Breakfast in Istanbul, lunch in Amsterdam. That’s the kind of jet-setters we are. Dinner was also in Amsterdam, though, of course, which sounds less impressive.
It was an early start today, at 06:45 EEST. Sabiha Gökçen, Istanbul’s second airport, is a long way from the centre of the city and we needed the early start to beat traffic, which really jams up around the city’s bridges. That’s partially due to the fact that some of them charge tolls, which really slows things down.
We got back to Amsterdam at 13:00 CEST, which, after picking up our bags, gave us enough time to get Eloïse to peuterspeelzaal. She was very excited to be going back.
I’m pleased to say that our dining-room ceiling doesn’t appear to have developed any new brown stains during our absence. Hopefully, that means that the past cause has, indeed, been fixed. It could just mean that the problem only occurs when the outside temperature is lower. Only continued unspoilt ceilings after an absence will tell.
One moment of considerable stress yesterday was when the burglar alarm call centre rang to inform us that our alarm had gone off. We were in a museum in Istanbul at the time and powerless to undertake any action. Given the precise nature of the signal they received, it slowly dawned on us that it was almost certainly a false alarm, but it still caused some stress at the time. We’ve been burgled once before, albeit it not in this house, and the sickly feelings quickly return in circumstances like these.
I’m happy to say that it was, indeed, just a technical hitch with the alarm system, but like all such things, it will need to be fixed.
Other than that, the house is much as we left it: intact. Most people take a simple fact like that for granted, but experience has taught me not to.
Tracking information at DHL informs me that our new (actually old, but you know what I mean) carpets have made it from Turkey as far as Leipzig. So far, so good. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a trouble free passage.
