Walk over to Lapta municipal office (belediyesi in Turkish, although in Turkish the final vowel almost disappears, against all the instincts of an English speaker. Home via The Legend of Troy, the little bar underneath the place we rented in the spring. It was being renovated then by a young Russian man who was leasing it and was just about to reopen when we left. He’s left a note on the door to say he’s in the garden but sees us arrive and abandons his gardening role to come down and play bartender. Lovely and cosy inside but it’s warm in the sunshine and we’d rather sit outside.
And we’re greeted by an old friend. Marmalade, one of the two - arguably three - cats that we considered ours when we lived here. (The third we christened NOC, short for Not Our Cat - but he had other ideas). Marmalade clearly remembers us and is happy to rub against J’s legs and enjoy being petted. No sign of Yowl, though. My favourite, but sadly short on survival skills. Continually showing up after fights he’d clearly lost but unable to stay away if he heard a brawl in the distance. We understand that a German woman rented the house after us and would be interested in meeting her but no sign that she’s home. Another time.
Then down to “our” supermarket. Hoping to stock up on a few basics. Have become used to buying much smaller quantities of fruit and vegetables. Did we really plan to eat more than three tomatoes today? They’ll be there again tomorrow. And if we buy more aubergines than we plan to cook in the next day they won’t be as nice by the time we get round to them. We do have a large fridge, but so many things do better unrefrigerated. Tomatoes lose not only taste when refrigerated but also nutritional content. Growing season here much longer. Surprisingly, flour and sugar only available in smaller quantities than we’d usually consider. A kilo and a half of sugar probably more than we’ll need, despite the irresistible urge to make lemon curd with the free, fresh lemons. But flour almost entirely in one kilo bags - only one of which contains whole wheat flour, which is all we normally use. Does raise the question, though - do people here ever bake?