Yesterday, Sunday, we went even further along the coast to the home of someone we knew in Istanbul. The house was just above the coastal road, at a point where the Bosphorus turned towards the Black Sea, and a cool, fresh breeze blew constantly down that long channel. We went for brunch at around noon, […]
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Along the coast
Yesterday we went along the Bosphorus to Bebek, a wealthy neighbourhood overlooking the sea. It was very pleasant, quite like Hampstead or Primrose Hill, with some nice restaurants and cafes, pretty houses with white wooden decorations like icing on a cupcake, and of course beautiful – but not too beautiful – people. I suspect a […]
Job not done
After yesterday, today I signally failed to send off the documents back to Pakistan, as well as to do any work. Instead, I joined the GF (whp had the day off) on a trip to the other side of the Golden Horn. First was lunch in the Grand Bazaar, where I went for a grilled […]
Job done
I returned to the consulate today to get the document attestation. It took rather longer than I had hoped. First, there was a wait – no one at the desk. Then there was another form to fill out. Then papers to sign. Then I was told to come back in an hour. I came back […]
Fool’s errand
This morning I had to go to the Pakistani consulate to get a legal document attested, needed urgently back home. Knowing that there would be red tape I called in advance to ask what was needed, wrote down the list, collected everything, and left. I took the metro, my first foray onto public transport, and […]
Sheriff of Istanbul
We were given the phone number of a friend of a friend, someone in Istanbul we were told, do give them a call. So the GF rang them and told them where we were, and they said ‘I know the area well, I’m the sheriff.’ So today we went to meet the sheriff, in an […]
Another market
Yesterday we realised that, for all our efforts, we were getting low on fruit, so at lunchtime we went to the Sunday market near the flat. A very different experience indeed from the previous day’s organic market. This was set up along a street, with stall after stall overflowing with produce and interspersed with stalls […]
Turkish fare
I have, at least for now, become quite enamoured of a Turkish style breakfast, with lots of fresh fruits and salad and a bit of cheese or yoghurt. This morning breakfast was a platter of peaches, figs, buffalo mozzerella, cucumbers, olives and tomatoes, along with my usual chai. I have decided to have something similar […]
Past and present
In the morning we went to Beşiktaş to the breakfast street, and then strolled through the neighbourhood and up to what was once an Ottoman weekend cottage set in the countryside and today is a pair of baroque houses set in a small park tightly engirdled by busy road. The gardens were pleasant, with residents […]
Golden city
Our flat in Istanbul has the most ridiculous views. One series of windows looks out over the Bosphorus, with the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque in clear view. Another window faces down a narrow old street, at the end of which is the Galata tower. In the evenings, at sunset, the coast of Asia […]