Sofia on the evening of July 13th and the next morning headed out to the Chekotinski Monastery in Kalugerovo, Bulgaria in the Balkan mountains, which even the local residents describe as "forgotten by God." The village is a small farming community with some crumbling farmhouses:

not to mention signs warning drivers to yield for crossing goats:

But also, therein lies the unoccupied Chekotinski Monastery:

It is still maintained, but no monks currently reside there. However, in mid-July, a summer camp was held for residents of the now-closed Ugarchin orphanage for a few days in which everyone seems to have had a good time. I won't post too many pictures, because none of the campers exactly asked to have their photos posted on a public website, but this is a good picture of some traditional Bulgarian dancing from one evening at the camp:

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July 20, 2006

Alive and Well

From the Sofia airport: Don't fear, dear readers. I realize that posting about a pit stop on my way to Bulgaria followed by a week of weblog silence might cause people to worry, but rest assured that I am doing well and that -- big surprise! -- when you're in the mountains outside a village that even the locals describe as "forgotten by God," internet access is a bit hard to come by. More details will be posted over the course of the coming week once I'm back in the USA.

Posted by Dean at 9:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 12, 2006

Stopover in Niš, pictures from Belgrade

At present I am in Niš in southern Serbia, where I decided to take a pit stop on my way from Belgrade to Sofia. Now, it just so happens that there is a city-wide strike going on in Niš's hotel industry, leaving the My Place Hotel as the only open hotel, and I seem to have gotten the last available room. My misfortune, however, is the gain of you, my loyal readers, because this swanky hotel has free internet access, which allowed me to upload all of my photos from Belgrade to my photo archive.

At issue is the fact that my tolerance for travel starts to wane after about 6 hours or so. Since a trip directly from Belgrade to Sofia would take at least 8-10 hours, I figured I would break the trip up into two pieces. I think this turned out to be unwise, but there are some things I wanted to see in this city before heading over to Sofia, so I hope to be able to see more of Niš in the morning.

Rushing over to the train station to catch my train to Niš resulting in my losing my "Europe on a Shoestring" Lonely Planet Guide. By mid-afternoon, after having gotten lost trying to find Tito's grave, it was extremely hot, but I gathered my things from the hostel and made my way down to the bottom of Belgrade's hill where the train station is. At this point, I realized that I should get some supplies for my trip to Niš, and in my rush to pay for them, I left my guidebook on the counter. No big loss. The book had no entry for Niš, and my friend will be showing me around Sofia, so I no longer need it. It did turn out to be extremely useful while I had it, and it was a good traveling companion. I hope that the book gets passed on to someone in Belgrade who needs it.

Meanwhile, I have some pictures of Belgrade after the jump...

Continue reading "Stopover in Niš, pictures from Belgrade"

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Down into the Balkans: Belgrade

At the moment I am in Belgrade, having caught an all-night train from Vienna into the city. I haven't uploaded my pictures, yet, but I am having a good time. You can tell that this city used to be quite nice before it adopted a concrete-jungle-style architecture, though the pedestrian shopping area downtown by the fortress still retains its old character.

It's a modern city, and I managed to get inexpensive accomodation at a local boarding school which opens up its rooms for travellers over the summer.

Unforunately, the permanent exhibits in the National Museum are closed for reconstruction for the next 2 years, but the Ethnographical Museum was open and had a great collection of traditional clothing and folk items. The city fortress holds the Military Museum which, in addition to tracing the military history of various Balkan groups and the history of the country's liberation from the Ottoman Empire and the World Wars, also has a prominent display showing the various items that the Serbian military captured from American soldiers and Albanian insurgents.

Another highlight-- the Tito Grave and memorial museum, which is on an large landscaped park on the outskirts of Belgrade. However, had Tito been that great of a leader, I think he would have invested some money in building a better public transit system for Belgrade to make it easier to get to his memorial site.

As I said, I am having a hard time finding someplace from which I can upload my photos, but I will likely find a spot somewhere over the next couple of days. My next stop is Nis in southern Serbia.

Posted by Dean at 2:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 10, 2006

Visit in Vienna

So I visited Vienna and stayed for a couple of days. The place is as you think it would be-- lots of beautiful buildings and monumental Hapsburg-era architecture. It strikes me that I am pretty much at the frontier, here. After I leave Austria, I am leaving the EU and heading into eastern Europe. Incidently, Vienna marked the north-western most extent of the Ottoman Empire, which laid siege to the city in 1529 and 1683 but failed to capture it. So here it is... this city was Central Europe's last line of defense from the Ottoman Empire. I was hoping to see any remains of the city walls so I could get an idea of what the limits of the siege were like, but all of the walls have been torn down, and a ringed tram line runs along a street where the walls used to be.

