We are now very close indeed to final agreement on the small Galata flat. I’m still not entirely happy with it, but it is the sensible choice and hopefully we will rent it out most of the time anyway instead of having to live in it.
Two of our visitors – the ones staying in a hotel – were still in town so we went off to Nisantasi last night for a meal. I had a note of an ocakbasi near to them for a while — not really suitable for going with a non-meat eater, so waiting for an opportunity when I could go myself or with someone other than the GF. This opportunity arrived, and I must say, the food was excellent. Tender, flavourful adana kebabs, lovely grilled liver with bits of charred mutton fat, and ribs ditto. Superb stuff all of it. Even the naan-like flat bread was nicer than any I’ve had at a Turkish place so far. So it was a very successful little outing, and even the GF took a taste or two (admittedly, there was not much other choice for him on the menu).
I am also on a cliff edge with work: a deadline is approaching fast and I have not managed much at all. I am finding it really difficult to work at the moment. The flat is taking up my thoughts: on one hand the dread of the small, uncomfortable Galata place and the feeling we could do better; on the other, constantly trying to think of ways around the problems I foresee: the lack of light and air and space. Telling myself it is sensible is proving to be less effective than it usually is; I suppose there is something emotional tied up in buying a house, even when I know it is not intended as a home. Then, there are the visitors, of course, and finally, the disruption of this new Airbnb which is not entirely comfortable and there isn’t really a room to withdraw into when one or the other of us has a call.