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On Foot to the Golden Horn: A Walk to Istanbul
On Foot to the Golden Horn recounts Jason Goodwin’s breathtaking journey with two companions through Eastern Europe from the dikes and marshes of Poland’s Baltic coast across to the Golden Horn in Istanbul. Along the way, they sleep in haystacks, drink with Gypsies, and play with Ceaucescu’s orphans, meeting with blatant hostility and overwhelming hospitality as an older Europe tries to settle with itself, and a new one struggles to be born. It is the story of three friends’ walk through some of the world’s most beautiful and tragic places, and of their encounters with a varied and vivid cast of characters.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
33 people are currently reading
511 people want to read
About the author
Jason Goodwin
45 books413 followersJason Goodwin's latest book is YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL: Culinary Adventures in the Ottoman Kitchen.
He studied Byzantine history at Cambridge University - and returned to an old obsession to write The Gunpowder Gardens or, A Time For Tea: Travels in China and India in Search of Tea, which was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award. When the Berlin Wall fell, he walked from Poland to Istanbul to encounter the new European neighbours. His account of the journey, On Foot to the Golden Horn, won the John Llewellyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize in 1993.
Fascinated by what he had learned of Istanbul's perpetual influence in the region, he wrote Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire, a New York Times Notable Book. 'If you want to learn,' he says, 'write a book.' Lords of the Horizons was described by Time Out as 'perhaps the most readable history ever written on anything.'
Having always wanted to write fiction, he became popular as the author of the mystery series beginning with The Janissary Tree, which won the coveted Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2007. Translated into more than 40 languages, the series continues with The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card, An Evil Eye and The Baklava Club. They feature a Turkish detective, Yashim, who lives in 19th century Istanbul.
YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL is an illustrated collection of recipes, inspired by the cookery in his five published adventures.
He studied Byzantine history at Cambridge University - and returned to an old obsession to write The Gunpowder Gardens or, A Time For Tea: Travels in China and India in Search of Tea, which was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award. When the Berlin Wall fell, he walked from Poland to Istanbul to encounter the new European neighbours. His account of the journey, On Foot to the Golden Horn, won the John Llewellyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize in 1993.
Fascinated by what he had learned of Istanbul's perpetual influence in the region, he wrote Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire, a New York Times Notable Book. 'If you want to learn,' he says, 'write a book.' Lords of the Horizons was described by Time Out as 'perhaps the most readable history ever written on anything.'
Having always wanted to write fiction, he became popular as the author of the mystery series beginning with The Janissary Tree, which won the coveted Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2007. Translated into more than 40 languages, the series continues with The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card, An Evil Eye and The Baklava Club. They feature a Turkish detective, Yashim, who lives in 19th century Istanbul.
YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL is an illustrated collection of recipes, inspired by the cookery in his five published adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 30, 2012
It's rather strange to revisit a book after a long gap - especially one you've written yourself. Going through the proofs for this new Kindle edition, I couldn't help making a few small edits; but I didn't want to change much. The voice is the voice of my younger self.
When the book won the Mail on Sunday/JLR Prize - an annual award given to a writer under 35 - I received a cheque for £5000, a commission to write a travel piece for the Mail (I chose Venice) and a piece of advice from Bernice Rubens who was on the judging panel. She suggested I should write fiction - not because I'd made things up, I hasten to add, but rather because the book read in many ways like a novel, with a novelistic sense of pattern and rhythm. It took a good ten years for me to take that advice (writing The Janissary Tree which in turn won the Edgar Award).
The prize was awarded at a lunch at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, and at the end of the lunch I suddenly discovered that I'd lost the cheque. Everyone searched but it was a good ten minutes before a waiter presented it back to me with a flourish: £5000 covered in coffee grounds and gravy where he'd fished it out of the bins.
Some episodes in the book are funny, some sad, some gloomy; and it's perfectly un-PC. The TLS called it 'one of the truest portraits of present-day Central Europe available', and though so much has changed in these twenty years I think it does convey something of the atmosphere and history of those fascinating European hinterlands. I hope so, anyway.
Perhaps I'm proudest of the fact that it's very different from The Gunpowder Gardens or, A Time For Tea: Travels Through China and India in Search of Tea. Neither of these books were written for money or prizes, just out of curiosity and for the sheer pleasure of travelling and writing.
