The day started with a lie in finishing off the new Donna Tartt novel 'The Goldfinch'. I had never read her before so was greatly pleased to find a fantastic new writer (to me) and a great book. The writing was a bit wobbly at the end, but Ms Tartt would not be the first good writer to struggle with an ending.
After lounging in bed for far too long I strolled up through Azadi Park and along the back streets to the bazaar. Normally the bazaar is fairly quiet on a Friday, but my birthday coincides with the first day of the Eid holiday so the place was packed. The main street was closed off with make shift stalls lining both sides of the street selling everything imaginable.
The next stop was to pick up by newly tailored Kurdish outfit which together with the Iranian cloth of a fine wool and cotton blend, cost all of $70. I tried it on for size and it fitted very well. The pants are the ultimate 'fat' pants - you never could possibly grow out of these trousers which are tied at the waist with a draw string. Voluminous is hardly the word, but they are amazing comfortable and cool to wear. The jacket goes over the shirt and fits into the trousers with a very long cumberbund to tie it all together. You really wouldn't want to go for a pee in a hurry.
After picking up the clothes, my next point of call was Toqif Halwachy which is is located in a small arcarde with about 10 other tiny stores all selling the same thing - a small range of nougats, lokum (Turkish Delight) and suquk, all handmade. Tofiq Halwachy has the best reputation in the bazaar and the family have made a fortune from the small store and own many buildings and apartments in Sulaymaniyah.
Suquk is my favourite local sweet, partly because it is not all that sweet. It is made by threading shelled walnuts on to short length of string which is then soaked in congealed grape juice. The grape dries to the consistency and colour of soft liquorice and then the strings are hung up until required.When eaten suquk is then cut into bite sized pieces.
What particularly appeals is that the grape juice is just slightly sweet and not sickly like baklava etc.
I headed back down through the bazaar with my next stop a fruit juice stall. These are all over the bazaar and for just 1000 dinar ($1) you get a freshly squeezed drink, ranging from the usual orange, carrot or apple to the more exotic, such as fig or pomegranate. Like every store in the bazaar these are tiny places with a narrow row of seats where you sit and order your drink. Naturally the quality and price varies from stall to stall, but all are noisy busy places.
My final stop for the day was Chalak's Cafe where I had coffee and cake and chatted with Chalak who was unusually dressed in traditional clothes. I had arranged for business cards to be printed and I met the printer and sorted out the payment.
By this time it was mid afternoon and the heat was building (29c) so it was clearly time for an afternoon read and nap....
In the early evening I met up with my friend Aso for dinner at the Venice restaurant not far from the motel. I had chosen the restaurant on a recommendation, but unfortunately I chose badly - the food was average and the service indifferent, though it was a very pleasant balmy evening for sitting outside.We made up for that disappointment by heading off to the Shawany Malik Cafe for sisha.
Sisha cafes have a very pleasant and congenial atmosphere with slouchy chairs and couches and a distinctly unhurried pace. Usually, but not exclusively a male preserve, no one, the staff in particularly, rushes around in a shisha cafe. As well as just idly chatting and smoking sisha, patrons play backgammon and this evening some had come into to watch football - England versus Montenegro.
Having never been a smoker, I actually enjoy smoking shisha, though shisha tobacco is much worse for your health than cigarette tobacco. The humid smoke is absorbed more quickly by the lungs than dry cigarette smoke, but I figure shisha once a month isn't going to kill me.
We lounged around there till well after midnight and now at 60 years and one day, I thought 1am was a respectable time to go to bed.
As it happenen Aso had also bought a pair of Kurdish trousers for my birthday, but the ones he bought were made of a very light cotton and supremely comfortable to wear. They are like massive loose track pants....
After lounging in bed for far too long I strolled up through Azadi Park and along the back streets to the bazaar. Normally the bazaar is fairly quiet on a Friday, but my birthday coincides with the first day of the Eid holiday so the place was packed. The main street was closed off with make shift stalls lining both sides of the street selling everything imaginable. The next stop was to pick up by newly tailored Kurdish outfit which together with the Iranian cloth of a fine wool and cotton blend, cost all of $70. I tried it on for size and it fitted very well. The pants are the ultimate 'fat' pants - you never could possibly grow out of these trousers which are tied at the waist with a draw string. Voluminous is hardly the word, but they are amazing comfortable and cool to wear. The jacket goes over the shirt and fits into the trousers with a very long cumberbund to tie it all together. You really wouldn't want to go for a pee in a hurry.
After picking up the clothes, my next point of call was Toqif Halwachy which is is located in a small arcarde with about 10 other tiny stores all selling the same thing - a small range of nougats, lokum (Turkish Delight) and suquk, all handmade. Tofiq Halwachy has the best reputation in the bazaar and the family have made a fortune from the small store and own many buildings and apartments in Sulaymaniyah.Suquk is my favourite local sweet, partly because it is not all that sweet. It is made by threading shelled walnuts on to short length of string which is then soaked in congealed grape juice. The grape dries to the consistency and colour of soft liquorice and then the strings are hung up until required.When eaten suquk is then cut into bite sized pieces.
I headed back down through the bazaar with my next stop a fruit juice stall. These are all over the bazaar and for just 1000 dinar ($1) you get a freshly squeezed drink, ranging from the usual orange, carrot or apple to the more exotic, such as fig or pomegranate. Like every store in the bazaar these are tiny places with a narrow row of seats where you sit and order your drink. Naturally the quality and price varies from stall to stall, but all are noisy busy places.My final stop for the day was Chalak's Cafe where I had coffee and cake and chatted with Chalak who was unusually dressed in traditional clothes. I had arranged for business cards to be printed and I met the printer and sorted out the payment.
By this time it was mid afternoon and the heat was building (29c) so it was clearly time for an afternoon read and nap....
In the early evening I met up with my friend Aso for dinner at the Venice restaurant not far from the motel. I had chosen the restaurant on a recommendation, but unfortunately I chose badly - the food was average and the service indifferent, though it was a very pleasant balmy evening for sitting outside.We made up for that disappointment by heading off to the Shawany Malik Cafe for sisha.
Sisha cafes have a very pleasant and congenial atmosphere with slouchy chairs and couches and a distinctly unhurried pace. Usually, but not exclusively a male preserve, no one, the staff in particularly, rushes around in a shisha cafe. As well as just idly chatting and smoking sisha, patrons play backgammon and this evening some had come into to watch football - England versus Montenegro.
Having never been a smoker, I actually enjoy smoking shisha, though shisha tobacco is much worse for your health than cigarette tobacco. The humid smoke is absorbed more quickly by the lungs than dry cigarette smoke, but I figure shisha once a month isn't going to kill me.We lounged around there till well after midnight and now at 60 years and one day, I thought 1am was a respectable time to go to bed.
I don't know why some of the photos have drifted - they all looked fine in the preview and when I try to edit them, they are all in place :(
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Peter, love the blogs
ReplyDeleteCould you please tell me how to get a pair of those pants? I had a pair for 25 years - finally they gave out. No one makes them like the Kurds.
ReplyDelete