Last Day of 2009 in Fethiye

Well, this time last year we had friends out for New Year and it was proper brass monkies! This year? We're basking in glorious sunshine. The weather in Fethiye at the moment is fantastic! We've been for a gentle stroll along the beach this afternoon (without coats I might add) and had a couple of Efes Pilsens at Güven's, sitting by the sea. Lovely!! We even saw a couple of kids playing in the water.

This evening, well, we'll be in Deep Blue Bar and whatever happens, happens. Who knows?! Time will tell. I shall be going armed with my camera just so we can jog our memories of the evening's events tomorrow. We're thinking most of tomorrow is going to be spent in horizontal mode on the couch watching tonight's Jools Holland.

Whatever you're doing tonight and wherever you are, hope you all have a great time. Hope we do too...Cheers! Şerefe!

Happy New Year and Mutlu Yıllar!!!!!

Highlights, Lowlights 'N' What We've Got To Look Forward To In Turkey In 2010

As this is the penultimate day of 2009 and I have no idea what we're going to be getting up to tomorrow - apart from going to Deep Blue Bar of course - I thought I'd have a look back at our 2009 in Fethiye and a look forward to 2010. First of all though, the weather in Fethiye this morning is beautiful, sunny and clear so we're going to go up to the Sundial Hotel to take some photos of the lovely views over Fethiye Bay. Of course it'd be rude not to have a drink while we're there. This is a photo I took while we were up there one day this year and it's a bit rubbish so I want some more.

View over Fethiye Bay from the Sundial Hotel

Well happily, not too many lowlights of 2009 so I'm gonna tag em at the side of my highlights because they seem to relate.

Highlights of 2009 in Turkey

• England won the Ashes - Yeahy!! (and we're about to win the Boxing Day Test in S.Africa)
• Oli cycling through Turkey from England to Australia for the Ashes
• England qualified for the football World Cup - Yeahy!! Lowlight - Turkey didn't make it. Boo!!!
• I lost weight Jan-April - Yeahy!! Lowlight - I put all the weight back on in summer. Boo!!!
• Got off our backsides and started a jogging programme - Yeahy!! I think.
• Got our backsides in gear and started this Turkey blog - definitely yeahy!! 
• Went to Dalyan to watch Özlem the loggerhead turtle be released back into the wild. Aww!
• Saw the Türk Yıldızları (Turkish Airforce formation team) at the Ölüdeniz Air Games - Yeahy!
• Fethiye Spor football club got floodlights - never been to watch Fethiye Spor but I'm sure they're very proud of their lights!
• Deep Blue Bar got posh new toilets and lighting - Yeahy!!

Looking Forward To 2010 In Turkey

• Istanbul is the European Capital of Culture for 2010...
• ...therefore, going to Istanbul for my birthday.
• Turkey is bidding for the 2016 European Cup. We're up against France and Italy. Come on Turkey!!!
• We will run for 30 minutes solid at some point soon...
• I will learn how to use Photoshop...which I have just downloaded and it looks like complete gobbledygook at the minute.
• We will go for a walk in the Lake District when we visit the UK later this year...

Seasonal Food in Turkey - Hamsi

Around mid-November these lovely tasting little fish start to swim towards warmer waters from the Black Sea. The Black Sea fishermen drop their nets and we get rewarded on Fethiye fish market with an abundance of yummy hamsi (anchovies). I've seen photos on the internet of the Black Sea fishermen knee deep in them. Hamsi will probably be available on the fish market for the next couple of weeks or so.

Fresh Hamsi for sale on Fethiye Fish Market yesterday.

Roll them in a bit of spiced flour and deep fry them for a minute or two - mmmmmm, they're amazing. You can eat the whole fish, once they're cleaned of course, a bit like whitebait. Hamsi ekmeği (anchovy butty to you and me) is for sale in most of the smaller restaurants and lokantas for about 3 lira at this time of year as well. It's just fish eating season and I love it! I want one now!

Take a look at our Turkish recipe for hamsi.

Another Fethiye Harbour Update

As 2009 draws to a close we thought we'd do an end of year Fethiye harbour update. We had to walk into Fethiye today so I went armed with camera and took some photos as we were passing. They're a bit dark sorry - the weather in Fethiye today was a tad on the dark and gloomy side.

It really is all hands on deck at the moment but needless to say, we are still none the wiser (neither are our friends) as to what any of these buildings are still going to be. We're still thinking offices of some sort because the divisions that are appearing within the frames are quite small. Some of the buildings (including this one) have also shrunk! The metal frame was there one day and gone the next...ours is not to reason why, dear reader!

Well, I'm supposing this is the general idea for Fethiye harbour. All the buildings are similar in size and shape. They all have these huge metal frames with smaller, lower divides inside. The outside walls are being clad in wooden panels and there are lots of curved and angular shapes. All very modern looking which suits this part of Fethiye with it being a developing area.