When the book won the Mail on Sunday/JLR Prize - an annual award given to a writer under 35 - I received a cheque for £5000, a commission to write a travel piece for the Mail (I chose Venice) and a piece of advice from Bernice Rubens who was on the judging panel. She suggested I should write fiction - not because I'd made things up, I hasten to add, but rather because the book read in many ways like a novel, with a novelistic sense of pattern and rhythm. It took a good ten years for me to take that advice (writing The Janissary Tree which in turn won the Edgar Award).
The prize was awarded at a lunch at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, and at the end of the lunch I suddenly discovered that I'd lost the cheque. Everyone searched but it was a good ten minutes before a waiter presented it back to me with a flourish: £5000 covered in coffee grounds and gravy where he'd fished it out of the bins.
Some episodes in the book are funny, some sad, some gloomy; and it's perfectly un-PC. The TLS called it 'one of the truest portraits of present-day Central Europe available', and though so much has changed in these twenty years I think it does convey something of the atmosphere and history of those fascinating European hinterlands. I hope so, anyway.
Perhaps I'm proudest of the fact that it's very different from The Gunpowder Gardens or, A Time For Tea: Travels Through China and India in Search of Tea. Neither of these books were written for money or prizes, just out of curiosity and for the sheer pleasure of travelling and writing.
August 29, 2011
This book caught my eye because I've been enjoying the Yashim/Istanbul mystery series by J. Goodwin so much...as well as the fact that we had just returned from visitng Prague ...w/ a continued sense of not understanding the geopolitical nature of Eastern Europe/NOT Eastern Europe/Balkans...etc.
Jason Goodwin decided to approach his beloved and dreamed of Istanbul in a very special way..WALKING - from Poland (on the Baltic coast), through CZ, the tip of Hungary, Transylvania/Romania...quickly through Bulgaria and into Turkey > . The book has so much history (anecdotal: factual) as well as his personal portrait of present-day Central Europe - conveyed in wonderful prose (as I would have expected). Honestly, I just kept reading and reading. It was not suspenseful but so very intersting and alive. Hooray to me for taking a chance on this!! If you, too, are interested in this part of the world, I strongly recommend picking this up. Its not long, 279 pg in my edition - and goody good good ALL the way through.
Jason Goodwin decided to approach his beloved and dreamed of Istanbul in a very special way..WALKING - from Poland (on the Baltic coast), through CZ, the tip of Hungary, Transylvania/Romania...quickly through Bulgaria and into Turkey > . The book has so much history (anecdotal: factual) as well as his personal portrait of present-day Central Europe - conveyed in wonderful prose (as I would have expected). Honestly, I just kept reading and reading. It was not suspenseful but so very intersting and alive. Hooray to me for taking a chance on this!! If you, too, are interested in this part of the world, I strongly recommend picking this up. Its not long, 279 pg in my edition - and goody good good ALL the way through.
May 26, 2011
I knew practically nothing about eastern Europe in the 90's before reading this book. Only things I vaguely remember hearing on the news. etc. I learned a LOT. It is by no means a comprehensive history or political overview of each region, just the author's experience as he walks across eastern Europe - anecdotes and a peppering of facts about each area. (So many of which were poor and deeply depressed, economically.) I do wish that the history lessons and the author's modern-day experiences had been delineated a little more clearly. They were all sort of jumbled together in the same paragraphs. This is a very very different writing style than the Yashim series by the same author.
I was kind of amazed at the massive volume of meat products that this group were offered and then consumed - although I understand how food would become a fixation on a journey like this, several chapters seemed to solely focus on the different types and quality of sausage they ate. This, combined with the constant search for cigarettes, was a little off-putting to me, as a vegetarian non-smoker. (Although this made me even more relieved that I was not on this trip - a common theme.)
The author's previous trip was to India - it doesn't say this, explicitly, but I had to look it up, because SO many things are compared to the people, regions, or customs of India. Reading this now, it feels like these were really weird comparisons to make, but I guess to the author at the time, it was the closest experience on hand that he could draw from.
The downside to doing this trip, walking through several countries on the way to an ultimate destination, is that all the observations and experiences are restricted to the superficial - when you are only spending a night in someone's barn and leaving early the next morning, you do not get the opportunity to get to know them, their town, or the region well. For this reason, any of the generalizations the author makes about whole countries or groups of people are especially grating.
I was also a little disappointed that the author did not include more of his own thoughts and feelings about the trip, instead of solely making factual or scholarly statements about the events that occurred. How did those facts and events make him, as a human being, feel? It was hard to tell. The other people on the journey, Kate in particular, seemed to be ghostly figures, as their thoughts & feelings about the journey rarely made it onto the page.
