Samarqand

 Even if you have never been to Uzbekistan you have likely heard of Samarkand. Samarkand is just one of those ancient places that once held such great importance in the world. From a vital stop on the silk road to the grand buildings of the TImurid rule it has captivated hearts and imaginations for centuries. Flecker expressed this historical longing for a city gone in his poem "For lust of knowing what should not be known...We make the Golden journey to Samarkand." Even Alexander the Great supposedly said "Everything I heard about Samarkand is true, except it's even more beautiful than imagined." The Soviets on taking over Uzbekistan had an equal fascination and enchantment of the city and country. Generally, The Soviets were not into bringing out nationalism of their conquered countries, however, in the case of Uzbekistan they veered from that policy. Ancient madrasahs and mosques were deemed so old and grand that they were disconnected from religion and would inspire citizens to allegiance and greatness and serve as a mecca of visitors once again. For decades the Soviets researched and excavated and renovated. Samarkand went from grand crumbling to grand. Some say the Soviets took too much liberty and enthusiasm in their revival of Samarkands historic buildings -  I disagree. The Soviets were masters of the art of mosaic making them ideal reconstructers of the great mosaic mausoleums. They have truly brought back to life a small sliver of what that most noble and grand city would have been like when Alexander set eyes on it. 

Samarkand has grown over the years and is now a large bustling spread out city. It has not grown in the same way as Tashkent - it retains its small town rural feeling over a large expanse. We stayed right close by Registan which meant that our evenings could be spent in the glow of Registan. We all really enjoyed sitting on the Registan steps watching locals and tourists take wedding pictures and selfies in front of the awe inspiring setting. We saw the oldest observatory and learned all about how astronomy was conducted accurately pre-telescopes. We wandered an ancient largely unexcavated village bursting with shards of ancient pottery. We visited so many mind boggling buildings. We tried local dishes and wandered around buildings until children started to protest. Samarkand is beautiful and I am impressed with the power it has had over people throughout time. The Soviets may have made a few blunders in their rule, but, bringing Samarkand back to life was an unimaginable and impressive feat. Now I am curious to see what the pyramids of Giza would look like if they were similarly restored. 

Such a nice place to sit in the evenings

Bibi Khanym mosque before and after restoration

The children loved the guest house breakfasts

The Soviets were more into buildings and mosaics than archeology based on this ancient town under mounds of dirt. This was Tova and Zadie's favourite place

The cutest part of the ornamentation

Photo taken by Zadie

This carpet seller has four sons and asked for a photo with my four daughters

Masters of geometry

The blues in the city!

Extravagant from ground up

Almost as busy as during its heyday

Children preparing for Samarkand cultural day

I can see why so many couples come to these buildings for wedding photos

Mausoleums at sunset

Nice that locals also make use of the buildings

Registan by day

Joy in the unexpected

We decided Uzbekistan was the place to be about a week and half before arriving. This didn't leave that much time for discovering why exactly Uzbekistan was the place to be and making it all happen. Mostly I did some internet research and read other people blogs to come up with a quick plan. Tashkent was one of the spots that reviewers seemed lukewarm on. Many travellers were of the opinion that it should be skipped completely. Those that enjoyed Tashkent generally seemed to go largely to see the Tashkent metro system. With expectations of the city set fairly low we were all pleasantly surprised. 

Tashkent is a large modern city. We had the good fortune of staying in an apartment right above a pedestrian zone beside the central park. This was an hip area full of cafes, ice cream stands and activity. After the speed of London it was so pleasant to be in an area where the main aim was a casual stroll with family and a leisurely meal. The well manicured city park won our hearts with its various activities, sculptures, greenery and large body of water. In the evening there is a fountain light show in the city park. We have seen many such fountain shows but this was by far our favourite. There is a pedestrian bridge that brings you quite close to the fountain so that the experience becomes immersive and wet. It was an extravagant fountain show with frantic plumes and sweeps and squirts of water and light. 

