From the Frying Pan into the Freezer

Why are we leaving Istanbul? And what are we looking forward to in Aberdeen? Well everyone knows about the political situation in Turkey, so you may have your own ideas about we are leaving, but perhaps you are wondering why we are jumping from the frying pan into the freezer, seeing as how Aberdeen is pretty cold and miserable on the majority of days in the year.

I guess this brings me to our decision point back in January. I must admit, after having to “mark myself safe” on Facebook for about the 4^th time in 6 months, after the New Year shooting in Istanbul, I was getting very tired of having to do so – but I knew that if I didn’t then friends and family around the world would worry. And I was getting fed up of the (mostly) unasked question of “Why are you still living there?”. We lived there through about 5 bomb attacks in Istanbul, several others across Turkey and, of course, the Military Coup on July 15^th 2016. I would love to write Barney Yarney’s Military Coup Experience, but I guess it wouldn’t sell well to kids!

But – do you know – that isn’t the main reason we are leaving. After several days of emotional, highly-charged conversations we came to a few conclusions – 1. I have missed the family very much in the last 6 years – I am fed up of never spending Christmas with them, and 2. Paul isn’t ready to retire at 62 (in 2 years time). Oh and 3. Flying longer distances on a very demanding and extremely anti-social roster isn’t good for Paul’s health or our lifestyle. So it’s time to move on. But where do we start? With the dog of course.

As with Turkish people, Turkish dogs aren’t allowed to move to the UK without jumping through a lot of hoops.  And with Brexit looming who knows what will now happen? Barney couldn’t simply fly from Istanbul to London – well he could, but he would have been kept in a quarantine cage for 3 months – so we needed to get him into Europe, sort out an official European passport, and then move him to the UK. Can you imagine the stress of that ? Far more than I could cope with. But not to worry – PAWS Bulgaria is a company owned by a lovely British couple – Phil and Sue – who offer a very unique service of picking up the dog at the front door and dropping them off at their UK destination. They stay in Bulgaria for a few days to get the paperwork sorted, then they drive them into the UK, on a long 48 hour journey – not nice for the dog, but far better than 3 months in quarantine. And guess what – they had 2 spaces left in March. So that was it – decision made. We had no job, no home, no cash reserves handy, but the dog would be catered for. Says it all really!

It hasn’t been a difficult time leaving Istanbul – although there have been a few tears – as we are very excited about what lies ahead, but we know that we are going to miss it hugely. Me more so than Paul as I have been able to do and see a lot more as I don’t have an exhausting work schedule that leaves me feeling permanently jetlagged.  I will miss the friends we have made and the International Women of Istanbul (IWI) which took up the majority of my time, and is what sustained my need to be involved in something and feel as if I was making a difference. I will miss the local people – the men in the shop next door who always gave us an enthusiastic greeting, and the men who cleaned the streets and the beach always starting our day with a cheery smile. I can’t say I will miss our nosey next door neighbour Mases though – she has been like a vulture during our moving process, sorting through our rubbish to see what we are throwing out, and walking into the apartment and looking around to see what she could have. It was funny at first, but when she walked in yesterday (on moving day) in her dressing gown and nightie that was taking it a step too far. Paul had to escort her out, asking her nor to bother the removal men. We never saw her again after that. Until after I had gone – when apparently she went through every cupboard and tried to walk out with the stuff that Paul had put aside for his temporary accommodation ! And then the janitor came in and tried to take down all the curtains !! When you leave a property in Istanbul you take everything – down to all the lightbulbs – which are cut off  with the light shade !  Our rental house in Aberdeen is thankfully far more civilised.

I will also miss the vibrant skyline. As with many things in Istanbul, it’s unique. It’s a skyline full of mosques really, as there are several perched on each of the 7 hills of Istanbul (did you know that it’s like Rome in that regard – 7 hills I mean? ) but they are all so gorgeous, some dating back to the 15th Century. And the buildings (yes some are crumbling and dilapidated) are so colourful in contrast. It’s a city with a chequered past, surviving many invasions, cultural changes, political onslaughts and much more. The city itself, and the people who live there, are very resilient – and I hope they stay that way in the current political situation.

So why are we moving back to cold, miserable Aberdeen in the far north of the UK ? Well, it seems that the things I didn’t like about living in Istanbul are the things I crave now. Being able to speak to everyone in my mother tongue – mind you – after 2 weeks in Wales  I might have to refine the accent again – and I am going back to the land of the Doric speakers. I’m actually looking forward to tuning my ear to that one again. And then there’s the exercise. We aren’t happy with the fact that we have both gained a lot of weight in the last year. It seems 3 hours dog walking a day isn’t enough, and we never did get the road bikes out. Apart from the fact that the road surface quality would kill the tyres within minutes, we had a 5km stretch of beach we could cycle on – before the crowds appeared. How boring is that ? And living with so many millions of people in close proximity we couldn’t really be bothered to go out. Imagine – the wide open spaces of Scotland, joining the Aberdeen Wheelers Cycle Club – the largest in the UK – and getting back into hill walking with the Stonehaven Mountaineering and Hill Walking Club. Another book – Barney Yarney goes Hillwalking. And the weather really doesn’t bother us (or Barney). I’m too fat for my shorts anyway and, 30 deg heat for several months gets very tiring. We’ll be very happy having BBQs in the back garden with our fleeces on, and sometimes an umbrella up.

