Romania Part 1: Danube Delta, Animal Madness, Crooked Spires and New Friends

THE BLACK SEA SQUADRON (or the Danube Delta Deranged, something like that would be the name of our band if we had one and this was our album cover)

Meet Amy, Luca, Iris, Hermina and Kevin, officially the largest team to ever have traveled in ArtVenture’s 1983 FIAT Ducato. The more, the merrier, according to the camper vibe in the presence of our friends. We picked up the gang in Costanza and booked it to Tulcea, the hub of the Danube Delta area, but not without getting some last minute Black Sea fun out of the way…

Man, which one finished off all the beers? I think most of the credit goes to the New Zealander on the right, but hey, who can really resist when they cost only $.50 each?

Romania makes surprisingly (not sure why surprisingly, but maybe because I’ve never heard rumors about it before) good beers. And really cheap. As you can see, we’ve made it a point of trying out the different Romanian varieties: Silva, Ursus, Bergenbier, Ciucas, Ciuc, Golden Brau, etc. Personally, I think Ursus and Ciuc take home the gold medal. Supposedly, beer was first introduced to Transylvania by German colonists. Does all good beer have roots in Germany? I might have been debating that in this shot.

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Aaahh, the Romanian countryside. There’s nothing like crossing it in a camper, pulling over when you want to in the middle of nowhere and romping in massive fields of flowers, dodging horse-drawn buggies carrying 15×15 bales of hay or poking your head into churches that are about to fall over.

THE DANUBE DELTA

We made it, and the river made it, too. Two completely different journeys: ArtVenture’s starting at the foot of the Italian Alps, all through Italy and Greece, out to Istanbul, up the Black Sea coast to the where the river spills in; and the Danube’s starting in Germany’s Black Forest and passing through Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Belgrade, acting as the Bulgarian-Romanian border until it finally spills out where Romania meets the Black Sea. Two epic journeys converging, and that made for magic.

ROMANIA’S ANIMAL FRIENDS

What we discovered not so long into our Romanian segment is that this country is full of animals! Horses roam free grazing the hills, storks nest upon telephone towers and any type of farm animal imaginable is tied to the side of the road in the small towns you pass by car. It’s like traveling through a live Mother Goose story.

It’s refreshing to experience a culture where animals and humans live more closely side by side. Earthly elements (straw, clay, wood, etc.) often make up homes and other structures, and traveling and farming are still done mainly by horse and hand. Romania has a timeless country heart.

THE CHURCH OF THE CROOKED SPIRE

Imagine thunder, lightening and Count Dracula laughing in the background…and at the top of the steeple of an old abandoned church is a crooked, gaudy crucifix. This was our experience, except it wasn’t Dracula laughing, it was some guy at the bar next door. Spooky!

Step inside, ha ha ha….

TECUCI (“Teh-cooch”)

One surprisingly pleasant stop was the central park of Tecuci. A resident of the city won the lottery and so pumped a bunch of money into restoring the main park. He must have been an artist, or maybe a hippie, because the park is full of things you’ve never seen in a regular public park before. Thousands of different kinds of roses; rocks, gems and minerals behind glass cases and big pieces of amethyst left out in the open and free to touch by hand, sculptures that provoke the mind and the question of life. Parrots, macaws (behind cages, unfortunately), waterfalls and bridges made with wood and stone.

Stay tuned for detailed info on the project “Belonging(s)” by Iris Marialaki, who is in residence with us until June 7th. Iris is a good friend of mine and it’s great to have her on the road with us. Welcome Iris!

Thanks to Hermina and Iris for at least half of these photos!

The Black Sea and Inspiration

Four days are not enough to absorb the delight and mystery of the Black Sea region of Bulgaria. Flitting glimpses through dusty windshields of lush, green forests and vipers that jump back from the road, deciphering menus in the curious Cyrillic script and an hour of running the white sands through your toes are a tease to the imagination–what would it be like to live in Bulgaria? Ironic as it is on an extensive trip like this, we never seem to have enough time to stop and put two feet on the ground.

The beaches here are amazing. Maybe not if you’re expecting crystal clear waters or picturesque Mediterranean seaside towns. I didn’t dramatize my expectations about the sea here, actually, I kind of thought it would be dirty (Black Sea?), but in reality there are endless sandy beaches, some of them virtually empty with rugged cliffs and dense forest that leads all the way up to the sand. A European California….

