I'm typing this in a teahouse next to the Black Sea, in a pretty little town called Amasra. I arrived yesterday and after a brief search for accommodation that I was willing to pay for, I ended up in a room in a private home. There are clothes in all the drawers and closets in my room, so I speculate that this is the room of a child who has grown up and left the family home. The residents appear to be a late-middle-aged couple and a very elderly mother. They're sweet as can be, but don't speak any English, so many hand signals are being exchanged.

The house is in "the castle," a Roman-Byzantine fortification built around the perimeter of an island that's connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway. (You can just about see the house, a tasteful psychedelic green,  on the right side of the previous photo.) You can squeeze a small European-style car through the original gate--if you're very, very careful.

   










My hosts have NO WIFI!!! So there's not much to do here except relax, enjoy the view, and drink tea. Which is what I intend to do on my last day. I might go up to the tip of the island and watch the sunset over the Black Sea. Sounds like a full day to me.
   
(Sent from Istanbul the next day.)