I do wonder whether any of the people the author met along this trip ever learned about this book. And what has changed in this region in the 20-ish years since this trip occurred? I read an old edition of this (with a distracting number of typos), maybe there is a followup in a more recent copy?
I am not even sure a trip like this would be possible today, with The Threat of Terrorism. Reading this, I kept thinking about the 3 American hikers that were arrested in Iran in 2009. The outcome of this could have been very different. At one point, it was mentioned in an offhand manner that friends & relatives thought the author & his fiance were missing, and embassies were involved, but not mentioned again - these were dismissed as sort of superficial concerns by the author.
The reason I enjoy reading travel memoirs like this is to learn about & experience vicariously a region or culture or country that I will never in my lifetime visit or experience otherwise. This was a very interesting account, and WOW, what an accomplishment! But - such an unpleasant sounding trip. Reading this book makes me very glad that someone else had this idea, and wrote about it, so that I won't have to ever do this to learn about it. It was nice to be able to live vicariously without having to sleep in haystacks or develop blisters or negotiate with locals with whom I do not have a language in common or evade border checkpoints or get into fights with fellow travelers. One good thing, I guess - my own personal life was not going so well, in the time that I was reading this book. And the whole time I was reading it, I was thinking to myself, "Well, my life could always be worse, I could be on this trip right now." So it was sort of cheering, but I doubt that was the intention. It honestly sounds like a completely miserable trip - I was exhausted for the author while I was reading this.
Also - this might give it away - but they only get to Istanbul on the last sentence of the last page, and there is no further analysis or insights provided on the subject. This was kind of a letdown, after reading all about the journey.
I was kind of amazed at the massive volume of meat products that this group were offered and then consumed - although I understand how food would become a fixation on a journey like this, several chapters seemed to solely focus on the different types and quality of sausage they ate. This, combined with the constant search for cigarettes, was a little off-putting to me, as a vegetarian non-smoker. (Although this made me even more relieved that I was not on this trip - a common theme.)
The author's previous trip was to India - it doesn't say this, explicitly, but I had to look it up, because SO many things are compared to the people, regions, or customs of India. Reading this now, it feels like these were really weird comparisons to make, but I guess to the author at the time, it was the closest experience on hand that he could draw from.
The downside to doing this trip, walking through several countries on the way to an ultimate destination, is that all the observations and experiences are restricted to the superficial - when you are only spending a night in someone's barn and leaving early the next morning, you do not get the opportunity to get to know them, their town, or the region well. For this reason, any of the generalizations the author makes about whole countries or groups of people are especially grating.
I was also a little disappointed that the author did not include more of his own thoughts and feelings about the trip, instead of solely making factual or scholarly statements about the events that occurred. How did those facts and events make him, as a human being, feel? It was hard to tell. The other people on the journey, Kate in particular, seemed to be ghostly figures, as their thoughts & feelings about the journey rarely made it onto the page.
I do wonder whether any of the people the author met along this trip ever learned about this book. And what has changed in this region in the 20-ish years since this trip occurred? I read an old edition of this (with a distracting number of typos), maybe there is a followup in a more recent copy?
I am not even sure a trip like this would be possible today, with The Threat of Terrorism. Reading this, I kept thinking about the 3 American hikers that were arrested in Iran in 2009. The outcome of this could have been very different. At one point, it was mentioned in an offhand manner that friends & relatives thought the author & his fiance were missing, and embassies were involved, but not mentioned again - these were dismissed as sort of superficial concerns by the author.
The reason I enjoy reading travel memoirs like this is to learn about & experience vicariously a region or culture or country that I will never in my lifetime visit or experience otherwise. This was a very interesting account, and WOW, what an accomplishment! But - such an unpleasant sounding trip. Reading this book makes me very glad that someone else had this idea, and wrote about it, so that I won't have to ever do this to learn about it. It was nice to be able to live vicariously without having to sleep in haystacks or develop blisters or negotiate with locals with whom I do not have a language in common or evade border checkpoints or get into fights with fellow travelers. One good thing, I guess - my own personal life was not going so well, in the time that I was reading this book. And the whole time I was reading it, I was thinking to myself, "Well, my life could always be worse, I could be on this trip right now." So it was sort of cheering, but I doubt that was the intention. It honestly sounds like a completely miserable trip - I was exhausted for the author while I was reading this.
