I had a bad night last night, very anxious, and slept poorly. At some point during the night I became convinced that a piece of paint was going to fall off from ceiling onto the GF’s head, so when he came to bed I warned him anxiously. Then, I worried about why our visas are […]
Galataport
A brief lockdown excursion today, just to investigate the Galataport, which we’ve never really walked around. Most of it is shut off of course, but the mosque, which was under scaffolding for restoration and the installation of a public convenience, was now visible (though shut) and some of the other buildings, like the art gallery […]
Break out
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 […]
Roundtable conference
We had a roundtable conference this afternoon, with the contractor, his architect daughter and our local friend. It was a very good meeting: much was clarified and agreed and we now know what the next steps are likely to be. There is one neighbour who is likely to cause trouble, even though we have all […]
Dawn of a new age
This evening a new age dawned, somewhat belatedly for us, as the rest of the world has been on the food delivery wagon for a good long while, even before the pandemic. I successfully ordered profiteroles from my favourite cake shop, and the GF ordered dinner from one of the nicest places in Cihangir. Remarkable […]
Brief excursion
There was only enough food in the flat for one so I left it for the GF and went out for a short stroll and to bring myself back some lunch. I found a new street in Galata, one running parallel to Papadopoulous where the GF and I once viewed a very crumbling flat in […]
Small victories
A few small achievements on Monday to make up for the stagnant weekend. The first was that I finally managed to call the helpline for our visas to learn that they were still being processed, and that was why we had not heard back. A relief, as it was definitely keeping me up at night. […]
Time vortex
Weekend lockdowns put me in a sort of time vortex, I have no idea when it is. This weekend was particularly grim as I had a great deal of work including a meeting, and the sky was dark and grey so there is almost no light in our flat; what there is gets sucked up […]
New plans
Our architect sent over three new proposed plans and, rather to our surprise, they are quite promising and have several ideas for how to redo the flat effectively. So a very good start, and we will ask her to make a few changes, consult the engineers as required, and hopefully, kick it all off. Less […]
Quest for a pepper grinder
Yesterday was Monday I’m told, but I feel quite out of time, as though the week has been going on for a very long time. It turns out taking my weekend on Friday didn’t actually feel much like the weekeend, or maybe it did and in that case it should be Friday tomorrow, but it […]