About town

With Angelique at the mall, eating 'pide'



I finally learned how to use the metro!  After another late night of football and beers, i got up late today.  Our basement apartment is so dark, i needed to get out of the house, so i met up with Angelique, a player from New Zealand, and we went to the mall.  She has been here for a year, and showed me how to buy a metro/bus card and how to get around town.  There are just two metro lines here, but a stop is right by my apartment and so I can get to anywhere I need to go very easily.  It is a saturday, and the mall was packed!  I bought a DVD player, we had some 'pide' (like a Turkish pizza) at the food court, and shopped around a bit before heading back home.  I live on 8th street, next comes 4th street, then 7th street.  It makes no sense, but everyone knows how to get around.

My neighborhood is great, and many locals say it is the best place to live in the city because the streets are full of cafes and shops.  7th street is the most popular, and is lined non-stop with cafes and shops.  Between the many cafes and shops, it even has a McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks.  In this neighborhood, it seems that every third shop is a grocery of some sort, and most of them keep their drinks and fruit outside on the sidewalk.  Some stay open all night, while others close shop but simply cover their piles of fruit with a tarp for the night.  Most restaurants have indoor and outdoor seating, and when they close for the night, they find no need to lock up all their outdoor furniture, like places do in the States.

Right now I live in a tiny 1 bedroom basement apartment.  I sleep in the bedroom on a twin bed with springs poking through, while my flatmate sleeps on the couch in the living room. It is fine, but since it is so small and so dark, i may take a look at the other apartment that i was offered, which they say is huge and on the third floor, so hopefully not as dark, but older and scrubbier.  That apartment would also be a bit closer to 7th street and to the ice rink, which right now is a 15 minute walk up-hill.