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Turkey has come a long way since their first berth into the World Cup in 1950. The country was never respected as a legitimate European football power, despite its victory over Hungary’s “Golden Team” in 1954. The lack of respect following the match was due to it being a friendly rather than a match with real ramifications, so the attention of the feat went by the wayside, unlike Istanbul hookups.

Struggles continued into the twenty-first century for Turkey football, when they earned a berth into the 1996 Euro only to lose every game and not even record a goal. It was a humiliation, but it paled in comparison to when Turkey hosted Euro in 2000, and became the first host country in the tournament’s history to not advance past group play. Turkish fans then demanded more from its domestic football association, to roughly half the level of the performances of hookups in Istanbul, and it had football executives scrambling in hopes to retain their jobs and answer with some sort of development ordinance.

 

It apparently worked, as Turkey slowly elevated their international play, and the results followed. The biggest club team in the nation, Besiktas, was raising their cachet, and it was all done with minimum import. Stars emerged, like Semih Senturk, Nihat Kahveci, and Tuncay. Officials of Turkey thought outside the box when they hired Guus Hiddink, and it proved effective, as the country turned out its best ever international performance at Euro 2008, where they eliminated the host Swiss team and advanced to the quarter-finals versus Croatia. In that match, Turkey trailed one to nil until stoppage time, where Senturk scored an equalizing goal. It wasn’t without controversy though, when Croatian manager Slavan Bilic alleged stoppage time to be over. Istanbul call girls are of the opinion that Croatia was simply bitter and embarrassed to lose to Turkey. Fatih Terim called it one of the greatest Turkish victories of recent memory, and this was without sourness that he was supplanted by Hiddink.

Since the implosion of Galatasaray in 2010, Turkey football seemed to have felt the impact, and have been under-performing as their once-loved football club has. Galatasaray has shuffled hookups and its board members, and Turks reserve hope that football can soon be a prideful sport once again in Eurasia. Fatih Terim has been reported as the new coach for the club, and it marks his third tenure as head of the troubled team. In a way, Turks link the resurgence of Galatasaray with that of the national team, as unfair as the comparison may be. Istanbul call girls feel that the only competent manager in Turkey is Guus Hiddink, which is a sad fact of the state of things in Istanbul.

Athens has been inhabited continuously for over 7000 years. Its acropolis, protected by a ring of mountains and commanding views of all approaches from the sea, was a natural choice for prehistoric settlement.

It’s development into a city-state and artistic centre reached its zenith in the fifth century BC with a flourish of art, architecture, literature and philosophy that pervaded Western culture forever after.

Since World War II, the city’s population has risen from 700,000 to four million – and is now home to more than a third of the country’s population.

The speed of this process is reflected in the city’s chaotic mix of retro and contemporary: cutting edge clothes shops and designer bars stand by the remnants of the Ottoman bazaar, and crumbling Neo-classical mansions are dwarfed by brutalist 1960′s apartment blocks.

The ancient sites are only the most obvious of Athens’ attractions. There are attractive cafes, landscaped stair-streets, and markets; startling views from the hills of Lykavitos and Filopappou; and, around the food of the Acropolis, scattered monuments of the Byzantine, medieval and nineteenth-century town.

THE CITY
Plaka is the best place to begin exploring the city. One of the few parts of Athens with charm and architectural merit, its narrow winding streets and stairs are lined with nineteenth-century Neo-classical houses.

An attractive approach is to follow Odhos Kydhathineon, a pedestrian walkway starting on Odhos Filellinon, south of Syddagma. It continues through cafe-crowded Platia Filomoussou Eterias to Odhos Adhrianou, which runs nearly the whole east-west length of Plaka from Hadrian’s Arch to the Thission.

The downhill, northerly section of Adhrianou is largely commercial as far as the Roman Forum. But a few steps south from Kydhathineon, there’s a quiet and attractive sitting space around the fourth-century-BC Monument of Lysikrates, erected to celebrate the success of a prize-winning dramatic chorus.

Continuing straight ahead from the Kydhathineon-Adhrianou intersection up Odhos Thespidhos, you reach the edge of the Acropolis precinct.

Up to the right, the whitewashed Cycladic houses of Anafiotida cheerfuly proclaim an architect-free zone amidst the highest crags of the Acropolis rock.

THE ACROPOLIS

A rugged limestone plateau, watered by springs and rising an abrupt 100m out of the plain of Attica, the Acropolis was one of the earliest settlements in Greece, drawing a Neolithic community to its slopes around 5000 BC.
In Mycenaean times it was fortified around a royal palace and temples where the cult of Athena was introduced. During the ninth-century-BC, it became the heart of the first Greek city-state, and in the wake of Athenian military supremacy and a peace treaty with the Persians in 449 BC, Pericles had the complex reconstructed under the directions of architect and sculptor Pheidias, producing most of the monuments visible today, including the Parthenon.

Having survived more or less intact for over two thousand years, the Acropolis finally fell victim to the demands of war.

In 1687 besieging Venetians ignited a Turkish gunpowder magazine in the Parthenon, blasting off the roof, and in 1801, Lord Elgin removed the frieze (the “Elgin Marbles”), which he later sold to the British Museum.

Meanwhile, generations of visitors have slowly worn down the Parthenon’s surfaces; and, more recently, smog has been turning the marble to dust.

“Since 1981, visitors have been barred from the Parghenon’s precinct, and a major restoration programme is proceeding sporadically; scaffolding and cranes may obscure the view.”

THE PARTHENON AND AROUND
The Parthenon was the first great building in Pericles’ plan. Designed by Iktinos, it utilizes all the refinements available to the Doric order of architecture to achieve an extraordinary and unequalled harmony.