Also - this might give it away - but they only get to Istanbul on the last sentence of the last page, and there is no further analysis or insights provided on the subject. This was kind of a letdown, after reading all about the journey.
October 21, 2013
Jason Goodwin and two friends walk from Gdansk in Poland through Hungary, Transylvania, Romania, and Bulgaria to Turkey in about 1990, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Too much of the first part of the book is complaints about the discomfort of walking, the boring scenery, the problems with finding a place to sleep, and the horrors of the places they do find. There was just enough content to keep me reading – just enough interaction with the people and interesting comments on the culture and social issues. Crossing Hungary seems to be much more interesting to the author, and then, after a difficult decision to cross through Transylvania and Romania (yes, Transylvania is part of Romania but the experiences in the two areas are so different that I list them separately), the whole tenor of the book changes. Goodwin is now seeking out help from local churches and staying in the churches or in homes. The people become the most important part of the journey and walking becomes more fun and the landscape becomes more beautiful. This is the best section of the book. After Transylvania, Romania and Bulgaria are again depressing places, but now Goodwin talks about how much they liked Poland and Hungary – not evident while they were there.
Goodwin speaks English (he is British), German and French. The comments on language are very interesting. Many people speak German – in fact many people ARE German and many are set on moving back to Germany. Goodwin has a lot of interesting comments on the history of the Germans in these areas. I was once again aware of how little I know about Eastern Europe.
Unlike Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus
by Robert D. Kaplan, this is a fairly easy book to read. However, if you can only read one book, I would choose Kaplan over Goodwin by a wide margin.
Goodwin speaks English (he is British), German and French. The comments on language are very interesting. Many people speak German – in fact many people ARE German and many are set on moving back to Germany. Goodwin has a lot of interesting comments on the history of the Germans in these areas. I was once again aware of how little I know about Eastern Europe.
Unlike Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus
by Robert D. Kaplan, this is a fairly easy book to read. However, if you can only read one book, I would choose Kaplan over Goodwin by a wide margin.
February 22, 2015
I have greatly enjoyed reading this book.
Just after the 'fall' of Communism in Eastern Europe, the author of this book decided to visit Istanbul, a place about which he had dreamt for many years. Rather than approach it suddenly by stepping out of an aeroplane at Istanbul's airport, he decided to approach the city on the Golden Horn gradually, and slowly. In order to do this, he and 2 companions walk there from Gdansk in Poland.
The author describes the places through which he passes - often places which time and modern life seem to have forgotten - with love and great sympathy. This account of an unusual journey is interlaced with relevant history and much interesting detail. It is a record of a Europe, which is destined to fade away if it has not already done so.
Anyone with an interest in Eastern Europe - especially in Poland and Rumania - should read this superb travelogue. The same goes for those who love good travel writing.
Just after the 'fall' of Communism in Eastern Europe, the author of this book decided to visit Istanbul, a place about which he had dreamt for many years. Rather than approach it suddenly by stepping out of an aeroplane at Istanbul's airport, he decided to approach the city on the Golden Horn gradually, and slowly. In order to do this, he and 2 companions walk there from Gdansk in Poland.
The author describes the places through which he passes - often places which time and modern life seem to have forgotten - with love and great sympathy. This account of an unusual journey is interlaced with relevant history and much interesting detail. It is a record of a Europe, which is destined to fade away if it has not already done so.
Anyone with an interest in Eastern Europe - especially in Poland and Rumania - should read this superb travelogue. The same goes for those who love good travel writing.
June 29, 2017
I thought the premise of the book was very interesting and I definitely learned a lot of history about the region. However, I couldn't help but feel that the book was a moment in time, a reflection of a period that no longer existed since I had read it so many years after it was published. For that reason, it was hard to enjoy and get into.
October 10, 2019
Despite oodles of flowery description, and a background of history, I couldn't quite get on with this book. The history required a depth of previous knowledge that I didn't possess and I came away feeling menaced by gypsies. Ultimately, I don't think the author actually enjoyed his adventures very much, and this came across in his prose.
Want to read
September 30, 2009I want to know more about Turkey!