And then there’s the friends we left behind 6 years ago. We’ve made a real effort to keep in touch with them, firstly because we like them, but also because we knew we would be going back there at some point and would need to rekindle the relationships again. We’ve already got a few social occasions lined up ! And of course the family. The girls have both got kittens recently – they are keen for them to meet Barney  – and are already discussing how it will all work out when they come to stay. Imagine – our daughters will be popping in for a meal after work, or visiting for the weekend. And yes, Christmas is already a discussion point. I am smiling hugely as I write this.

So we are now caught up. What we loved about Istanbul and what we are looking forward to in the future. The next installment will be all about the steps and hassle we have had to go through to shape the future the way we want it. 

Filling in the gaps

This morning I have left Istanbul, bound for Wales, final destination Aberdeen – for the start of the next phase in the Yarnold adventures.  It hasn’t been an easy transition as there has been so much to think about to make the move as seamless as possible, so I thought I would like to use this opportunity to resurrect the blog I started when we transitioned to Istanbul from Singapore in August 2016 – just 19 months ago. As you will know (if you read the previous blog) I love to write so, if you are taking the time to read this then I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I will enjoy writing it.

Where to start ? I need to cover the whole process I guess, from the decision point, to now (leaving Istanbul) to finally settling in Aberdeen in April. But first I guess I should fill in the gaps from where I left off – the day that Paul finished his training as a Turkish Airlines Captain, and took to the skies again.

What an amazing experience it has been. It’s the most culturally diverse experience we will ever have - and that says something after having had the privilege of travelling throughout South East Asia when we lived in Singapore. There just aren’t enough adjectives that will cover it in one readable sentence. But you will get the drift as you read on.

I guess the most notable achievement has been the adoption of a street dog – Barney Yarney. (And just wait a while on this one – my head is bursting with stuff about him – I feel the book writing phase is about to start.) As I said to Paul a while back – he is the best and worst thing we have ever done. We have tied ourselves to this gorgeous animal, made our travel lives a lot more difficult, have to commit several hours a day to walking him, and have planned the entire move back to the UK around him. But the joy he brings us (80% of the time) is incredible. I can’t wait to see him again in less than 24 hours when he is dropped off at Nanny’s and Grampa’s for a 2 week initiation into Welsh and Family life. It’s going to be a whole Barney Yarney book in itself that one. Barney Yarney goes to Wales.

Speaking of Street Dogs – I went to see an exhibition on Tuesday, with my lovely cultural friend Fiona, about the Street Dogs of Istanbul. I hadn’t realised how unique they are. This is something I shall really miss. There are around 18 million (official) people living in Istanbul, and hundreds of thousands street dogs and street cats. They have been written about by travellers as far back as the 1400’s and have 3 times been exiled to one of the islands off Istanbul over the centuries. That was horrible as they were starved and left to die. But the local people always defended them and they were allowed to breed again and live on the streets. I’m telling you – a street dog is better cared for than most refugees and homeless people. The locals keep their scraps of food and even buy dog food to feed them. We often used to stop and talk to the mad cat woman on our beach walks (This is another book actually – Barney Yarney and his Street Dog Friends). Anyway, it turns out she wasn’t mad at all, just a bit afraid of dogs and over-protective to the cats – but our one was persistent and won her over to the point that she would look for a stick for him every morning – not that he was very appreciative of it – but at least she tried. Back to the street dogs – they are (generally) very docile, love to be petted, and allowed Barney to join their gangs. They went around in small packs, keeping only to their territory. As soon as we walked into another street dog territory they would wave us on our way, and meet up with us again on our way back. Barney is going to see a heck of a difference in the UK when he only gets to play with household pets. I’m not looking forward to letting him off the lead on his first few walks. He’s going to need a re-programming exercise. First Obedience Training booked for 2:30pm on 31^st March. Not sure if she will be training the dog or the owners though !

So what else have we achieved? Once again – travel. Because of the dog (!!!) we haven’t been able to fully make use of all the travel opportunities we could have, given that we got 90% discount on Turkish Airlines flights and flew Business Class most of the time – not today though – I am getting used to life down the back again. Not so bad as they did give me a whole row of 4 to myself since Business Class was full. Nae Bad. So – Travel. We have travelled a fair amount within Turkey, but not enough – on skiing holidays, sailing holidays and typical tourist holidays. We also managed to take a cycling holiday in Salzburg and a trip to Vienna (that’s Austria done), a trip to Pisa and Florence (Italy done) and, best of all, a very cheap trip to Tokyo which included skiing (that’s Asia finished). Missed out all of Eastern Europe though. Barney gets to do that ahead of us as he’s being driven (as I write) from one end of Europe to the other – quite literally – look at the map ! That’s another book – Barney Yarney Travels Across Europe. (Although I think I might have to embellish that one as he can’t see anything from his cage in a van, and I’m not with him to see the sights.)

Speaking of sailing – Captain Yarnold is now Captain Squared. A Captain of the sky and the sea. He achieved a life ambition of becoming qualified as a Day Skipper which means we can take the girls (and their partners) on a 60^th birthday celebratory sail around the Greek islands this Summer. How cool is that? And I get to be his competent first mate, although with the family on board I think I might get relegated to the galley to do the cooking, while Catrin sunbathes, Ffion map reads, Chris is in charge of engineering, and David uses his past experience to help Paul.

I am going to stop this page as I don’t want it to get too boring for you, and will add to this in a few days, looking at what we loved about life in Istanbul and Yesilkoy.