Built on the site of earlier temples, it was intended as a new sanctuary for Athena and a house for her cult image, a colossal wooden statue decked in ivory and gold plate that was designed by Pheidias and considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; the sculpture was lost in ancient times, but its characteristics are known through later copies.

“Parthenon” means ”virgins’ chamber” and initially referred only to a room at the west end of the temple occupied by the priestesses of Athena.

To the north of the Parthenon stands the Erechtheion, the last of the great works of Pericles. Here, in symbolic reconciliation, Athena and the city’s old patron Poseidon-Erechtheus were both worshipped.

On the south side, in the Porch of the Caryatids, the Ionic line is transformed into six maidens (caryatids) holding the entablature on their heads.

Placed discreetly on a level below that of the main monuments, the Acropolis Museum contains nearly all of the portable objects removed from the Acropolis since 1834.

THE WEST AND SOUTH SLOPES
Rock-hewn stairs immediately below the entrance to the Acropolis ascend the low hill of the Areopagus, site of the court of criminal justice. Following the road or path over the flank of the Acropolis, you come out onto pedestrianized Dhionysiou Aeropayitou, by the Odeion of Herodes Atticus.

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Are you new to hiring hookups? Is this is your first time to hire a Istanbul hookup? Are you not sure how to go about it or how to choose your Turkey hookup? Don’t worry, it no rocket science, with the help of the internet you can book your Turkey hookups from right at home. Here are some tips that will help you select your Istanbul hookup.

First decide the date and time when you would like to hire her. This is very important because only when you know when exactly you will need your elite Istanbul hookup you will be able to make your booking. This will also give you enough time to review the hookups and book the best. If you are unsure until the last moment then you will put yourself in a disadvantaged position as all the top Istanbul hookups will be booked in advance and you will have to just do with who ever is available at the time of booking. Giving yourself ample time before you make your booking will help you find exactly what you want.

Secondly, decide in advance how you would like to spend your time with your date. This is also equally important because you are paying for the time of your hookup and each minute counts. If you are ill-prepared when the Istanbul hookup arrives, then you will be wasting your time after they arrive. Moreover, your selection of hookup will depend on what you would like to do with them. Not all hookups will suit all situations and needs. If you want your independent hookup or agency hookup girl to accompany you for a business dinners then you would need an elite Istanbul hookup. You will also require your hookup to come in suitable costume to accompany you for the business dinner. Proper planning always helps and saves you from last minute frustrations. In case you are left with no other choice but to book your hookup in the last minute, you must at least give them enough time for them to travel to your desired location.

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DUBAI MUSEUM

This engaging museum is a must for visitors and their Dubai hookups, not only for its whimsi­cal dioramas but also because it vividly charts the rapid progress of Dubai. A couple of hours spent at the museum before exploring the rest of Dubai really helps put the speedy evolution of the city into perspective.

The museum is housed in the Al-Fahidi Fort, built c 1787 to de­fend Dubai Creek. After serving as both the residence of Dubai’s rul­ers and the seat of government, it became a museum in 1971. After entering the museum courtyard, you’ll see several small boats ane a barasti (palm-leaf) house, with traditional wind-tower ‘air condi­tioning’. The hall on the righ: houses displays featuring khanjars (curved daggers) and other tra­ditional weapons; the hall to th left of the courtyard has a video o~ traditional Emirati dances, a dis­play of musical instruments ane more weapons… you in the large display halls… The real treat, however, awaits are underground. After a multi­media presentation of the devel­opment of the city, there is a series of dioramas representing the pas: commercial life of Dubai as well as domestic life, desert life ane life on the sea.

The vivid scenes ­ complete with disconcertingly lifelike dummies – are augmented with hologram-like video projections’ and an atmospheric soundtrack. Pho tography isn’t allowed, but the desire of most visitors to be photo­graphed next to one of the histori­cal characters keeps the museum guards very busy!

After these vivid tableaux, the archaeological displays are bound to disappoint all but the most ded­icated fan of digs. Everyone else will head straight for the decent gift shop.

BASTAKIA QUARTER

This small, densely concentrated neighbourhood of narrow lanes and wind-towered residences was once home to wealthy Persian traders, mainly from Bastak in southern Iran, lending the neighbourhood its name, Bastakia. These merchants, dealing mostly in pearls and textiles, settled in Dubai because of its tax- free trading and accessible creek.

Most of the houses here date back to the early I900s and the prosperous merchants constructed their homes from coral and lime- stone, a step up from the more modest building materials offered by the ubiquitous palm tree. This is one of the main reasons that the buildings in Bastakia have lasted – they were far more durable and more valuable than the traditional barasti hut made from palm fronds.

While there is some debate as to the origin of the wind-tower con­cept, there’s no doubting that tow­ers and courtyards were common features of Iranian coastal build­ings. The towers take the hot air upwards and out of the building and also pick up breezes and direct them downwards.

The Bastakia has now mostly been restored and the quarter is starting to develop a lovely arty feel. Courtyard buildings you can visit include , a wonderfully restored house that is a hotel, gallery and cafe, and the traditionally decorated Bastakiah ights res­taurant. As you wander through the narrow, peaceful lanes you can easily imagine the life of the merchant residents at the turn of the 20th century.

It would be difficult to find a more fitting a symbol of Dubai today tha:: the audacious and iconic Burj Al Arab (Arabian Tower). The world’: tallest dedicated hotel, the sail-shaped building tops out at an impres sive 321m and was the boldest and most ambitious of the mF­iad 1990s projects undertaken b:­Crown Prince Sheikh Moham­med. The ambitious Sheikh kne that a world-class city – which he was determined to make Dubai ­needed an iconic symbol like the Eiffel Tower.