June 30, 2020
Jason Goodwin has produced a wonderfully inventive travel book, one in which Istanbul is the ultimate goal. Wanting to have some sort of experience of what was it was like to visit such a distant goal in the past, as well as to tour Central Europe, he and two friends walk there! They journey on foot (only very rarely accepting short rides) from the northern Polish port city of Gdansk all the way through the rest of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria into Turkey. An incredible journey, he describes it vividly, with worries about bandits, wolves, bears, the weather, hostile customs officials, dogs, and most of all finding food and a place to sleep at night. They meet an interesting and diverse group of people along the road, many of whom befriend them, taking them into their homes, sharing part of their lives with the travelers.
Perhaps somewhat dated, published as it was in the early 1990s, Goodwin does provide an interesting portrait of Central Europe. The book spends quite a bit of time in Poland, a land shaped by the rise and fall of empires, shaped by the northern crusades of the Teutonic Knights, the Hanseatic League, of various powers that had over the centuries coveted and eventually gobbled sections or all of Poland, the broad flat plains of the country providing little obstacle to invading armies. Indeed Goodwin finds that the Poles often go to great pains to make it clear that they are distinctly Polish; though often that is simply making it clear that they are not German. As part of the country was once part of Germany, their concern is perhaps understandable.
Though Goodwin's journey never takes him into Germany, he often encountered German cultural influence and odd outposts of Germans, even well into Romania. German settlers had been invited by many rulers in Central Europe, and for centuries German merchants, craftsmen, and guilds dominated town life, the towns in essence becoming German, the main language in Gdansk or Cracow or Buda German. Many of these Germans though Goodwin finds have left, those few remaining either thinking of leaving, stubbornly clinging to old ways in isolated Saxon settlements, or slowly assimilating with the larger majority.
Hungary Goodwin finds is seemingly more stable and prosperous than the others he went through on his trip, particularly when contrasted with Romania. Though a third the size of Poland, its people took pride in regional names and differences, making the country seem larger than it was. One area that was interesting was Silvasvarod, noted for the famed Lippizaner horses it supplies to the Viennese Riding School.
Much of the book is spent in Romania, particularly in the region of Transylvania, an area once part of Hungary, its loss still keenly felt by many in Hungary as well as the substantial Hungarian minority in Transylvania itself. Goodwin found a number of people who held strong opinions on the matter, and it appears to remain a bone of contention with many. The only undisputed inhabitants of Transylvania are the once nomadic Szekely, Hungarian speakers, though not Hungarian. Famed for fighting on horseback, noted for their light cavalry even after they ended their nomadic ways, once proudly cherished by the Hungarians as defenders of the realm, they are still found in eastern Transylvania, a region known as Szekelyfold, where Goodwin observed their nearly pagan "totem poles" that marked graves and the massive palisade gates they erect at the entrance to their farms.
Gypsies Goodwin found played a major role in the life and economy of Central Europe, particularly in Romania. Sometimes feared (many warned Goodwin that they were thieves and cutthroats), sometimes hated (they were very poorly treated by Ceausescu in Romania), sometimes even admired (Goodwin did find some who pointed out that they fulfilled a vital economic function in many areas), he found them more diverse and interesting than he imagined, a people who are not tied down to cities and have more in common with their ancestral Indian homeland than Europe.
Goodwin did not like Romania, feeling it more like the Third World than Europe. He found it a land that had suffered greatly under Ceausescu, his legacy still looming large in everyday life. Romania seemed alone in Central Europe in lagging behind economically and in pursuing democracy, even in basic services. Goodwin visited an orphanage in Romania, making for heartbreaking reading, children barely cared for, virtually unable to speak as they haven't had enough human contact, having to be shown how to play with toys! What disgusted Goodwin the most though was the "gang mentality of ordinary Romanians," how the days of mob rule from the past still existed, present everywhere from the unfriendly "leering beer-garden swillers" that were present in many Romanian bars to the rioting peasant farmers that had recently fought ugly street battles in Tirgu Mures. When leaving Romania, Goodwin suffers from food poisoning, the poison of which he compares to his trip through the country, which had been administered "from the moment we crossed its border," beginning in the border town of Oradea, where the "first black depression" settled upon him, abating only upon leaving.
Goodwin was glad to enter Bulgaria, a land he found far different, a land perhaps of opposites. Country homes he found were often surrounded by trash, rather than extremely clean as they were often elsewhere in Central Europe, a holdover from traditions of not displaying wealth to Turkish overlords. In Bulgaria they nodded to show no, shook their heads to say yes, again legacies of confusing Ottoman rule perhaps. Drier and emptier than any of the previous lands, Goodwin was glad to enter it; clearly feeling his next stop was in Istanbul.