Bulgaria was: superdeadlineLucaartresidencyapllicationgottamakethreemetalsculturesinironandphotographthemprintthemmakeaportfoliosenditoff

AmyresearchgreencruisesandfinisharticleintimefordeadlineandpickupIrisinCostanza

Basically, a SUPER productive four-day artistic residency by the sea with yet again free wireless and the opportunity for Luca to build three sculptures with scrap metal which he needed to complete his portfolio for the Berlin residence application. A little beach, a little intensive inspiration, but we couldn’t let it linger.

LUCA’S METAL SCULPTURES AND WORKSHOP IN THE WILD

“Paesaggio”

“Fast Food”

“Naufragio”

Detail “Naufragio”

And I had some poetic and photographic inspiration amid the relaxing, empty beach atmosphere and the items washed up on the seashore.

A WALK ALONG THE BLACK SEA

by Amy Hough

THE END

Spicing Down Istanbul

Pomegranate, cumin, molasses, saffron. In Istanbul the streets carry the perfumes of every kind of spice you can imagine. Between spice and fish caught off the Galata bridge and fried up right before your eyes, the fragrant fumes of nargile smoke exhaled in colors and the dirty city smells of piss and beer, Istanbul has been a shock to our sense of smell, and a sensual journey in general.

With over 10 million people, Istanbul is easily one of Europe’s largest cities and therefore, as imaginable, a complete chaotic conglomerate of people, shops, bars, produce, dogs, cars, trash, etc. It takes a while to be able to sort out one neighborhood, style or scent from the next. But within the melting pot of culture, wealth of art and architecture and exoticism of this city that straddles Europe and Asia, we’ve found that the real treasures here are the people. We crossed the border half-expecting to be broken into, robbed and having to carefully watch our backs, but instead more than anything we’ve been given to. Small, simple gifts, of course, but it’s easy to see that the antique universal tradition of offering something to a newcomer still prevails in Turkey. Amidst the crowds of tourists and shop owners beckoning us into their realm of goods, it would seem difficult to make real life connections this antique metropolis, but we’ve made friends with cab drivers and parking attendants who understand less than 5 words of English but whose smiles and curiosity speak as loud as any language.

But getting to the meat of the city and understanding it has been hard to attempt in one week. The images of Istanbul that swarm my head are postcard-perfect pictures; they are full of colors and flavors, music and skylines filled with rounded mosque domes. Istanbul is a hot, flavorful dish so full of spices that you can’t discern the main ingredients from the condiments. I am fascinated by the art of decoration and elaboration, but a little less pepper, just for one day, so I can know what I’m eating- but then that wouldn’t be Istanbul.

All the same, Istanbul is full of both traditional and emerging art, and for that ArtVenture loves it here. There’s nothing like stepping into a beautiful, intricately tiled, painted and lighted mosque filled with women in brightly colored head scarves and men passionately bowing towards the east to fill you with a sense of inspiration. Islam seems to manifest itself not only as a religion but as a deeply-rooted culture, and for someone who was raised in the Catholic Church it is truly eye-opening to see another form of divinely inspired meditation on life and spirit.

Just one question though: Doesn’t it look like she’s giving me the finger in that shot? I don’t blame her. Tourists probably try and snap shots all the time!

Two Istanbul highlights: the boat ride along the Bosporus and a bath in the traditional hamam (Turkish bath). I strongly believe that if public bathing, message and relaxation were a integral part of American culture, we would be a much more relaxed society. In Athens Luca and I took a tour of an old Turkish bath museum and learned that the holes they poked in the roof of the domes (think a rough sketch of stars in the night sky) letting spheres of light pass through were thought to balance the energy of the psyche. Contemplating the stars always seems to focus thoughts.

We’ve had a lot of fun in Istanbul. Everything is pretty inexpensive, so we’ve eaten out and gone to see movies, concerts, baths and had our daily portion of cay. We’ve even had time to invent puppet finger characters in the likeness of famous Istanbul sultans [see Sultan Ahmet below].