The process of constructim: began on the world’s only ‘seven star’ (actually rated five-star lux­ury) hotel in 1994, with pillars 0: the offshore island plunging 40rr: into the seabed. It wasn’t unti: 1999 that the hotel opened i ­doors to its first awestruck gues ­who marvelled at the white wovec glass-fibre screen sail facade and then were bewildered by the ‘Ara­bian fantasy’ interior.

It’s as though the imagination that fuelled the design of the ex­traordinary exterior of the hotel had run out of puff after filling the dhow (traditional wooden boat sail, leaving the building’s beauty decidedly skin deep. The interior seeks to impress with its sheer extravagance, having left taste ex hausted at the door and, while everything that glitters here is gold, colours that match gold are only randomly in evidence. Perplexingly, the interio: designer has stated that there was no specific colour scheme – perhaps another world first for Dubai right there! As for the rooms, suffice it to say you half expect an Arabian Joan Collins to make an entrance via the internal staircase. The cost of construction of the hotel has never been made public, but it clearly was money well spent as Sheikh Mohammed could then happily tick off ‘iconic sym­bol’ on his formidable to-do list for Dubai.

DEIRA SPICE SOUQ

The air of the atmospheric old alleys of the Spice Souq on the Deira We­terfront is heady with the aromas of spices, herbs, nuts, pulses, dried fruit;: and chillies. Sacks overflow with frankincense and oud (fragrant ground cardamom, cumin, paprika and saffron, cinnamon sticks ani cloves, as well as the local favour­ites, which are sumach and zaata­(thyme). Inside the shops, shelves are lined with orange- and rose­water; henna powders; incensi’ burners and charcoal and other products, both ancient ani modern, from pumice stones and traditional wooden tooth cleaners, to hair colours and cake mixes.
The souq’s wooden archways and wind towers are restored, but this market, established in the 1830s, would have an antique quality ifit weren-: for the odd shop selling plastic kitchenware and toys. Focus instead on thi’ spice sellers, taking time to stop and smell the bouquet of aromas.

By far the most popular buy, with dubai hookups and tourists alike, is frankincense. The best quality crystals come from the harvested gum resin of trees in the Dhofar area of Oman. Frankincense can be bought by weight although these days spice sellers prepack­age the crystals in kits that include a small clay or decorative incense burner and coal. Ask for a demonstration on how to prepare the incense. Emiratis burn incense on a daily basis, often passing it around afte:­meals, and at weddings and parties, so that the smoke perfumes guests clothes. Tiny boxes of saffron, rose-water and henna are also great buy~ and make exotic souvenirs.

BUR DUBAI SOUQ

Established in the 1830s, Dubai’s souqs have long had a reputation as the best in Arabia, and with good reason. Like the Deira Gold and Spice Souqs, Bur Dubai Souq is a bustling bazaar with great bargaining opportunities, interesting architecture and lots of atmosphere.

In reality the ‘souq’ encapsulates several shopping areas. The covered souq by the waterside, with its re­stored wind towers, houses small shops with Russian signage in their windows selling vibrant textiles, Arabian ‘antiques’ and collectables, sequinned slippers and curly-toed Aladdin shoes from Afghanistan and Pakistan; this souq also proffers tacky souvenirs, cheap T-shirts and clothes, and Indian sweet shops. Along with the alley between the Sikh Gurudaba and Hindu Shri Nathje Jayate temples (p25), which has shops selling religious paraphernalia, bindis, garlands of flowers and incense, this area is the most atmospheric.

Failure to Defend the Serie A Title The great narcissistic manager Jose Mourinho, also known as “the special one”, likely chuckled when, after a defeat to Parma, it became apparent that Inter Milan was not going to challenge for the league trophy after winning it outright last season- under Jose’s watch. It appears he left in time, as current boss Leonardo is faced with some turmoil within the squad; no championship equals disgruntled fans at San Siro, so jobs could very well be on the line.

The team and its management made it a point to loan out their domestic players in order to purchase, pricey, all-world type athletes. The great defending Maicon, the Cameroonian legend Samuel Eto’o, and the Dutch stud Wesley Sneijder round out an impressive, eclectic roster that the supporters in the city have a fetish over. Once considered practically not legal, there is now an emphasis to recruit players from outside of Italy, rather than the traditional avenue of the development of young Italian players. One recent survey within the country suggested that woman fans are on the rise, so sex appeal is definitely on the agenda. Women everywhere consider acquiring tickets when they hear of a Beckham appearance, even if the match is just a friendly, as in how Milan hookups are.

Despite the influx of Milan hookups and of overseas and other European soccer men, a pair of Italians stuck around, as Marco Materazzi and Giampaolo Pazzini earned their rosters spots with heady performances. The first mentioned competitor practically needed an hookup to get off of the field, after a malicious headbutt. It is this kind of scrappy, determined play that clubs desire, as it makes adversaries cringe when they view that certain date on the schedule. That trip up north is seldom an enjoyable one for the opposition, as no other teams in the league load up quite like these two do, not even Juventus and Roma. Opposing executive teams have suggested the idea to emulate the model used in the city with the two- headed monster, but locals usually objected, as a different brand of footballing is accepted up north more than the rest of the land, and Milan hookup girls are embraced as well.

