This lockdown business is not suiting me at all. That said, it doesn’t seem to be suiting anyone else either. This morning I woke and saw a ghostly moving figure outside on one of the picturesque streets leading towards the Galata Tower. There I saw a young woman in a flowing white dress posing for photos in front of the most picturesque derelict building on that road. All day, there were clearly plenty of people outside, pedestrians and cars and motorbikes, and far less adherence to mask-wearing than during the week. I felt a bit of a mug, a bit virtuous at following the guidelines, and learned also that the lockdown doesn’t apply to non-Turks so we could technically go out. Tomorrow we might venture out for a bit, though I think we will largely adhere to the restrictions and only go for a quiet, socially distanced walk around the neighbourhood.
In the meantime, though, this lockdown business is not suiting me at all. I was climbing up the walls earlier this evening, frustrated and trapped, so went off to the kitchen to make dinner. We had bought a bunch of nettles, so stripping the leaves and washing them without the use of gloves or tongs, whilst listening to the film review podcast, kept me occupied. This eventually turned into an odd stewish sort of thing with chickpeas and freekeh and a topping of browned onions. Quite odd and unreplicable but not too bad.
Our planned self-indulgence today: an extra cup of tea in the afternoon with a very large biscuit; a chocolate chip cookie in the evening with a cup of tea; and turning the heating on before it became cold.