Despite the initial fears and border confusion, Istanbul has proved to be the jewel in the royal ArtVenture crown thus far, providing infinite forms, shapes, colors, patterns and ideas to reflect on and incorporate in future art projects. The flavor is finally starting to emerge, and I think it’s somewhere between apple and incense.

Duty Free and Border-bound

DUTY FREE.

Notice how only the “Duty” is illuminated. Is it some kind of metaphor? The phrase “duty free” makes you feel like you’re being relieved from some kind of responsibility. “Inside this shop you have no obligations. Just buy our tax-free cognac for 169 Euros and not to mention our designer pair of Chanel sunglasses Made in China for 238 Euros (did we mention tax-free?), and you’ll be relieved of all those pesky duties weighing down on you.”

Capitalism is a bitch sometimes, isn’t it? You never know when you’re being tricked or treated. Truth is two days before I bought a pair of Chanel sunglasses (or more likely good fakes) at the flee market for 5 Euros, so who is making all this money off of a pair of sunglasses? And more importantly, who is buying them? If we don’t start training ourselves to be smart consumers we’re going to paying more and more $$money$$ for crappier and crappier quality products and more tacky billboards ads and plastic wrappers plastered with half-naked teenagers. Give me a brown paper bag with potato chips but fill it all the way up, for God’s sake!

Speaking of duties, they’re weighing down upon us a bit more heavily now that we are literally TRAPPED between the borderlines. I didn’t know this until yesterday, but I guess we actually can’t leave and go back through Greece, we are obliged (loaded with duty) to cross into Turkey. Good thing we had already decided to do this anyways. Otherwise I think I might have felt imprisoned. Yes, we have been waiting at the Turkish border for three straight days. Don’t worry, it’s been quite the adventure in itself. Never I have I met so many truck drivers and got the inside perspective on the trucker lifestyle, trade routes, emotional difficulties of being on the road, sleep problems, etc. We’ve made a sort of delinquent community here of people that can’t get across the border. “Borderline, feels like I’m going to lose my mind.” Madonna always comes in handy in crucial moments.

We’ve been using the time to get organized for when this glorious trip ends. Luca is applying for an art residency in Berlin starting in the fall and has a super application to get ready, so we have been fixing his resume, writing letters, building models for future projects, etc. Check him out:

This is the fruit of those labors with clay:

This project is called “Sulla pietra“, a 6-meter key made of steel genuflecting towards a marble stone (“pietra”) with a hand engraved on that represents God. The key represents Peter (from the Bible, Jesus gave Peter the “keys” to heaven). Luca is designing this work for the oldest Catholic church in Avigliana, where they say Saint Peter actually stopped along his travels.

I’m doing some writing, applying, researching for upcoming projects as well, and I must say I think it’s been fate to be stuck here at the border with free wireless. This week I’ll be starting a writing internship with Green Living Ideas, so I’ll keep you updated with links to my articles and how that pans out. But that said, we should be getting this necessary papers faxed to us here this afternoon, and so next stop, Istanbul or bust! I hope it’s not bust, we can’t really afford anymore drama.

Stuck at the Turkish Border!

CAUGHT BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEY

So here we are, caught in no-man’s land between Greece and Turkey, officially on the Turkish side of the river Evros but not allowed to cross the border controls and be on our way into Turkey just yet. Why? Because we have to get a paper signed by the owner of this camper (not us) saying that it’s OK that we drive it, which in turn has to be notarized and stamped by the police. In Italy. And we already bought the Turkish car insurance and changed money into Turkish lira. Great.

THEATRICAL RE-ENACTMENT OF THE SITUATION

Turkish Border Patrol Guy: gheudjdsna “Police” Jdfjdfnekc “Green Card” djdhjfgndkskas dsfd xjduy “stamp” sdsdssdui “notary” werteryuh.

Us: Fuck! What is he saying??

Turkish Border Patrol Guy: fhfjfkdlsui “paper” djfdmjfmsd “stamp notary” ddhsnsam “police” djdnd “OK drive car.” (close window)

[rain falling hard]

Us: Fuck. This sucks.

This all happened about an hour ago, and now we are waiting for Marco, the owner of the vehicle, to get back to us if he could get all this to us today or not. It’s 5:15 p.m. Tomorrow’s Saturday, which translates in Italy to “everything important is closed.” Not to mention Sunday after that. Basically, if we don’t get something concrete today we’re going to head back to Greece and go through Bulgaria instead.