Milan hookups of security convoy fans from respective teams within the stadium in Lombardy when it’s soccer time between the two sides. Emotions can run high, and the degree of whether or not conditions are legal is barely acceptable, if at all. It’s truly a rivalry that compares to New York City when the Giants and Jets meet, except Mediterranean people get very fired up, in contrast to the sport they are watching. The squad and the coaches actually had to band together at one point before games with am message to fanatics in the stadium which instructed them to behave. It was part of a campaign not unlike to racism one; the bottom line is that Tuscany is the only mellow part of the nation, probably due to the serene state of their outdoors, and the presence of imported Milan hookups.

THE EARLY YEARS AND EXPLORATION

NATIVE CALIFORNIANS
The Coast Miwoks, Ohlones, and Wintuns were the first people to colonize the Bay Area, establishing small tribal societies near 60,000 years ago. The land we know and love as California was originally home to more than 100 Native American tribes who were descendants of the original Paleo-Siberian immigrants an who made up the densest population north of Mesoamerica.

Despite a lack of written records, anthropological evidence suggests that their social order was stable and successful enough to remain virtually unchanged for thousands of years.

Their spiritual beliefs revolved around animal gods and the natural world. Coyote, his grandson Falcon, and his wife Frog-Woman were the principle deities of the Miwoks.

BURGLARY OF THE BAY
The Portugese conquistador Estevan Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first European to sail the west coast of North America and make contact with California tribes in 1542. Cabrillo’s mission – to find the mythical Strait of Anian – was considered a failure even though the exploration party reached as far as the Oregan coast, bringing the unwitting team past San Francisco Bay.

Queen Elizabeth I of England soon sent seadog Sir Francis Drake to raid Spanish galleons on the Pacific Coast. He encountered the Miwoks in 1587 during an emergency landing near present-day San Francisco.

Drake was impressed with the skilled hunters, but not enough so to recognize their right to the land. Always thinking of his queen, Drake claimed the land – which he called ”Nova Albion”.

As is usually the case, European diseases, more so than colonial aggression, turned out to be the California natives’ biggest problem. Between 25% an 50% of California’s native population died from smallpox, tuberculosis, and measles.

MEN ON A MISSION
Europeans began settling the Bay Area en masse when Spain’s King Charles III ordered colonization in 1769. Coastal cities cropped up alongside Catholic missions which were started by Father Junipero Serra.

In order to fortify these outposts, a Spanish military garrison built near Fort Point went into operation on September 17, 1776. Less than one month later, Father Junipero Serra established La Mision de San Francisco de Asis, named after the holy order that controlled northern California.

The mission’s purpose was to assist in the crusade to ”civilize” and Christianize the indigenous peoples. Over time, the mission became known as Mision Dolores and subjected the tribes to harsh treatment (the Spanish referred to the Native peoples as bestias or beasts), forced labour, and illness. In a few short years an estimated 75% of cultures that has survived for millennia were decimated.

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: BUILDING A CITY

AMERICAN MANIFEST DESTINY
Like something out of a Doomsday prophecy, the 1812 earthquake destroyed many of California’s missions. What’s more, the Spanish met with competition from Russian fur traders who had established themselves as a presence at Fort Ross (1812 – 1841), just north of San Francisco.

Once the Independent Republic of Mexico was declared and the Mexicans no longer feared aggression from the short-lived Russian occupation, the up-and-coming United States decided to get a bit testy and take action.

In 1835, the United States attempted to buy the whole Bay Area from the Mexicans – an offer promptly refused by Mexico. Not long after Mexico won it’s independence, though, the United States annexed the land in 1845 in the name of Manifest Destiny.

The Mexicans were less than pleased, and soon after the Mexican-American War began. In other news, idealist Captain John Fremont convinced a small band of hoodlums to take over San Francisco’s abandoned Presidio in the name of the Bear Flag Republic and declare independence.

Fremont coined the term ”Golden Gate” for the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, after Istanbul’s Golden Horn. Although Fremont’s rule was extremely short-lived, the nickname managed to stick – not because of the Bay’s resemblance to any Turkish harbours, but thanks rather to the discovery of gold only three years later.

Manifest Destiny – the idea that it was necessary and right to expand the US to the continent’s western edge – was all the rage. The acquisition of California was supported by public figures ranging from President Polk to poet Walt Whitman.

Published in the Brooklyn Eagle, Whitman wrote ”Mexico must be thoroughly chastised….Let our arms now be carried with a spirit which shall teach the world that….America knows how to crush, as well as how to expand”. Under such secure pressure, Mexico eventually surrendered.

In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, Mexico ceded half of its territory, including California and parts of New Mexico and Texas, to the US. The timing – it turned out – was golden.

ALL THAT GLITTERS
While the treaty was being negotiated, the seeds of gold rush were beginning to sprout nearby. When gold was discovered in January 1848 at General John Sutter’s Mill near Coloma by Sutter’s carpenter, James Marshall, the rush was on.

The number of fortune-seekers reached a feverish pitch as bands of men – known collectively as the Forty-Niners – flooded the region.

The massive influx of prospectors caused the non-native population to multiply six-fold within four years. The miners’ demands for food and supplies created an economic boom, and turned San Francisco into an international port.

Within a decade, over 28 million ounces of gold (worth about $10 billion today) had been mined. The journey westward is not to be underestimated, however. Like thousands of would-be settlers looking to the coast, the Donner Party faced hardship because of fierce winter conditions and diminished supplies.

During the winter of 1846 – 1847, they were forced to madness and cannibalism at a snowbound outpost near what is now called Donner Lake in Sierra Nevada.

The Forty-Niners quickly discovered that their thirst for wealth was met not with mountains of gold, but with hardship and skyrocketing prices.

Everyone except miners seemed to be getting rich, especially the merchants who could charge essentially whatever they wanted for goods.