If you've been following all this development, you'll know that the lanscaping between the buildings has changed about three times. Well, it's changed again. The company who are doing the project now must have got a new garden designer in and paths have been dug up and relaid and shrubs and trees planted. All very 'Groundforce.' Looks good now but you can tell it'll look better once the gardens have 'matured.' (I'm copying off Alan Titchmarsh there.)

In my last Fethiye harbour update I put a photo in and you could see a raised concrete area. There are two of these and they are massive so we assumed they were foundations for more buildings. No. As you can see from this photo, it's going to be landscaped gardens - exotic palm trees n everythin! Why all the concrete, I have absolutely no idea but we did notice some electrical wiring today so possibly water features and lighting? Who knows? Time (no doubt a lot of it, too) will tell...

A General Fethiye Christmas Update

Boxing Day Sunset, Çalış Beach, Fethiye

Well, I think the only adjective that befits how I feel this morning is 'jaded.' We both felt the same when we woke up but Barry's progressed to feeling 'not too bad.' Not moving today. We're listening to Aggers on Test Match Special as I write and neither of us intend on doing much else.

Christmas Day was great. Very hectic and needless to say, the fridge is full of all sorts of food. Not being the type of folk who like to throw things away, we will get through it all. At least the chocolate log went on the day. Thought it might. We had decided it was far too sweet but the Turkish guests with their sweet teeth thought it was lovely and got rid of the lot.

A few posts ago, writing about Christmas in Fethiye, I mentioned we would be making mulled wine and that the Turks would learn to like it. Well, we've created a monster. It was definitely the success of the day - probably because we added loads more brandy to it than we did last year. Mmmmm. Barry's mum was 'not drinking' all day and got through three big mugs of it. I think she still thinks she didn't have a drink all day! And the Turkish friends who didn't like it last year were going back for seconds and thirds and...

Boxing Day, yesterday, was a case of hair of the dog. The weather in Fethiye was absolutely gorgeous - sunny and warm - so we went for a walk along Çalış Beach to Güven's Bar. Just to say Merry Christmas to Carol and Güven you understand. Being polite. And so, drinking commenced again and we didn't stop until we left Deep Blue Bar (more mulled wine) later in the evening...hence, jaded! I did manage to take a Boxing Day Fethiye photo though. This is yesterday's beautiful sunset taken from Güven's Bar at the end of Çalış Beach.

Visa Renewal & Day Trip - Kaş to Meis

Yesterday, we had to renew our visas and what a lovely pre-Christmas outing it was too. A day trip to the Greek Island of Meis (Kastellorizo), whether you're on holiday in this part of Turkey or you live here, is an absolute essential as far as we're concerned. We wrote about Kaş a while back. A 20 minute sail from lovely Kaş and you're in another world. It's a tiny island, the people are Greek, the buildings are Greek, but the nearest Greek island is Rhodes (70 nautical miles away) and Turkey is almost within touching distance. Borders are funny things.

We've been going to Meis for years and have always used the same guy to take us there because he was recommended by a friend. He used to take you across on a little fishing boat but times are changing and he now takes you there in 20 minutes aboard the Meis Express. Not being a sea-faring bird, I much prefer this method of travel - bigger and quicker and you can sunbathe on top in summer. Yesterday, we lounged on the bean bags.

Getting From Kaş To The Greek Island of Meis

So this is the company we use to take us to Meis. Normally, we take the first bus of the day from Fethiye to Kaş and Turcan (the boat owner) sends a car to Kaş bus station to pick us up. I have no idea if this is a permanent arrangement but the company have now started a shuttle bus from Fethiye. So yesterday, we got picked up from our local supermarket, taken to Kaş, across to Meis and back and then we got a lift back to Fethiye. This was 80 lira including our £10 visa fee. Bargain. If it changes, I'll let you know - enjoy it while you can!

Meet Turcan - the little smiling guy. He's your boat skipper. The man next to him is always around - something to do with the Late Breaks company that Turcan runs his trips through. We think he must have have had an early start yesterday because he drove from Kaş to Fethiye to pick us up at 7:45am.

Now we reckon they have employed a new marketing guy. Either that or all the staff were in a good mood because the weather was so good and we all got a Turkish çay before setting off. Lovely!

We couldn't have picked a better day yesterday. This is the view of Meis from Kaş as the boat pulled out of the harbour. We've never seen it so clearly before. You can just about make out the buildings nestled into the hillside.

And I was a bit nervous about the crossing - you might have noticed I've mentioned it a couple of times recently. Well - just look at that flat, calm sea. The smoothest crossing we've ever had. We just sat back on our beanbags, sun on our faces and chugged along...

...leaving Kaş behind to head towards Meis. Barry was a tad on the bored side as he likes 'a bit of fight to his sea.' As you can see, it was more like a lake yesterday and I was in my element. I'm more than happy to have as little 'fight to the sea' as possible. 

Turcan was probably a bit disappointed too. He told us about last Friday (when our friends sailed to Meis with him). There was definitely a twinkle in his eye when he told us how good the 3 and 4 metre waves were! No thanks.

