Unguided Blog

It leaves without a hassle from Haydarpasa everyday, destination: Adapazari; and so it is appropriately called: Adapazari Express. Filled with workers and students, but especially workers, it runs back and forth during the day. The regulars of early morning and late evening departures are easy to spot. Tired, seldom in the mood for chat, living in their own worlds, trying to get some rest and above all, accumulate strength to make it again another day, for tomorrow.

As soon as it clears Bostanci, it gains some momentum, as if it knows it has its real customers on board now, not those who sneak in to reach the suburbs of Istanbul faster. Electric powered, it runs as if it is tearing the air and the ground apart, regretting the laws of physics that restrain it. Arrogant and selfish, it is way different than its predecessors. I remember.

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I think I mentioned it in an article about Hereke, barely touching it, though. One thing that confuses foreigners who try to learn Turkish (like expats or diplomats) and those in the acquired perception group who forgot it after learning another language is the present tense, which unfortunately does not exist, contrary to popular belief. It is one of the primary sources of disinformation.

Just like German, Romanian etc, present tense is packed into present continuous tense. Yet, every language book I have seen practically says there is one in Turkish, and shows what we call “wide tense” as the English equivalent (or any language having a present tense) for it. As any English speaker trying to learn Turkish will testify, probably even before reading this article, they are not the same. And this leads to a state of confusion where Discordia is probably having the time of her life.

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The 15th Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival will start on June 07th. If you are around Antalya until July 03rd (the closing date of the festival), you would not want to miss this spectacular event. After all, there are not many antique theaters left where live performances are available.

The event will host Ankara, Antalya and Istanbul State Opera Houses in addition to the international participants, namely Sofia National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria and Francesco Cilea Theater of Reggio Calabria/Italy.

Various operas and ballets of Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Mozart, Minkus and Bellini will be performed in a setting you are unlikely to forget. Don’t miss it.