How, you may ask, am I able to document this catastrophe so quickly? Well, turns out there’s free wireless Internet at the Greece-Turkey border. Minor consolation for a major pain in the ass.

Border Tensions, Sporadic Art and the Exodus from Greece

One of the things I find so curious about Greece is the fact that it hates almost all its neighbors. Of course, there are always two sides to every story. Greece is the only Schengen European country in the Balkans, meaning that between the other Schengen member nations (France, Germany, Italy, etc.) there is no passport control and you can travel freely between them. Being in this privileged position amidst other non-European Union status countries like the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (see above photo) leads to a kind of arrogant, defensive thing going on in Greece. Basically, the Greeks are pissed that the F.Y.R.O.M. stole their name (Macedonia), because “Macedonia” is also the name of quite a big region in northern Greece. One time Macedonia was mighty empire (Alexander the Great), but after Balkan Wars finished about 100 years ago the territory was split between Greece, F.Y.R.O.M, and Bulgaria, with a slice in Albania. From there a big ethnic cleansing took place and thousands of people were “exchanged,”–a Greek here for a Turk there for a Bulgar there–and nobody, in my opinion, knew who was Macedonian anymore. Anyways, what remains today is Greece vetoing FYROM’s bid to enter the EU because it doesn’t want the country internationally recognized, and FYROM hating Greece because it’s the only vote every time to turn it down (it has to be unanimous). Anyways, what a mess. In my opinion, it’s a bit of Greek pride that keeps the situation at a stand still, playing with FYROM’s EU membership. But I’m sure there’s more to the situation than what I’ve seen.

That said, Macedonia is beautiful. Check out the camper parked by the lake:

We spent a few days escaping border hassles ourselves by jumping the border from Greece into FYROM and hanging out at Ohrid, an awesome town that I spent some time in two years ago. Really beautiful Byzantine city right on a beautiful, natural, deep (c)old lake.

We happened to be there at Orthodox Eastertime, which is their biggest celebration, so they say, although we didn’t really run into any serious festival stuff, but mostly just a lot of red eggs.

A little photographic fun, may I? Do you see the resemblance?

In other artistic news, Luca created a really great sculpture entitled “Ohrid: Some Art, A Lot of Fantasy” from discarded materials found on beaches and roadsides during the trip. It was a site-specific piece:

If you can’t tell, it’s an artistic representation of Lake Ohrid from our perspective on the beach, complete with sun and shell and dragon, submerged in about a foot of water of the actual lake. He wants me to say that rather than art it’s more of craftsmanship, but I think it’s art more than craftsmanship. Any other opinions? Either way, he even got approval from passing Macedonians. Way to go Luca!

The people of Macedonia are extremely nice. We stayed in a room in Ohrid for a night at a older couple’s house and they treated us so nicely, offering Greek coffee and chatting with us on their lovely balcony. We never got to know their names, strangely enough, but they felt like family:

Ohrid is cheap, beautiful, friendly and open, so it was pretty hard to leave, but alas we crossed back over the border into Greek Macedonia. First stop, Thessaloniki, which proved to be fun at night but just another European commercial capital. Luca says if you’ve seen one European city, you’ve seen them all–I don’t think he’s so far off. Anyways, in Thessaloniki I did my little art project. And now because we’re naming them, I guess I’ll call it: “It’s Winding, It’s Blowing.”

And so now we’ve been driving and driving all day long (we actually got up early-7:30-see, we’re not slackers!) and we are in Alexandroupoli, about 25 miles from the border with Turkey. This morning’s drive along the coast between Thessaloniki and Kavala was gorgeous- the most empty, rugged beaches I’ve seen in Greece so far, and a relaxed, open atmosphere. Last night we made a campfire on the beach and had the entire beach to ourselves. Beautiful. As we get nearer and nearer to Turkey, the landscape is getting more rugged and barren, and I can feel it in my bones that the Middle East is near. This is the farthest east I’ve ever traveled, and it will be the eastern-most leg of the journey. We don’t know what to expect, but we know it will be powerful. Hopefully, it will make us always have this expression on our faces:

The Footprints of Odysseus

I’ve changed my mind. Greece is really a fascinating place, if you really (I mean REALLY, like studying in books) delve into the mythological history of it all. Traveling leisurely through Greece presents the perfect opportunity to read the The Odyssey, you know, by Homer. It sounds boring, but the book is really quite good! I kept thinking, have they made a decent, modern film of this infamous literary masterpiece yet? The only thing that comes to mind is Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, and that’s an adaptation. I’ve learned so much about the ancient religion of Greece and the cults of Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Zues, etc., by having a literary reference with me while I travel and visit these skeletons of once-glorious sites that remain to us today. I’ve now finished The Odyssey, and have started reading a much more modern novel called Zorba the Greek, by the famous Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis. Fascinating tale of a Buddhist-minded business man who meets free-spirited Zorba, and their adventures on the Greek isle of Crete. Anyways, I digress, but my main point is that I feel like this trip has become a hands-on workshop on European history, things that I will stick in my mind much longer than the paragraphs I read for homework in 4th grade history.

Sorry about the photo collage above, but I can’t get it right on this damn internet cafe computer! Think of the photos as the visual fotprints of Odysseus. You are seeing: Nafplio harbor, Amy washing socks, 5 photos of my birthday on the island of Aegina, a couple of Athens, and the last two are of Mycene, one of the most antique Greek civilizations. We’ve been exploring a lot, fixing the camper, breaking cameras, etc. I’ll get to more observations when I find a more normal computer…

First Attempts at Art and the Peloponese

Sailing, sailing, sailing…

…and we finally arrived in the Peloponese area of Greece, the land of endless gorgeous beaches, endless really ruined ruins, and endless, well, time on our hands. Greece is much more savage than Italy, that is, wild-desert rustic savage, not people-running-around-in-loincloths savage. And the towns just aren’t that populated. 35% of Greek citizens live in Athens and the surrounding area, so I guess when we get there it will be an all-out explosion of culture, art, people, etc., but according our experience traveling this past week in the Peloponese, this land just isn’t inhabited! You’d think it strange in a place with such history. What does this translate to for us? Well, not so much to do besides browse the postcard rack. Greece is so touristy, it makes you wonder if it’s their only industry. Surely, it’s hard not to capitalize on these spectacular turquoise-green waters set against the backdrop of hills of olive trees. We’ve passed our time trying to decipher the Greek alphabet, which is definitely a challenge but rewarding when you realize that the strange word in front of you actually just says “pizza.” We’re also catching up on our Greek mythology-I’m starting to read the Odyssey because I think I slept through that quarter of 9th grade. We are slowly making our way through this culture that is more distant than we expected it to be. In the meantime, a few dips in the sea, some chilled oinos and some hikes amid crumbling stone edifices isn’t a bad way to pass the time.

This is Olympia, where the Olympic games began. I don’t mean to be spoiled and unappreciative, but the only things I really admired about this place is the fact that we got in for free (first Sunday of the month) and the figurines of griffins in the museum. Luca liked the stadium.

Both Luca and I will remember the little town of Andritsena in the mountains for the first and most exquisite gyro (pita sandwhich) we will ever have in Greece. And, go figure, it was prepared by a Romanian. All the pitas since have paled in comparison. This woman even made the yogurt herself….pretty amazing. And all for the price of 1.50 Euro. Greek coffee costs 2 Euros, so ponder that one for a minute. Hmmmm. I’m still confused by this. Luca and I have resorted to getting pitas instead of coffee…better deal. Here’s a mysterious tree with a fountain flowing out of it from that same pita-exquisite town:

And in a darling little place called Karitena with a castle on a hill and a Byzantine bridge, we attempted our first “beautification” projects. We think it’s a shame that historic buildings and places are often old and dead, that is, they don’t live with new energy. So we took it upon ourselves to create some modern masterpieces:

Luca made this “tripod” from old discarded and rusted metal on the side of the road and then we filled it with flowers and placed it next to a drinking fountain.

In this small little abandoned chapel by the river…

I did this:

I had just finished reading a book about Etruscan culture and myths and this symbol is a palm and it represents female energy. Under it I wrote the word “Art” in Latin and “Life” in Italian. The red heart is made entirely of red poppies.

Here are some more idyllic photos of ruin sites and amazing beach towns. Take your fill.