Meanwhile, with only the slightest semblance of governmental order, vigilante justice became the name of the game. In 1856, the Sacramento Union noted that there had been ”some fourteen hundred murders in San Francisco in six years, and only three of the murderers hung, and one of these was a friendless Mexican”.

San Francisco mayor John White Geary tried to crack down on the lawlessness, guns, violence, prostitution, and gambling that had become commonplace, but his crude, extralegal policies were hardly better than the vigilante rule he was combating.

“PERFECTLY INSANE PEOPLE”
In 1859, the silver Vomstock Lode was discovered in Nebada and helped abate the financial hardships of the late 1850′s. The millions of dollars worth of silver mined from the hills changed the face of the San Francisco citizenry.

Instead of miners, fleecing merchants, and dilapidated shacks, the population was soon typified by bankers, lawyers, and rich speculators who were prepared to transform the town into a thriving metropolis with beautiful hotels, luxurious restaurants, and mansions high atop the city’s hills.

When former outlaws and vagrants got rich, they were not concerned with recreating the east-coast Puritanical, Boston Brahmin mentality. They were hell-bent on glitzy glamor and a good time; opium, loose women, and booze were their self-destructive weapons of choice.

The intoxicating nature of San Francisco led historian-moralist B.E Lloyd to warn parents in 1876 to ”look closer to their daughters, for they know not the many dangers to which they are exposed…and to mildly counsel their sons, for when upon the streets of this gay city they are wandering among many temptations”.

Twenty years later, Rudyard Kipling observed an even wilder metropolis: ”San Francisco is a mad city, inhabited for the most part by perfectly insane people”.

JOINING THE COASTS
Beginning in 1860 – 1861, the riders of the Pony Express carried mail between Missouri and San Francisco in 10-day trips.

By 1861, however, the completion of a transcontinental telegraph system linked California eclectically with the East and sent the ponies out to pasture.

Emerging industrialists twisted their greasy black handlebar moustaches and formed the Central Pacific Railroad – importing and abusing cheap Chinese labor to lay tracks eastward.

The meeting of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads in 1869 formed the Transcontinental Railroad, which transformed travelling cross-country to California from a month-long venture by stagecoach to a quick five-day trip – a viable option for fortune-seekers everywhere.

After its completion, 15,000 luckless Chinese railroad workers found themselves unemployed and were subsequently blamed in the mid-1870′s for causing a nationwide depression.

THE 20TH CENTURY

BRIDGES TO THE FUTURE

SOMEONE ELSE’S FAULT
On the morning of April 18, 1906, the Great Earthquake struck with a vengeance. The San Andreas Fault ripped open the Californian coastline as the quake caused 74 hr. fires that only subsided when a change in wind direction brought a desperately needed rainstorm.

Three days of catastrophe took a high toll on the city: several thousand dead, 750,000 homeless, and 3,500 developed acres reduced to ashes.

At the same time, the largest extortion scandal in the country’s history was exposed and rebuilding was entrusted to reformers. The press surrounding the investigation sparked a state-wide movement for governmental reform.

DEPRESSION, IMPRESSION. AND OPPRESSION
San Francisco doesn’t corner the market on suffering here – the Great Depression (following the 1929 stock market crash) hit everyone hard, although the Bay area experienced particularly difficult times. The city’s weak spot was its reliance on port business; trade plummeted and 70% of the workforce was laid off.

On May 9, 1934, in response to financial hardship and with the support of other sympathetic unions, the International Longshoremen’s Association went on strike all along the West Coast. The Industrialists attempted to break the picket lines with scab crews, but the results were disastrous.

On July 5th – Bloody Thursday – the docks erupted in violence and the police responded by opening fire on the strikers, killing two and wounding over 25. As a result, the entire labor force went on strike for three days, shuttling the city down completely.

The 1930′s saw the construction of two enormous bridges in the Bay Area: the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Completed in 1936, the Bay Bridge tunnelled through Yerba Buena Island to connect two enormous suspension bridges.

Less than a year later, the gorgeous, deep-orange-coloured Golden Gate Bridge stretched out across the Bay. Other construction accomplishments of the period included the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House – completed in 1932 – which would house the drafting committee for the United Nations Charter thirteen years later.

In addition, a maximum security prison opened on Alcatraz Island in 1933. By the time the Rock shut down in 1963, 36 men had tried to escape form its cells on 14 separate occasions. Of those 36, only five remain unaccounted for.

The bay’s frigid water and notoriously strong currents have led to the official presumption that these men drowned, though one escapee did survive the swim before his recapture.

World War II helped San Francisco prosper, as huge shipyards were built around the bay and war-related industries took off.

A steaming cappuccino sipped under a quaint shop window; a radiant smile from a passing stranger; a moment of solitary reflection stolen inside an ancient basilica: this snapshot could describe any European metropolis.

But step deeper into the picture, and the cappuccino becomes a morning art form, the stranger a Gucci guru, and the basilica wall a da Vinci masterpiece.

Packed with artistic gems and cultural treasures, Milan leaves little space for the traveller to comprehend all its offerings. Unlike Rome, Venice, or Florence, which wrap themselves in a veil of historic allure, Milan presents itself as it is: rushed, refined, and unabashedly cosmopolitan.

Milan has its share of urban sores – thirsty mosquitos, traffic congestion, and the notoriety as one of the most expensive cities in Europe. But true Milanesi claim their city proudly.

Once the capital of the Cisalpine Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire, Milan is now the center of Italian style, financial markets, and industry.

Car tire giant Pirelli, fashion house Armani, and countless banks establish the city as Italy’s economic powerhouse. Its artistic masterpieces include a superlatively ornate kuomo, da Vinci’s Last Supper, and La Scala’s stunning operas.

