Post Van Gogh -- Istanbul, Turkey

I’m starting this post from the city center apartment. Çasim spent the night out, so I have the space to myself for a few more hours.

That was the... yeah, that was the first night I’ve spent alone in a house since my English family vacationed in Mallorca. Bizarre. It’s been a long time.

Istanbul is sleeping. Even the roads are quiet from here.

I awoke just as early on Saturday morning, but the fact that the room was still violently spinning provided a good argument for me to lounge in bed a few more hours. Maud (experiencing a slightly different version of the spinning room) did the same.

We didn’t make it out of the hotel until 11:00.

Sentences... can’t... form... sentences.

“I’m sorry, Maud. I’m experiencing intense vodka fog brain. Brain fog. Of vodka.” I apologized to my tired friend after a few minutes of mumbling gibberish as we walked through the “soft” weather.

“I just need some water. I feel so dehydrated.”

We had forgotten that tap water isn’t drinkable in Turkey, so had nothing to rehydrate after the evening’s revelries had culminated. If you are planning a fun night in whilst traveling in Istanbul, make sure you remember to purchase some water with your alcohol.

We stopped for fresh juice at the nearest decent looking place. The pomegranate pulpy goodness whisked away wisps of fog, but I was still feeling pretty crummy.

“Do you want something else?”

“Maybe in another place... let’s walking. Keep walking. Let’s keep walking.”

“You sure you don’t need me to carry you?” Maud took advantage of my less than rapier wit to tease relentlessly.

“I can manage,” I stumbled, stuttered, scowled along.

 We stopped at a cute café for salep and a milkshake (Maud adores milkshakes as much as I adore salep) and talked about what we'd like to see during the rest of her visit as the hot drink restored life to my brain. 

Maud treated me to a tasty lunch of Turkish deli food, I introduced her to Ayran (the Turkish yogurt drink) and we then parted ways. 

I had an evening of English with the airport chaps, so we gave each other solid American hugs and made plans to meet the next morning at ten.

But the airport chaps were required to stay at work until midnight that evening, so they canceled the lesson.

It’s a pity. I could have spent the rest of the day with Maud. But I guess this is a good excuse to write.

So I did. I wrote for the rest of Saturday and it was exquisite.

Street cats on the walk to Çasim's. These flea-ridden fuzzballs are everywhere, and people seem to make sure they're all well-fed. It could be because Turkish people are good-hearted or it could be because they're just bad at throwing away trash.