Yesterday, Saturday, was the day the government had decided, somewhat belated, to allow farmers to bring their produce to sell at Istanbul’s street markets. Why supermarkets are allowed to function in a lockdown but open air street markets are not remains a mystery for the ages – but so little of the pandemic response has […]
Ups and downs
I woke up with a headache after a disturbed sleep and had the sort of day where I kept drinking water hoping to wash away the headache to no avail. I did get started on work at least, and did a few chaptres of the book I am to finalise, and also learned that a […]
Missing landlords past
This evening we got a message in Turkish on the WhatsApp group for our building – there was water leaking from our flat, it was urgent. We dashed over, and of course were completely incapable of understanding where the water was coming from, or of understanding the neighbour who reported it. Fortunately it was the […]
Poison for dinner
Last night I nearly poisoned us both. I was experimenting with mahlep, a Turkish spice and misread a Google Translate version of a recipe and put in 2 tb instead of what I assume was supposed to be 2 tsp. It tasted rather strongly of bitter almonds, so I looked it up online to learn […]
Day 1
it is Day 1 of Turkey’s Ramazan lockdown. While the streets feel fairly deserted, it’s by no means the ghost town we heard of last year, with dolphins swimming in the Golden Horn etc. Was it like this then, and am I just used to this business of shutting down a city of millions for […]
Missions
With lockdown due to start tomorrow, and yesterday’s mission being devoted to pleasure at the expense of the practical, this afternoon I went out with a detailed shopping list and a pre-planned itinerary. The first stop was the chemist, followed by a walk down Istiklal to the mobile phone shop where I topped up my […]
Tulips and hyacinths
With lockdown due to start on Thursday, the GF and I decided to go out this afternoon for supplies that may become harder to get hold of in the days to come. But first we walked across the Galata Bridge for a cup of coffee in the pleasant square between the Yeni mosque and the […]
Half a sheep’s head
I had half a sheep’s head for dinner tonight, along with a bowl of tripe soup drizzled with chile oil, garlic and vinegar. Rather intense, and will be followed by some burnt apple crumble. A good thing my digestion is as sturdy as it is. It’s a cool, grey evening so I thought I’d best […]
Funny tofu
I made a funny tofu dish today which turned out surprisingly pleasant. It had tofu, turmeric, dill, a stick of cinnamon, chillies, fish sauce and lemon juice. So maybe slightly Vietnamese tinged? Anyway, it was good. Today is a lockdown so the streets were quiet. It was also a little cloudy all afternoon, so cooler […]
Old times
I had a call with a client today which reminded me rather of my old work at a university, where I became an expert in helpfulness with a soupcon of flattery for some, to get what I needed out of them. A useful skill but a tiresome one. It was a sunny afternoon and tomorrow […]