I especially liked the tiled roof on St. Stephen's Cathedral in the center of the City:

Here is a nice picture of the city at night from across the canal:

Sunday being the day of the World Cup championship, the Italian fans were out in force celebrating their victory outside a local Italian establishment which was broadcasting the game on their TV screens in their windows:

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Good Internet Cafés

Big shout-out to the Speednet Café in Vienna's Westbahnhof which, unlike similar internet cafes in Genoa and Munich, allow me to use wireless internet services without blocking access to uploading photos to flickr.

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July 7, 2006

Bavaria: The Texas of Germany

Imagine if someone told you that his vacation to the United States involved going to west Texas, attending a rodeo, watching a high school football game, getting a ride in a pickup truck, and then hanging out shooting beer cans off a tree stump with a handgun? On one hand, you'd want to shake the guy's hand for having the "authentic American experience," and on the other hand, you'd fall over in laughter given that all he experienced of the USA was the sort of stereotypes of the country that he's seen on television.

That's what visiting Munich has been like. I've gone to beer halls. I've drunk out of large beer steins:

As you can see from the top photo, I listened to a German oom-pah band play music while dressed in lederhosen. Heck, I even tried on some traditional German clothing at a local store and checked out the local Bavarian palace:

It's everything you think you'd find in Germany. In short, I've had a great time here, but I'm glad that I saw some other parts of the country, first. Parts of downtown Munich feel a bit like what I would expect at the German section of EPCOT® Center, but it's still wonderful.

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A little off the beaten track

At present, I am in Munich, planning to make my way to Austria over the next couple of day or so. From Cologne, one of my friends gave me a ride to Alzey, which is a small, picturesque town outside of Mainz and Frankfurt. Like many cities and towns all over Europe, Cologne and Hannover both suffered from enormous destruction during WWII, and thus there isn't much left of their pre-modern charm. However, many smaller towns, not having much strategic interest to the Allies, didn't suffer from such destruction, and are still quite nice, including Alyez:

I was half-expecting Heidi to run through this plaza over here:

Alzey, however, isn't exactly a major transportation hub. To get to Munich, I had to take the train to Worms, then transfer at Worms to Bansheim, then transfer at Bansheim to pick up the train to Munich. However, the transportation system is extensive enough that there wasn't any more than a 5 minute wait between any of these connections once I left Alzey. Impressive!

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July 6, 2006

Moving along through Germany: Cologne

My next stop along my travels was Cologne, home of the above Cathedral which holds the purported remains of the Three Wise Men. Cologne was the Roman City Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, and one can still see a few remains of the Roman walls, and the locals are quick to tell you how some of the streets follow the old Roman roads.

Last night was also the World Cup match between France and Portugal, and there was a large gathering of French expats and their friends at Cologne's French Institute to watch the game. France's win of 1-0 over Portugal resulted in much celebration.

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July 4, 2006

I Get Excited About the World Cup

Well, for rather obvious reasons, Germany isn't a country that typically gets excited about showing off their flags and public displays of patriotism. However, the combination of the World Cup's being held in Germany and the German appearance in the World Cup semi-finals has made for a lot of enthuasiasm being displayed throughout Hannover. As I am unable to take part in my home country's Indepedence Day celebrations, I decide to participate in the German festivities:

Even Martin Luther was assumed to be excited about the World Cup:

More pictures after the jump...

Continue reading "I Get Excited About the World Cup"

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July 2, 2006

Summer in Amsterdam

So here I am in Amsterdam in the summertime, where the weather is much more pleasant than it was when I visited back in March. As you can see, people are out boating and bicycling (well, they're always bicycling) on the nice sunny days:

A friend of mine who spent the summer here a year ago claimed that it never gets sunny in this city, but it's been quite nice since I arrived a couple of days ago.

A couple of wedding pictures after the jump...

Continue reading "Summer in Amsterdam"

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July 1, 2006

Where I Distract My Readers

I am in Amsterdam for my cousin's wedding at the moment, and while I haven't had a chance to upload any of the nice summertime pictures of this city, let me distract you, my readers with a new toy that I found. I recently discovered (via pandagon), this face recognition software which has a "celebrity comparison" feature. Running the picture of yours truly through the software:

It comes up with:

... Aki Hakala, drummer of the Finnish Band The Rasmus.

Ok... I think the algorithm put too much weight on my glasses, but it seemed like a reasonable hit. Interesting that this came up during my recent Finnish band fixation.

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