I worried that our view of Tashkent was rosy for the area we chose to stay in so we made sure to walk everywhere we could. Still, we continued to be impressed by the many parks and the general vibe. Even walking on large busy roads there were plenty of shops and other pedestrians making it an enjoyable experience. The Tashkent market proved an unexpectedly fun adventure. Having mixed up the conversion rate by a factor of 10 (hard to keep track of all those zeros) we ended up with 11 dollars CAD (100,000 SOM) in cash and our journey was transformed into a mission of how much a person can buy in the Tashkent market for 11 dollars. Turns out the answer is a small bottle of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, a bag of roasted unshelled almonds, half a kilo of figs, a pomegranate, two boiled corn cobs, two potato somsas and one marriage proposal. Not bad! Still worried that we werent seeing enough of town to be unimpressed we walked for an hour in the other direction the next day. It was a green walk that passed by many important buildings and more lovely parks. We ended up at a museum that was as grandiose in appearance as its history.

Eighty years ago there was a forced migration of ethnic Koreans near the border of Korea to Tashkent. Carted through the vast expanse of Russia in cattle cars many of those Koreans died. Those who didnt led hard lives of forced labour in their new home. A sad time in history but now there is a large culturally Korean community in Tashkent that shines through in many parts of the city. Seeing Korean writing and eating Gimbap really caught our fancy and we took full advantage of the Korean culture. 

The metro, built by the Soviets in the 60's to be earthquake proof, act as a nuclear bomb shelter, and showcase art, was interesting. Even though we went in the middle of the day it was quite crowded and I felt silly riding around in the throng for the joy of it. The children seemed perplexed by the hype and mostly chatted amongst themselves. So we learned, in a most agreeable way, that travel pleasures differ based on person and expectation.

Pedestrian area life

Market

City park

In case we forget where we are

Night life here was vibrant and full of families

Fountain show

Learning about Timurid history

Metro

Lots of chandeliers in the metro

Magic city -  a place where anything can happen

Luckily, in this meat loving country, there was at least one veggie item on the menu

Walking fast in the West End

 Staying in inner city London seemed like a privilege I should not take for granted. Honestly at first London is a bit of a shock. It is full of noise and movement. Everyone is so incredibly fast and busy. It is an always overbooked running late trying to keep up kind of place. London changes fast and the residents all have to focus entirely on their next step to keep up. In Paris the locals sat in parks reading novels and chatting over their lunch breaks. In London locals grab uninspired grocery store sandwiches and eat while walking. Greatness always comes at a cost. And for all its faults and lack of humanness - London is great. There are more free museums and sights in London than a person could explore in a lifetime. There is history in every brick and scrap of river mud. There is a diversity in the streets and culture of London that is unlike I have seen anywhere else. What a novelty to be in a place where we speak the main language and are unremarkable in our differences. 

Aside from a relaxed pace and inner peace, London has everything. As travelers our children often have to make certain social and life style sacrifices - London was a chance for them to pursue some harder to find hobbies. Tova got to take a few flying trapeze classes. These classes inspired rather than satiated her flying trapeze passion. Tova got to join tumbling classes that focused entirely on flips. There seems to be a definite flying propensity in her hobbies. Sophia and Tova joined the local gymnastics squad. And all of us got a one month climbing gym membership. We also took advantage of the West end performance offerings. Even Jakob got to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe as the standing area was the perfect fit for him. 

We will be happy to move back to a slower pace of life and cost of living but it was a very lovely month in London. 

The basin

This sculpture really says a lot

This is a lost art that should be revived. Also I wonder if his unbuttoned shirt is part of his image?

Photo and experience courtesy of Jaylynn

Gosh we got great weather all month

Making all the right friends

Our little foundling

How to do yoga in the inner city

Museum faces

Her natural element

This is how we roll

West enders

We felt so 16th century even though the building was build in the 90s.

Climbing in the arches

Finally some cold windy autumn weather for evensong at Westminster Abbey

Off to the races

On arrival in the UK we spent a few days in Windsor before entering city life. Windsor was everything I would have imagined if I had ever really thought much about Windsor. Right across the river from Eton college with the royal family’s palace dominating the centre of town you can imagine that Windsor is a well tended to spot. Tidy and quaint and cute with most buildings created in an era where there seemed to be an excess of bricks (late 1800’s). Our old brick abode felt like full on luxury with a small garden, dedicated dining room and attic loft awash with sunlight. Windsor is a very walkable place with plenty of green spaces from river walks to the long straight walk through the palace estate. 

