Istanbul
The past 10 days in Istanbul have been in equal parts eventful, fun, and challenging. The day after arriving in the city a strong storm ripped through, damaging buildings and taking lives - we were glad to be staying in the shelter of an AirBnB rather than our tent that night. We had decided that this would be a good place from where Lucy could return home for a few days to visit family while I took time to catch up with some work, play music, and rest. I still do not like cities but at least the walls of the apartment could provide shelter from the bustle and noise like they did from the storm. However, the day after Lucy left I was evicted from the Airbnb without notice, by the authorities - from what I understand the host didn't have the correct tourism accommodation permit - this meant relocating myself plus two bikes and all our gear to a nearby hotel. A few days after arriving in the hotel I was visited by two men who needed to "inspect the curtains" of my hotel room - I suspect they may have been officials checking that I had actually moved out of the AirBnB!
It's not all been so dramatic though - I had a really great time sharing stories and playing music with Tobi and Louisa from ChainsAndChords who are on a similar cycle adventure to Lucy and me and who we have been following on Instagram for a few months. I also found some musicians to join with for a traditional Irish music pub session - the first I've been able to find on our journey so far - it's been a lot of fun to be finally playing music with other people again and definitely makes up for the accommodation drama!
In a few more days Lucy will be back to rescue me and we'll be ready to begin our journey along the Black Sea coast towards Georgia. It's likely to be a cold and wet few weeks as winter catches up with us but we plan to have another rest once we arrive in Georgia (maybe a small town this time!) where we will wait for the beginning of spring before continuing East. -S