That hurt!

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.