Fish for dinner, anyone?

The Greek gods must have created such a mellow, idyllic life for themselves here that it spilled over unto the mortals. We, cheers to that.

EcoCamper: ArtVenture’s Environmental Initiative with LifeGate.it

Extra! Extra! ArtVenture in the news, y’all. Try not to judge by the goofy look on Luca’s face; it’s actually quite a nice article, despite the fact that they claim that I have a Master in theatre and that I did an internship in New York…but hey, I don’t mind, that sounds good, too. Here’s the translation of the headline in English: “Luca and Amy, The Journey to Break Down the Borders of Art Has Begun: An Adventure Across Europe in their Camper.” Wow, we are really excited, even if it’s only a few paragraphs on page 11 of the newspaper Luna Nuova of Avigliana.

In other news, we are officially a Zero Impact camper… don’t laugh (I don’t know why you would, but in case you had the urge to, don’t), this is serious and a really cool initiative brought to life by LifeGate radio, one of the most progressive, independent radio stations in Italy. Basically, they calculate how much C02 you release in a year depending on the type of fuel you use and car you drive and determine how much forest would need to be protected to compensate for that impact. We went online and paid 26 euros and that money goes towards expanding the surface area of protected forest in Costa Rica. Not bad, huh? It makes us feel a little better about just the 2 of us traveling inside a ginormous camper.

 

As far as the adventure goes…. The ship leaves for Greece tomorrow evening!

We are now in Rutigliano with Luca’s grandparents… and aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. We’ve spent the last 10 days eating and fixing the camper, with some working the olive farm time thrown in there as well. Everything seems in place for setting of on the more difficult (and exciting) part of the journey.

The Murals of Calvi, Art Monastery and the Bonfires of Itri

Relax time for us, crunch time for the Art Monastery organizers: meetings here and there, computers marathon sessions, etc. These guys are serious about their really awesome project, and it was great to get an eye-witness perspective. In the meantime, us ArtVenturers wandered the tiny town of Calvi dell’Umbria, which has an excessive amount of 1980’s murals throughout its winding historic center. Eighties or not, art is indeed sacred:

These curvy alleys took us from one piece of art to the next, and although certainly not Picassos, it was a relaxing and reflective stroll:

Some of the highlights of the 1980s-period pieces by Calvi dell’Umbria masters:

The Art Monastery Project is in the works in this small town with a gorgeous, abbandoned monastery as its centerpiece:

Once Christopher, Betsy, Ben and the rest of the Art Monastery pioneers manage to get past the hurdles of Italian bureaucracy and big-time fund-raising, this will be one of the most interesting projects to spark up in Italy. The idea is to house a community of about 30 artists of all kinds in the old monastery lodgings and create a residency program where artists live and work. Performances, installations and concerts are already in the planning stages and all seem super interesting! Check it out: www.artmonastery.org. I think the plan is to get things running by July, so stay tuned y’all. Here are some other angles of the monastery; imagine 30 artists living in this place what it would look like after a year or so:

Last but certainly not least and actually maybe even the best so far, the festival of St. Joseph in Itri. Itri is a stunning city:

There were 7 bonfires in the 7 different neighborhoods of the city, and I mean BIG bonfires right in the middle of town! All the kids were running around them and people’s houses were just feet away from the flames, and it got me thinking that only in Italy (and maybe Brazil?) are they casual enough to get away with not burning the entire city down. The festivities included different regional cuisine-olives, wine, bruschetta, cheese, sausage, fried pastry desserts- and various musical groups around each bonfire, and we walked from one neighborhood and fire pit to the next.

An artistic moment:

Here I am, the witch between the flames:

This festival has pagan roots, as it falls on the 19th of March, right at the Spring Equinox. Just as with many churches in Italy built on top of pagan temple ruins, the Church, rather than eradicate these edifices and festivities, adopted them as its own until the pagan culture faded. If you think about, Joseph was a carpenter- why is that symbolized by fire? Instead, its the coming of spring that’s celebrated with fire: the burning of dead tree branches to make way for new life and new growth. In fact, Saint Joseph’s day is celebrated with bonfires in several cities in Italy and at least one festival that I know of in Valencia, Spain: Las Fallas. Anyways, those are some smoky tidbits for thought.