The city’s pace quickens twice a year when local soccer teams AC Milan and Inter Milan face off in matches with fanfare that rivals many religious holidays. The Milanesi move fast and they do it with style, changing their fashions and those of the rest of the world twice a year.

SIGHTS

NEAR THE DUOMO

DUOMO
The geographical and spiritual center of Milan and a good starting point for any walking tour of the city, the duomo is the third-largest church in the world.

Gian Galeazzo Visconti began construction in 1386, hoping to coerce the Virgin to grant him a male heir. Building proceeded sporadically over the next four-centuries and was finally completed at Napoleon’s command in 1809.

In the meantime, the structure accumulated a dense lacework of statues and bas reliefs, with more than 3400 statues, 135 spires, and 96 gargoyles.

The fantastic facade juxtaposes Italian Gothic and Baroque elements and inside, 52 columns rise to canopied niches with statues as capitals. The church is a five-aisled cruciform shape, capable of seating 4000.

The imposing 16th-century marble tomb of Giacomo de’ Medici in the southern transept was inspired by the work of Michelangelo. Nearby, a gory statue of St. Bartholomew (1562) by Marco d’Agrate, depicts the saint wearing his own skin as a coat as a reminder that he was flayed alive.

Climb (or ride) to the top of the cathedral from outside the northern transept, to enter the roof walkway, which cuts through a forest of white marble statues and spires. A gilded statue of the ”Madonnina” crowns the rooftop kingdom.

Currently the entire facade is under wraps of restoration, as the same Veneranta Fabbrica that built it over hundreds of years restores it.
Cathedral open: daily 7am – 7pm, November – February. 9am – 4:15pm. (Modest dress strictly required).
Roof open: daily 9am – 5pm.

The Museo del Duomo – displays artifacts relating to the duomo’s construction.
Open: daily 10am – 1:15pm and 3pm – 6pm.
Tel: 02 – 86 – 03 – 58.

PINACOTECA AMBROSIANA
The 23 palatial rooms of the Ambrosiana display exquisite works from the 14-centuries, including Botticelli’s Madonna of the Canopy, da Vinci’s Portrait of a Musician, Raphael’s wall-sized sketch School of Athens, Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit (the first Italian still-life), Titian’s Adoration of the Magi, and works by Brueghel and Bril.

The courtyard’s statues, fountains, and marble staircase are also enchanting.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 5:30pm.
Tel: 02 – 864 – 62 – 981.

TEATRO ALLA SCALA
Founded in 1778, La Scala has established Milan as the opera capital of the world. It’s understated Neoclassical facade and lavish interior set the stage for premieres of works by Rossini, Puccini, Mascagni, and Verdi, performed by virtuosos like Maria Callas and Enrico Caruso.

The theater is scheduled to reopen in December 2004 after a lengthy renovation project. (Through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele from P. Duomo).

Visitors can soak up La Scala’s history at the Museo Teatrale alla Scalla. From poster art to a plaster cast of Toscanini’s hand, the museum offers a glimpse into operatic past.
Open: daily 9am – 6pm, last entry 5:15pm.
Tel: 02 – 805 – 34 – 18.

MUSEO POLDI PEZZOLI
Poldi Pezzoli, an 18th-century nobleman and art collector, bequeathed his house and its art collection to the city ”for the enjoyment of the people” in 1879.

Today masterpieces hang in the Golden Room, overlooking a garden. Famous paintings include Andrea Mantegna’s Virgin and Child, Botticelli’s Madonna and Child, Belline’s Ecce Homo, Guardi’s magical Gray Lagoon, and the signature piece, Pollaiuolo’s Portrait of a Young Woman.

Smaller collections fill Pezzoli’s former private chambers. A tiny but sublime display of Italian military armaments fills one of the rooms.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 6pm
Tel: 02 – 79 – 48 – 89.

GALLERIA VITTORIO EMANUELE II
An immense glass and steel cupola (48m) towers over a five-storey arcade of overpriced cafes, shops, and offices. Intricate mosaics representing different continents sieged by the Romans adorn the floors and walls.

Once considered the drawing room of Milan, the statue-bedecked Galleria exudes elegance. Spin on the mosaic bull clockwise three times for good luck.
Open: Monday – Saturday 10am – 11pm, Sunday 10am – 8pm.
Tel: 06 – 46 – 02 – 72.

PALAZZO REALE
This impressive structure served as the town hall in 1138 before becoming the residence of Milanese royalty until the 19th-century.

Giuseppe Piermarini, architect of La Scala, designed its facade with Neoclassical restraint. Today it houses temporary exhibits in the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 9:30am – 7:30pm.
Tel: 02 – 620 – 83 – 219.

MUSEO BAGATTI VALSECCHI
This beautifully preserved 19th-century aristocrat’s house has antique ceramics, frescoes, mosaics, ivory, and Renaissance weapons.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 1pm – 5:45pm.
Tel: 02 – 760 – 06 – 132.

NEAR CASTELLO SFORZESCO

CASTELLO SFORZESCO
Restored after heavy bomb damage in 1943, the Castello Sforzesco is one of Milan’s best-known monuments. Its mighty towers and expansive courtyard have seen their share of history: originally constructed in 1308 as a defense against the Venetians, de Vinci also had his studio here before Spanish and Australian invaders used the grounds as army barracks, horse stalls and storage.

Inside are the 12 Musel Civici (Civic Museums). The highlight is undoubtedly the Museum of Antique Art, which contains Michelangelo’s unfinished Pieta Rondanini (1564), his last work.

Da Vinci also painted the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse; his design was once considered so insignificant it was whitewashed over, actually protecting the original colors.

