Day: May 12, 2025

I had to go back to the dentist today for follow-up work prior to the final fitting of my implants. The young lady dentist told me last week that she was going to hurt me again today and boy, was she not lying!

My appointment was originally set for 6.00 pm but I received a call at about 3.45 pm asking if I could get there in half an hour. I said that I could because there’s a funicular railway that runs from Taksim Square down to Kabatas which I’d not tried before but had scouted out yesterday. It would save me ages compared to walking as it only takes about two or three minutes and costs just 40 TL (about 1€) each way, so well worth the saving in shoe leather alone.

I expected the train to look like something off an Austrian ski slope, but no. It’s very modern and looks like an ordinary underground train, except it slopes and has steps in its floors. Here’s a shot I took of it on my return journey.

It wasn’t very busy on my way down so I was able to take the next shot at my leisure. Not so on my return back up to Taksim Square because the carriages were packed out like a normal rush-hour train.

I have a pretty high pain threshold but this afternoon I suffered the most painful dental treatment I’ve ever received. The dentist is replacing the implant pins in my right lower jaw and inserting a new one in my left upper front. She started without giving me any pain killer but the pain, especially in my lower jaw, was so intense that it literally made my toes curl and my eyes water. And it didn’t get much better after the injections because she pressed on almost without any delay to finish her work. Back tomorrow at 3.00 pm. I can hardly wait…

While making my way back afterwards to the Metro station at Kabatas I had to pass a development site that fronts onto the main road and this is the amusing sight that caught my eye – a proud rooster looking after his flock of hens and living in harmony with the cats. Maybe the workmen like boiled eggs with their breakfasts, I don’t know, but I think this could be only in Turkey.

This is the Metro entrance.

And here are a couple of final shots that I took after most of the crowd had cleared the platform.

The images are very poor but I’ll try again when I return to the clinic tomorrow. I managed to drop my phone onto the concrete yesterday and I hope that nothing’s been damaged as up to now I’ve been very happy with the picture quality I’ve been getting.

The Hotel Mara where I’m staying is quite interesting and I’m not absolutely sure what to make of it. The bed is as hard as a rock, harder even than my new bed at home which I’m beginning to loathe, but I’m making the best of it. Every morning the longer I stay here my back ache when I get out of bed seems to be easing more quickly, so that’s good.

I suppose I’d describe it as a boutique hotel but with a large element of self-service. My room has only been made up once since I’ve been here and then in only a very cursory way. Apart from a couple more teabags and a few sugar lumps appearing you’d hardly have noticed as I’d already pulled the duvet back over the bed myself. And that has been it as far as room service is concerned.

I’m still using the same hand and bath towels, although to be fair there are spares, but more worryingly, there was only one toilet roll when I arrived and that is now just down to a few sheets. But luckily I’m used to looking after myself so I’ve gone into survival mode as there’s a small supermarket a few doors up the road where I was able to buy a giant kitchen roll, three large bottles of water for tea making, some milk and some more tea bags as I’d already bought some a few days previously.

I don’t know what the score is exactly but I’ve only seen the charming young Turkish maid making up rooms after people have left so it appears that I’m now dug-in and my room won’t be disturbed until I either die or leave, hopefully the latter. I don’t bother with breakfast which the hotel is not providing anyway and just make do with several cups of tea and a few biscuits, which I prefer as all the spiciness is upsetting my stomach this time.

Yesterday’s breakfast was augmented by the cold left-overs from the previous evening’s Chinese takeaway, which is also just up the road and makes a nice change from kebabs and burgers. So that was very wholesome and nutritious. I ordered only 3 dishes (sweet and sour chicken, beef noodles and egg fried rice) but when they turned up there was enough for 5 people conservatively and possibly 6. So I decided I’d have to make the best of it and the remains have just gone out onto the landing in front of the lift in a plastic bag. Remember what I said about self-service 😉

I think this must be the way to go as I also emptied the somewhat tiny rubbish bin in my room myself and in doing so found a roll of fresh plastic rubbish bags in the bottom of it. I will, however, draw the line at buying a spray can of polish to make the horizontal surfaces gleam and impart a fresh aroma of morning dew to the room. After all, I’d hate to do anyone out of a job…