Not far from Windsor is another place I never really thought much about even if I’d hear the name - Ascot. Turns out horse racing is a big thing in England and a very big thing in Windsor where the Royal Ascot, one of the biggest horse racing events in the country, takes place. When I found out there would be a horse race on the weekend we were in Windsor I immediately decided that going to a horse race was something that would welcome me to England in the way one wants to be welcomed. Also, Id never been to a horse race so was curious to see what it was all about. Except the thing about horse racing at Ascot is that it is very much a society event and as a society event there are strict dress code rules. During the Royal ascot event the dress code is strict and involves mandatory millinery or fascinators. At the less important events they are more relaxed for those in the cheapest area. Still even the more relaxed events have a strict ban against all sports wear and sneakers and a request to ‘dress smart.’ Not knowing what smart implied I did my own research and quickly found out that summer dresses or skirt suits in muted colours are smart. What is not smart is my entire wardrobe. The girls and I decided to go on a tour of the Windsor op shops in the hopes of some cheap items to get us in the door. After the first shop Tova started to become despondent - ‘This isn’t worth it at all’ came out of her mouth over and over again. After trying on a few dresses that looked alright but felt awful I finally bought some burgundy velvet pants on a whim. Surely velvet is smart? As I left the shop and looked at my meagre effort at presentable I felt a bit down trodden by my utter inability to enter upper crust British society. Red velvet pants are definitely not a ‘smart’ item. But hey they at least aren’t quick dry or jeans. It was surprisingly difficult to find any cheap shoes that didn’t involve heels. The final outcome was respectable looking but too small. But hey I thought I am used to wearing climbing shoes so this should be not that different. If you are reading this and you are feeling a sense of dread for me then I don’t blame you. Id read that a stylist stands at the entrance to asses each spectators acceptability. A small curious part of me was hoping the stylist might stop me just so I could hear what advice exactly she might provide to me. Though, I also feared she would just look me up and down with that expression of disbelief and pity and futility. When I tried to buy non sneakers and pants for Tova she repeated her mantra and than took an actual stand in declaring that she was not coming to the horse races because it just wasn’t worth having to buy shoes. 

It was frivolous but it was worth it. Sophia and I went to the races and it was a cultural experience. The venue was so much more posh and extensive than I ever imagined. The grass was such a brilliant green and the building so shiny and swarming with staff. Women wore the most useless head contraptions you could ever imagine. Men lounged in chairs pouring over newspapers. Horses were paraded around for spectators to inspect. There was such stratification of class. Guards guarded escalators and roads and enclosures where only the chosen could enter. The royal family has their own large private box that sits empty when they are not there. According to one of the staff I interrogated the royal family were regulars while Queen Elizabeth was alive but attendance has since dwindled. This was the kind of England from novels. There were seven races that day and Sophia and I prepared for the first with glee. It quickly became apparent that much of horse racing is about rubbing shoulders with the right people, drinking, and betting. I got a staff member to divulge every detail she knew about betting and then I placed two bets. One for horse to win and one for a horse to place in top three. Each bet was for an astounding two pound (the minimum). I held my small slips of paper eagerly feeling very posh in my tight shoes. And then the first race happened and Sophia and I looked at each other in surprise because it lasted about two minutes. Bit anticlimactic but then again my horse won and I made a whopping three pound sixty - nearly doubling my initial generous investment. Bolstered by the win I placed another bet of two pound. Sophia and I milled around and rubbed shoulders and inspected horses in the sunshine. We noticed that as the races progressed and blood alcohol levels rose the crowd became a little genteel. Sophia was also intrigued but the large amounts people bet and the fact that they watched other horse races at the same time as attending the one we were at. It was a fascinating outing. I lost 2 pound sixty and have some shoes I don't know what to do with but it was well worth it for the experience. 

We could tell we were headed the right way

The opulence

A girl with a retired race horse

Inside the building

First and maybe last time I have placed a bet

Parading the horses before the race

Milling

Here we are looking smart

Two minutes of glory