If I had any complaint to offer about the book, it was that we never get to see Istanbul; the book is all about the journey, and really about Central Europe. Having said that though, it was still great to read.
Perhaps somewhat dated, published as it was in the early 1990s, Goodwin does provide an interesting portrait of Central Europe. The book spends quite a bit of time in Poland, a land shaped by the rise and fall of empires, shaped by the northern crusades of the Teutonic Knights, the Hanseatic League, of various powers that had over the centuries coveted and eventually gobbled sections or all of Poland, the broad flat plains of the country providing little obstacle to invading armies. Indeed Goodwin finds that the Poles often go to great pains to make it clear that they are distinctly Polish; though often that is simply making it clear that they are not German. As part of the country was once part of Germany, their concern is perhaps understandable.
Though Goodwin's journey never takes him into Germany, he often encountered German cultural influence and odd outposts of Germans, even well into Romania. German settlers had been invited by many rulers in Central Europe, and for centuries German merchants, craftsmen, and guilds dominated town life, the towns in essence becoming German, the main language in Gdansk or Cracow or Buda German. Many of these Germans though Goodwin finds have left, those few remaining either thinking of leaving, stubbornly clinging to old ways in isolated Saxon settlements, or slowly assimilating with the larger majority.
Hungary Goodwin finds is seemingly more stable and prosperous than the others he went through on his trip, particularly when contrasted with Romania. Though a third the size of Poland, its people took pride in regional names and differences, making the country seem larger than it was. One area that was interesting was Silvasvarod, noted for the famed Lippizaner horses it supplies to the Viennese Riding School.
Much of the book is spent in Romania, particularly in the region of Transylvania, an area once part of Hungary, its loss still keenly felt by many in Hungary as well as the substantial Hungarian minority in Transylvania itself. Goodwin found a number of people who held strong opinions on the matter, and it appears to remain a bone of contention with many. The only undisputed inhabitants of Transylvania are the once nomadic Szekely, Hungarian speakers, though not Hungarian. Famed for fighting on horseback, noted for their light cavalry even after they ended their nomadic ways, once proudly cherished by the Hungarians as defenders of the realm, they are still found in eastern Transylvania, a region known as Szekelyfold, where Goodwin observed their nearly pagan "totem poles" that marked graves and the massive palisade gates they erect at the entrance to their farms.
Gypsies Goodwin found played a major role in the life and economy of Central Europe, particularly in Romania. Sometimes feared (many warned Goodwin that they were thieves and cutthroats), sometimes hated (they were very poorly treated by Ceausescu in Romania), sometimes even admired (Goodwin did find some who pointed out that they fulfilled a vital economic function in many areas), he found them more diverse and interesting than he imagined, a people who are not tied down to cities and have more in common with their ancestral Indian homeland than Europe.
Goodwin did not like Romania, feeling it more like the Third World than Europe. He found it a land that had suffered greatly under Ceausescu, his legacy still looming large in everyday life. Romania seemed alone in Central Europe in lagging behind economically and in pursuing democracy, even in basic services. Goodwin visited an orphanage in Romania, making for heartbreaking reading, children barely cared for, virtually unable to speak as they haven't had enough human contact, having to be shown how to play with toys! What disgusted Goodwin the most though was the "gang mentality of ordinary Romanians," how the days of mob rule from the past still existed, present everywhere from the unfriendly "leering beer-garden swillers" that were present in many Romanian bars to the rioting peasant farmers that had recently fought ugly street battles in Tirgu Mures. When leaving Romania, Goodwin suffers from food poisoning, the poison of which he compares to his trip through the country, which had been administered "from the moment we crossed its border," beginning in the border town of Oradea, where the "first black depression" settled upon him, abating only upon leaving.
Goodwin was glad to enter Bulgaria, a land he found far different, a land perhaps of opposites. Country homes he found were often surrounded by trash, rather than extremely clean as they were often elsewhere in Central Europe, a holdover from traditions of not displaying wealth to Turkish overlords. In Bulgaria they nodded to show no, shook their heads to say yes, again legacies of confusing Ottoman rule perhaps. Drier and emptier than any of the previous lands, Goodwin was glad to enter it; clearly feeling his next stop was in Istanbul.
If I had any complaint to offer about the book, it was that we never get to see Istanbul; the book is all about the journey, and really about Central Europe. Having said that though, it was still great to read.