The Applied Arts Museum showcases ornate household furnishings and the Automa contesta di demonio. Play puppeteer to the red-eyed wooden demon by cranking the lever below.
Open: Tuesday – Sunday 9:30am – 7:30pm.
Tel: 02 – 884 – 63 – 703.

CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE
The church’s Gothic nave is dark and elaborately patterned with frescoes, contrasting the splendid, airy Renaissance tribune added by Bramante in 1492.
Open: Monday – Saturday 7am – noon and 3pm – 7pm, Sunday 7:15am – 12:15pm and 3:30pm – 9pm.

Next to the church entrance is the Cenacolo Vinciano (Vinciano Refectory, or the convent dining hall), home to one of the best-known pieces of art in the world: Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper.

Following a 20-year restoration effort, it was re-opened to the public in 1999, though rumors persist that it may again be closed to the public; pieces have been flaking off almost since the day Leonardo finished it, and the roof of the building was blown off during world War II, leaving the interior exposed for several years.

Advance booking is mandatory. Lone travellers with a flexible schedule should call at least one week in advance; groups and those with limited time should call several weeks ahead. Groups are allowed in the refractory for a maximum of 15 minutes.
Refractory open: Tuesday – Sunday 8:15am – 7pm.
Tel: 02 – 894 – 21 – 146 or 19 – 919 – 91 – 00.

PINACOTECA DI BRERA
The Brera Art Gallery presents a superb collection of 14th – 20th-century paintings, with an emphasis on those from the Lombard School.

Works include Bellini’s Pieta (1460), Andrea Mantegna’s brilliant Dead Christ (1480), Raphail’s Marriage of the Virgin (1504), Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus (1606), and Francesco Hayez’s The Kiss (1859).

A limited collection of works by modern masters includes pieces by Modigliani and Carlo Carra, as well as Picasso’s Testa di Toro.
Open: daily 8:30am – 7:15pm.
Tel: 02 – 72 – 26 – 31.

MUSEO NAZIONALE DELLA SCIENZA E DELLA TECNICA ”DA VINCI”
This family-friendly, hands-on museum traces the development of science and technology from the age of Leonardo to the present.

The hall of computer technology features a piano converted into a typewriter by Edoardo Hughes of Turin in 1885. Don’t miss the da Vinci room, which contains wooden mock-ups of his flying machines, cranes, and bridges.
Open: Tuesday – Friday 9:30am – 4:50pm, Saturday – Sunday 9:30am – 6:20pm.
Tel: 02 – 48 – 55 – 51.

BASILICA DI SANT’AMBROGIO
A prototype for Lombard-Romanesque churches throughout Italy, Sant’Ambrogio is the most influential medieval building in Milan.

St. Ambrose presided over this building between AD 379 AD 386, and his skeleton rests beside those of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius, in a dim crypt below the altar.

Ninth-century reliefs depict the life of Christ in gold on one side of the altar and the life of St. Ambrose, in silver, on the other. The 4th-century Cappella di San Vittore in Ciel D’oro, with exquisite 5th-century mosaics adorning its cupola, lies through the seventh chapel on the right.

The asymmetrical bell towers are the result of an 8th-century feud between a group of Benedictine monks and the priests of the church, each of whom owned one tower.
Open: Monday – Saturday 7:30am – noon and 2:30pm – 7pm, Sunday 3pm – 7pm.
Chapel open: Tuesday – Sunday 9:30am – 11:45pm and 2:30pm – 6pm.

STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA
In a country where calico is taken as seriously as Catholicism, nothing compares to the rivalry between Milan’s two soccer clubs, Inter and A.C.

As passions roil, the city reaches a feverish pitch heightened by political overtones: Inter fans are often left-wing, while A.C. fans tend to be right-wing.

The face-off takes place in their shared three-tiered stadium (capacity 85,700), architecturally distinct for its exterior spiralling ramps.
Tours: non-game days 10am – 5pm.
Tel: 02 – 622 – 85 – 660 ( A.C. tickets).
Tel: 02 – 771 – 51 (Inter tickets).
Tel: 02 – 39 – 22 – 61 (both tickets).

FROM NAVIGLI TO THE CORSO DI PORTA TICINESE

NAVIGLI DISTRICT
The Venice of Lombardy, the Navigli district boasts canals, footbridges, open-air markets, and trolleys. The Navigli are sections of a larger medieval canal system that transported thousands of tons of marble to build the duomo and linked Milan to northern cities and lakes. Da Vinci designed the original canal locks.

BASILICA DI SANT’EUSTORGIO
Founded in the 4th-century to house the bones of the Magi, it lost its function when the dead sages were spirited off to Cologne in 1164.

The present building, erected in 1278, sports a Lombard-Gothic interior of low vaults and substantial columns. The aesthetic pinnacle and one of the great masterpieces of early Renaissance art is the Portinari Chapel (1468), attributed to Michelozzo. It holds the tomb of St. Eustorgious (1339) in an ornate casket borne upon the marble shoulders of eight devotees. Look closer – one has three faces. Near the church is the squat 12th-century Porta Ticinese.
Open: Monday and Wednesday – Sunday 9:30am – noon and 3:30pm – 6pm.
Capella entrance through adjoining museum open: Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 6pm.

CHIESA DI SAN LORENZO MAGGIORE
The oldest church in Milan, San Lorenzo Maggiore testifies to the city’s 4th-century greatness. Begun as an early Christian church according to an octagonal plan, it was later rebuilt to include a 12th-century campanile and a 16th-century dome.

