Novax

It has turned out to be very fortunate that my siblings took our family’s elders to be vaccinated on Saturday. Apparently it was the first day and there was almost no one there. On Sunday thousands showed up and there was chaos. Today, I hear that the health minister has said that it is all […]

Long walk home

This afternoon we went to visit the carpenter who is making our doors. It was a very long journey there as our contractor and architect decided to drive and there was a great deal of traffic on the first sunny weekend afternoon after the lifting of lockdown. The carpenter seemed good – he showed us […]

Red carpet

This afternoon, as the cleaners came, we popped by the flat to meet the architect and give her a small payment for windows, show her the basement, and measure the wall where the projector screen will come. Then we walked through Galata’s light shops to get a sense of what is available – light switches, […]

More catching up

Sunday was another working day, to some extent at least. I have a very busy week coming up and as usual seem to have far more work than I have money. We did make it out for a coffee in the afternoon as the sky cleared and it was very sunny. All of Istanbul appeared […]

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 […]

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 […]

Winter

It’s finally winter in Istanbul. The heating was on all day today, and even the window was closed for a good long time. Outside, the air feel properly wintery, whether or not the sun is out. The forecast says it might fall to -7 in the coming days, but I’m sceptical, as the forecast has […]

All clear

Our tests were all clear, hurrah. The GF had had a suspicious throat and wooziness for a few days which had us worried and isolating, but happily all seems to be fine. Such is a cold or allergy in the time of a pandemic, one worries about things that otherwise would go unnoticed. I have […]