June 5, 2017
Overall I enjoyed the book. It was interesting to hear what the countries in Eastern Europe were like just after the fall of the Iron Curtain. I'd be curious to know how much or if the people have changed much in the 25 years since. I particularly liked how the author and girlfriend jumped into their adventure with an almost child-like naivete: they planned to sleep wherever they could and trusted in the goodness of the locals, they didn't spend a ton of money on the best walking/camping gear, etc.
What I found difficult was the negativity about countries like Romania. That said, I don't fault the author for telling it like he saw it. I wouldn't have wanted him to paint a rosy picture of places that weren't very rosy. I also wasn't a fan of things he wrote in a language like German or French without putting an explanation: I don't speak those languages so all the passages did was showed me he knew the language but were useless to me.
As far as travel books go I enjoyed 'Cycling Home from Siberia' and 'Walking Home from Mongolia' by Rob Lilwall much more.
What I found difficult was the negativity about countries like Romania. That said, I don't fault the author for telling it like he saw it. I wouldn't have wanted him to paint a rosy picture of places that weren't very rosy. I also wasn't a fan of things he wrote in a language like German or French without putting an explanation: I don't speak those languages so all the passages did was showed me he knew the language but were useless to me.
As far as travel books go I enjoyed 'Cycling Home from Siberia' and 'Walking Home from Mongolia' by Rob Lilwall much more.
June 17, 2025
This is a very detailed recounting of an arduous walk from the shore of the Baltic - Gdansk - to Istanbul. The writing is excellent, often lyrical, and filled with history from the far past to the recent past as well as exactly what it was like in 1993. I wish the edition I read (published 2000) had included an update at the end about how much has changed since when the book was first published. But that might take a whole other book. and I wish a little more had been told about Bulgaria and perhaps what Istanbul was like compared to all they heard about it on their trip. But the book stops the minute they set foot in that city, so there is not even a hint for the reader.
March 7, 2023
an intelligent and fun look at travel
I enjoy everything I read by this author. I enjoy history and he is able to cleverly combine it with interesting encounters with people and himself. A great travel book about an unknown, to me, area of the world. I do love Istanbul.
I enjoy everything I read by this author. I enjoy history and he is able to cleverly combine it with interesting encounters with people and himself. A great travel book about an unknown, to me, area of the world. I do love Istanbul.
October 4, 2009
This was really interesting and I'm glad to have read it. That being said, I'll admit that it wsn't at all what I expected. The operative word in the title is "TO." This is mostly about Europe, and what I was hoping for was a book mostly about Istanbul.
I like Goodwin's style. I like that while there is a lot of talk about food in this book, he's not a foodie snob about it. A lot of the discussion about politics I probably didn't really understand, as post-WWII (post-1968, even) eastern European politics aren't my strong suit. But his impressions of the people and places were interesting. He did a good job of filling in bits of history (clearly did a great deal of research when he got home!!) that make the story clearer for his readers.
I like Goodwin's style. I like that while there is a lot of talk about food in this book, he's not a foodie snob about it. A lot of the discussion about politics I probably didn't really understand, as post-WWII (post-1968, even) eastern European politics aren't my strong suit. But his impressions of the people and places were interesting. He did a good job of filling in bits of history (clearly did a great deal of research when he got home!!) that make the story clearer for his readers.
March 8, 2016
I bought this book expecting to read about the author's travel in Turkey, but I was disappointed to learn that the book does not even dedicate a single chapter to the Golden Horn itself and instead narrates the author and his companions' walk across Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. The most interesting chapter was the one on Transylvania. The rest of the book is quite dry and there is so much complaint, negativity, and cynicism, which can, at times, come off as insulting certain peoples or cultures. The journey took place in 1990 immediately after the collapse of communism, so I would have appreciated seeing more respect and understanding for the people of Eastern Europe who were going through possibly the most difficult and depressing time of their lives.
December 15, 2012
Thanks to this book, I took a trip to Poland...in winter. Not that anyone reading this same book would take the same trip as I did, but Goodwin's journey (which starts in Poland) set off a fascination with the countries he hiked through on the way to Istanbul. These are basically the satellites of the old Eastern Bloc of the old Soviet empire, just as they were disintegrating in the 1990s collapse of communist regimes.
The author mixes in history with his adventures (which I really like) as he takes us through the geography of the land and the geography of the human souls trapped in those lands. Informative and not your average read.
Book Season = Summer (time to hike)
The author mixes in history with his adventures (which I really like) as he takes us through the geography of the land and the geography of the human souls trapped in those lands. Informative and not your average read.
