All by myself....again

Last week Defne decided to go to Istanbul to study. The trip was going to last 6 days, then 10 days and now there is no definitive date of return. With no one to hang out with at night, I have ended up wandering the streets and then making my way back to Defne's (soon to be ex) husband's restaurant. I usually have the tavuk sis but tonight settled on a sebzli pizza and a glass of red wine. There was a photo shoot going on tonight at the restaurant and never being one to turn down an opportunity to get my picture taken, I jumped right in.

The funny thing about Defne being gone is that now I have become friends with her husband because I think he is a little lonely too. He's a bit introverted at times so we do things like read our books together at the coffee shop but mostly I just hang out at his restaurant and eat his food for free. If you are ever in Izmir you must stop by Bistrom and try the truffle cake. It's to kill for. I also have befriended the manager at the restaurant. I don't know his name which is really awkward because by now I have had at least 8 hours of conversation with him and it seems a little late in the game to tell him I don't know his name. His English is terrible so I pretend to give him English lessons and he pretends like he will pay me for it and we all have a good laugh.
I also talked my way into a gym membership at Swissotel which is kind of like The Fours Seasons Hotel so that's where you can find me between 2-4pm on weekdays. I tried to bargain a good price for the month and then just acted real naive and smiley so they decided I should just come work out for free. That same day I got some free fried bananas from this guy Jo Jo (when I asked him what his Turkish name was he said "Ahmet") soooooo....I'm hoping to keep that lucky streak going.