A rather difficult day. I had a lot of work, but it was a sunny day and I went with the GF to Kadikoy. We waited for the ferry at Karakoy, didn’t realise it was the one moored at the pier, and missed it as chugged away. The next one was only 20 minutes away, […]
Evasive
We went over for a very brief visit to a friend of a friend, a rather curious gentleman who divides his time between Istanbul and elsewhere. A most extrordinarily evasive gentleman, with a knowing sideways glance, as though he is expecting you to share a joke, and a great reluctance to reveal anything about himself. […]
Take a breath
We went to the flat today and it was a shock to see how it had changed. Many of the walls were now plastered, so it was bright and smooth, with clean lines. They had also built the bathroom wall – we are extending it as the original was a dark, dank, smelly little cubbyhole, […]
Brief outing
We took the opportunity for a brief outing this afternoon while it was sunny but with an icy breeze. Nothing particularly exciting, just to Cihangir to get some groceries from the organic shop, where their Wednesday delivery was a little meagre due to snowfall. But we are set for the next few days now. Late […]
Liverish
I was feeling a little short of iron today, so ordered in a plate of liver with pomegranate molasses. It came with a selection of mezze and some naan, so I made a rather delicious little wrap with tabbouleh and baba ghanoush and a drizzle of tahini. A delicious lunch, but it has made it […]
Plans, plans
The architect has sent a floor plan, all tremendously exciting. This one shows the final structure, though I will make some changes in the bathroom configuration. Otherwise it is very close to final. The GF and I, during our stroll yesterday, also thought about colours etc, and decided we definitely didn’t want the beige hotel […]
Stopped at the gates
Our plan, to visit a graffitied house in Kadikoy, was thwarted this morning as the city has decreed that all travel cards should be linked to the HES codes allocated to track the virus. We all have HES codes as they were needed for inter-city travel and – more relevantly for us – to enter […]
A few errands
This morning I finished up the bulk of the report I was working on – due tonight – and then the cleaners arrived so the GF and I left so they could do their work. We went off for a fairly extended stroll, peeping into some of the Cukurcuma antique shops, stopping for a Thai […]
A happy chance
We had to go to the flat today to discuss with the contractor and architect some decisions and instead of being the usual thing where we stared foolishly as the contractor tried to explain in Turkish, it turned out to be a very useful session indeed. This is because I overheard two of his workers […]
Snowy Sunday morning
I woke up late this morning and it was snowing. Not a lot, though it varied from light flurries to quite thick. It settled a little bit, and there were streaks of snow on the fairytale cap of the Galata tower. I don’t think I’ve seen large quantities of snow since my first winter in […]