To the right of the church sits the 14th-century Cappella di Sant’Aquilino, which incorporates an old Roman door jamb. Inside, a 5th-century mosaic of a beardless Christ among his apostles looks over St. Auilino’s remains.
Open: daily 7:30am – 12:30pm and 2:30pm – 6:45pm.

PARCO DELL’ANFITEATRO ROMANO
This archaeological park opened in 2004 and is home to the paltry remains of Milan’s once grand Roman amphitheater. Though Mediolaum, as it was known, boasted a 155m-long stadium for gladiatorial fights, it was disassembled in the 6th-century out of fear the Longobards would overrun it and use it as a stronghold.

Pieces of the structure were recycled into the town walls and St. Lorenzo Church. A small antiquarium holds artifacts from the digs.
Park open: Tuesday – Sunday 9:30am – 5pm.
Museum open: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9am – 2pm.
Tel: 02 – 894 – 00 – 555.

IN THE GIARDINI PUBBLICI

GALLERIA D’ARTE MODERNA
Napoleon and Josephine lived here when Milan was capital of Napoleonic Italy (1805 – 1814). Evocative of Versailles, the gallery displays modern Lombardian art as well as works from Impressionism onward.

Of special note are Modigliani’s Beatrice Hastings, Picasso’s Testa, Klee’s Wald Bau, and Morandi’s Natura Morta con Bottiglia, as well as pieces by Matisse, Mondrian, and Dufy.
Open: Tuesday – Saturday 9am and 11am only.
Tours: Tuesday at 11am.
Tel: 02 – 760 – 02 – 819.

The adjacent Padiglione D’Arte Contemporania is a rotating extravaganza of multimedia, photographs, and paintings.
Open: Tuesday – Thursday and Saturday – Sunday 9:30am – 5:30pm, Friday 9:30am – 9pm.

ENTERTAINMENT
The city sponsors free events to sustain its active cultural scene. Look for details in the monthly Milano Mese, distributed at the tourist office.Milano Magazine is a monthly publication of the Ufficio Informazione del Comune with info on bars, films, and seasonal events.

OPERA
Milan’s famed tradition and unparalleled audience enthusiasm make it one of the best places in the world to see an opera. The city’s beloved opera house will finally re-open for the 2004-2005 season, beginning December 7, 2004.

The theater’s excellent acoustics enhance the art such that even those in the cheap seats appreciate a glorious sensory experience. During the interim, the Scala troupe performs at Teatro degli Arcimboldi.

Tickets are available in La Scala’s temporary ticket office, in the Metro station at the Duomo stop. Performances run year-round, with a break in August and September.
Open: daily noon – 6pm.
Tel: 02 – 720 – 23 – 339.

THEATER, MUSIC, AND FILM
Founded after World War II as a socialist theater, the Piccolo Teatro, specializes in small-scale classics and off-beat productions.
Performances: Tuesday – Saturday 8:30pm, Sunday 4pm.
Tel: 02 – 723 – 33 – 222.

The organization Teatri d’Italia sponsors Milano Oltre in June and July, a drama, dance, and music festival
Tel: 02 – 864 – 64 – 094.

Milan is known as the jazz capital of Italy, cementing its reputation with the Brianza Open Jazz Festival during the first two weeks of July.
Tel: 02 – 237 – 22 – 36.

FESTIVALS
Milan’s increasingly popular Carnevale is the longest lasting in Italy. The masked mystique and medieval revelry radiates from the duomo and spreads throughout the city. Carnevale occurs annually during the days preceding Ash Wednesday and always enjoyed by Milan hookups.

This five-star luxury hotel has impressive views of the Bosphorus. Elegance, comfort and perfect service are what it is renowned for.

Approx 30 minutes from the airport. Many of the city’ cultural attractions and shopping districts are within walking distance for you and your Istanbul hookup girl.

382 guest rooms, including 55 sumptuous suites & 71exclusive club rooms. In-room safe, multi-line telephones with voice mail, high-speed and wireless internet access, network data port, plus fabulous views.

Open: 24 hours, it offers computer, printer and fax hook-ups, secretarial support service, meeting room and courier service.
Tel: 90 – 212 – 368 – 4444.

RESTAURANTS & RECREATION
Safran restaurant serves Ottoman/Turkish cuisine, the Brasserie Restaurant offers international flavours, The Terrace serves the finest Mediterranean cuisine, Garden Grill offers Middle East cuisine. There is a hairdresser, outdoor pool, Turkish bath, Swedish sauna, roof bar, shopping arcade and a health club.

CIRAGAN PLACE KEMPINSKI
Once the residence of the Ottoman sultans, it has been restored to its former glory and is the only luxury hotel on the European shores of the Bosphorus.

Located on the shores of the Bosphorus, in the city centre, close to Yildiz Park and the Ortakoy, 30 minutes from the airport.

315 rooms, including 11 suites in the upper storey of the original palace & 20 suites in the hotel section.
Wireless internet access, two telephone lines, one fax line, voice mail, satellite TV, air conditioning, mini-
bar, safety box, hairdryer, balcony, seating area, a working desk, sliding windows, pay TV.

Integrated business centre with hookup, secretarial and translationand massage services, plus computers, fax, printers, photocopying, high-speed internet and free wireless internet connection.

The Tugra Restaurant serves traditional Ottoman and Turkish dishes, Laledan Restaurant features international cuisine and the Gazebo lobby lounge offers afternoon tea. The Ciragan gar is a traditional English-style bar; in summer, there is a barbecue in the Rose Garden.

Prices: $645 for a superior Bosphorous view room and $1,500 for a one-bed suite. Rates exclude VATand breakfast.
Tel: 90 – 212 – 326 – 4646.