It was a bank holiday for the GF and I had arranged my work so I didn’t have anything today, so we took a ferry to another of the Princes Islands, this time to Kinaliada. It was a less sunny day than the last time we went over, and in fact it pelted with rain whilst we were on the ferry, but the steel grey was very pretty, and when we turned back to look at the Asian mainland there was a truly apocalyptic view, with jet black clouds roiling over an industrial landscape. There was a bit of apocalyptism around the island as well, as the water was fringed with the sea mucus which has plagued the Marmara Sea and made it to the international press. It was certainly unpleasant stuff, but interesting to see.
Kinaliada was definitely inferior to Heybeliada, the island we visited back in November (hard to believe November was a sunny and warm when the end of May feels quite chilly). It’s smaller and doesn’t have forests, and while the streets are quiet and pretty, the houses are not as pictureesque. But we had a nice walk around it, investigated the monastery and admired the Armenian church and modernist mosque, and nearly perished going up what must have been the steepest street I’ve ever laboured up – and I’ve laboured up a lot in the last few months.
On our return we got off at Kadikoy where we had a coffee which started off tasting a bit burnt but then settled into something that was ok (though the GF liked it better than I did), had a snack of the best lahmacun I’ve had to date, went to a deli dubbed by the Financial Times as one of the 50 best in the world to buy olives, and finally got some dinner to take away from Ciya. The latter, at least, was spectacular as always, so it was a good day for food – unusual in this age.
So, a pleasing sort of day, and quite tiring after what feels like a very long time when I had a lot of work and not much opportunity to go out thanks to the lockdowns.
Tomorrow restrictions are being relaxed so restaurant dining will be allowed. On the downside, Turkey has put Pakistan on a mandatory government quarantine list, which means that I won’t go there at least for the next month or so.