There is a note on the bedside table. It reads ”Pillow Menu. Please select your pillow preference from the following options: Goose Feathered Pillow, Firm Cotton Filled Pillow, Soft Non-Allergic Pillow or Fiber Pillow. Please place the completed card on your bedside table, or please call our Guest Service Center.”.

Mon dieu. As an international guest of the Altin Koza Film Festival, you get the golden treatment. Really. Silky soft bubbles in the bathtub. Friendly faces smiling. A warm scent of oranges and sandalwood in the corridor leading to the spa. It’s a little overwhelming. Day one, two and three, I reacted with silence. I actually couldn’t speak. I could smile and walk, look and laugh, but not talk.

I’m over it now. Really. I choose the Goose Feathered Pillow. And I can talk again. Tesekur ederim - thank you