We returned to Istanbul last night. It was tiring but a surprisingly smooth journey considering we were lugging multiple suitcases and arrived at midnight. The flat is looking quite nice, though very dusty. We went for breakfast this morning, and I was struck by how flavourful the food is here, even though we had excellent produce in London, it’s much more vibrant here.
It is rather nice being back – nicer than I was expecting. It’s very crowded here, the pandemic feels very much over and there is the sort of mad bustle I remember from the August we arrived. Maybe more, actually since all of Europe was then still in lockdown. Though now, I suppose Russia is closed, though one certainly hears a lot of Russian on the streets.