Book Season = Summer (time to hike)
July 10, 2010
It's not that Jason isn't a good writer, but the book was perhaps doomed (in my eyes) because so much of the areas he walked through were shaped and scarred by ugly politics. This made for depressing reading.
Add to that lots of history where again we are exposed to a lot of ugly politics and military campaigns, and where are we?
We are reading a long book about a long walk that is very depressing overall. I can only hope any future travels and hikes that I take turn out lots better than this one did!
Add to that lots of history where again we are exposed to a lot of ugly politics and military campaigns, and where are we?
We are reading a long book about a long walk that is very depressing overall. I can only hope any future travels and hikes that I take turn out lots better than this one did!
August 27, 2012
Still walking . . . very different book that I bought because it has Istanbul on the cover. But this is more than Istanbul as it is a walk through eastern Europe starting in Poland. The times were confusing politically and things were changing. Currently in Transylvania . . . I am dabbling in this book while I read others.
8/24/12 Finally made it . .. it ends right when they are in sight of Istanbul! I think they got tired of walking and I was confused about where they were at. Interesting by not one of my favorites.
8/24/12 Finally made it . .. it ends right when they are in sight of Istanbul! I think they got tired of walking and I was confused about where they were at. Interesting by not one of my favorites.
April 25, 2025
It says something about a book that a reference to an obscure corner of Europe somewhere sets my mind thinking about that one book I read so long ago...
I'm happy I was able to find On Foot to the Golden Horn so easily and I v much enjoyed reading all the comments, especially the author's.
(What does it mean if the one thing I really remember is how they decided to not wash their hairfor several months on this trek, because they'd heard it gives you luxuriant lustrous hair for life, and I probably need to go back and check but I think they discovered it was indeed a truism.)
I'm happy I was able to find On Foot to the Golden Horn so easily and I v much enjoyed reading all the comments, especially the author's.
(What does it mean if the one thing I really remember is how they decided to not wash their hairfor several months on this trek, because they'd heard it gives you luxuriant lustrous hair for life, and I probably need to go back and check but I think they discovered it was indeed a truism.)
July 26, 2009
Don't read this if you are looking for a travel book in any way about Turkey (I was) as the book ends when they are about to walk into Istanbul after starting from the Baltic sea coast in Poland. There's a good chunk of Poland and Romania, a bit about Hungary, and all too little about Slovakia and Bulgaria. Otherwise, this is a reasonably engaging travel narrative.
December 8, 2011
Not really bad, but disjointed, and uneven in its density. Clearly a good snapshot of its time and place. Though I did find sorting out the names of the various people he meets to be difficult. Really more about Eastern Europe in 1989 than Istanbul. In fact, not at all about Istanbul.
And I can't imagine not washing my hair for four months. Eww!!
And I can't imagine not washing my hair for four months. Eww!!
July 24, 2022
An interesting walk through history
There is nothing more fun than history while walking.
This was a fun read about the past lives of people and places
in a part of the Europe we hear very little about.
Thank you Gentleman, very enjoyable :-)
There is nothing more fun than history while walking.
This was a fun read about the past lives of people and places
in a part of the Europe we hear very little about.
Thank you Gentleman, very enjoyable :-)
August 27, 2008
I read this in the eighth grade. I give it five stars because it was the first, best travelouge that opened the world to me. As far as the writing - Mr. Goodwin doesn't miss a beat.
September 5, 2008
This was good. I've read a few of Jason Goodwin's mysteries, set in 19th century Turkey, and along with this book, they show his fascination with this part of the world. Makes me want to go!
November 21, 2012
Loved this book. I felt I walked every step with Jason through a historically fascinating landscape.
March 30, 2013
Jason Goodwin and a couple of his friends decide to walk from Poland to Turkey, and why the hell not?! Well written, maybe a little too much history at some points but a jolly good read overall.
October 12, 2013
Another wonderful travel memoir. The English do them so well.
June 27, 2016
Hated the writing style. I felt it was too self-indulgent for a travelogue (which is what I was expecting).
August 28, 2015
Truly in the footsteps of Leigh Fermor but with a dollop of more humour as the intrepid walkers traverse an area cut off for decades... Travel writing at its most brilliant...
April 18, 2017
Well written with descriptions painting a wonderful picture. The author and his friends had a lot of nerve to walk the distance they did and doing so with unknown.
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