We broke out and went for a short excursion despite the weekend lockdown. It was the first day of any sun at all, so our resolve to stand in solidarity with the Turkish fizzled away. When we stepped outside, well, it was a rather crowded lockdown on the streets as there were dozens of people […]
Two more mosques
Today was a funny, dissatisfied sort of day, though a pleasant one. Soon after the GF woke we went back to the Syrian place for a chickpea-based meal, again very delicious and this time there was no wait. Sadly they were out of the fatteh or rather, out of nuts to put on the fatteh […]
Three mosque day
It was a working day for me, though not for the GF, but when he said he was planning a tour of the mosques of Fatih, I of course joined him. So we took the metro to near the Istanbul University with its startling metro station, and went first to the Kalendarhane mosque. This is […]
Free at last
All guests are gone, and the cousin with COVID is quite self-sufficient, hurrah. He is in very strict lockdown indeed – when I went to drop off his instant coffee, a man rushed out of the building shouting ‘very bad, your friend, very bad!’ At first I worried that the cousin had developed bad symptoms […]
Further thoughts
Flat hunting continues. I am finding it rather painful as my attention moves between work and flats, with little attention for anything else. We took a friend to see the place with the beautiful views I mentioned a few days ago, and he was rather good as an impartial, unemotional eye, and showing up the […]
Church, mosque, museum, mosque
I had a working weekend but planned it so I could take some time off. This afternoon we went to the Chora museum, formerly the Chora church, then the Chora mosque, and soon to be the Chora mosque again. Nothing can quite replicate the astonishing luminescence and life of Byzantine mosaics, certainly not photos. The […]
To the palace
Sunday was at Topkapi. As before, easy to get to, a simple tram ride across the Golden Horn, to the domes and towers we see every day from our window. I had thought it might be relatively empty but it really wasn’t, though most of the other visitors were Turks, Iranis, South Asians, etc. Turkey […]
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 […]
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 […]
Finger on the pulse
Last night the Boddhisattva and the Woodland Creature came down for the weekend — lovely to see them, also a pleasant reminder that it is much nicer to see friends when one doesn’t live with them. We went for lunch to the nearby noodle spot, slightly better than adequate this time, and then on to […]