After 20 minutes or so you suddenly arrive in the perfect, stereotypical Greek harbour that is Meis. It resembles an idyllic a setting from a holiday brochure - except this is definitely real.

The Rough Guide to Greek Islands describes the island as a place that you will either want to leave after one hour or you will want to stay for at least a week. We're definitely in the latter category. We keep meaning to stay overnight during the summer months but we just never get round to it. Think that might have to be a 2010 New Year's resolution.

This is the Meis Express that ferries you between Kaş and the island. In the summer months, the path you can see along the harbour is lined with tables and umbrellas. We normally go to these restaurants for a pork-fix (they do an amazing home-made Cumberland Sausage style Greek sausage) but yesterday, due to Christmas spending, we made do with a packed lunch. Of course we still made sure we had enough Euros for a couple of the local, lovely, cold, refreshing Mythos beers. (Can you tell we like Mythos?)

If you like a bit of stroll round and a nosey (like we do) then you can head up and away from the harbour and you get some fantastic views of the island and back to Kaş in the distance. Many of the houses on the island are now being restored to their former glory and there are some beautiful buildings. The ferry you can see coming in sails to Meis from Rhodes three times a week and carries cargo and passengers between the islands. It always amazes us how it gets into the harbour - it's massive. I've got loads of photos but I'll save those for another post.

If you've been tempted by this post to visit Meis, Turcan has a website that's worth a visit because it plays 'Zorba The Greek' while you're looking at it. But, the trip we went on yesterday is advertised in some of the local English language newspapers in Fethiye and you can just give Turcan a ring to arrange when you want to go. Late Breaks have an office in Kaş and also along the Karagözler in Feythiye. Crossings are usually daily over summer. Check with Turcan or Late Breaks about winter crossings. 

To all who have read this blog so far, have a lovely, lovely Christmas. We'll no doubt be posting between Christmas and New Year so keep an eye out for updates.

Merry Christmas!

Seasonal Food in Turkey - December Oranges

I wrote about tangerines a few days ago, I know, so it has to be the turn of the orange today. It really is citrus season here and I don't know if it's been a particularly good harvest this year but we've just got back from the Tuesday market in Fethiye and there are tangerines, lemons and oranges everywhere. The aromas are lovely. (Not as lovely as our pomander that I wrote about yesterday of course.) Mmmm, that's fresh orange juice going in our mulled wine on Christmas Day then. Can almost taste it now...

Almost getting there with the Christmas plans. Hair dyed, hairdressers postponed till Boxing Day - can't be bothered to sit in the hairdressers and we're maybe at Deep Blue Bar on Boxing Night so I can have a cut and blow then - pressies bought and nearly all wrapped and now there's only the beef and alcohol to buy.

I must be on more of a mission than I thought I was though because today I bravely entered the scrum that is Turkish women hunting out a bargain on the market. There's a stall that sells cheap tablecloths so I thought I'd see if there were any festive looking ones. There were only a couple of women there when we arrived and I saw a gold one which looked quite good. Held it up. 'Great,' I thought, 'I wonder if there are two the same.' So, I wedged the tablecloth between me and the stand to rummage for another one. This is where I was caught unawares. A hand swooshed in from the left and tried to grab my gold, Christmas tablecloth.

Picked the wrong girl today, Mrs! In a normal situation I would have just let the woman take it - I'm a placid type of girl - but this is my Christmas shopping. I did feel a bit guilty when I found another one exactly the same and then bought both of them. But, the tablecloths are all there to be bought and on this stall, if you don't grab, you don't get. A minor victory!

Weather in Fethiye today has been absolutely glorious. 'No coat' weather. All looking good for the visa trip tomorrow. I'm cautiously optimistic about a good crossing...

Christmas Preparations in Fethiye

I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter where you live in the world, Christmas is Christmas (to those who celebrate it anyway) and you still get all hectic doing food shopping and pressie shopping. At least it isn't a holiday here so we don't have to battle the hoards at the last minute on Christmas Eve, and if we do forget anything, we can go to the Fethiye market or to the supermarket on Christmas Day. I've got every day taken up this week with stuff to do so Christmas Day and Boxing Day are going to involve us being determined to enjoy ourselves. Tia Maria coffees and mulled wine. M-mmm! Our Turkish visitors were far from convinced with the mulled wine last year but I'll press on with it. You can't beat it. They'll learn!

For reasons unknown, I also have to do a massive cleaning session in the house just because the tree is up. Why does the house have to be spotless for the Christmas tree? Just because. So, when I've finished this, I'm going to empty all the kitchen cupboards to clean them. Christmasitis, that's what it is. The oven was scrubbed yesterday as well. Stupid just stupid. There's going to be bloody big joint of beef in there on Christmas Day, spitting fat everywhere. Nice though. All common sense goes straight out of the window where Christmas is concerned.

What do you reckon to Barry's pomander? I was pondering which photo to put on here for today and then I remembered he'd been all creative and done this. Granted, most people would put a pretty ribbon round it but like I said, we're flagging - and he's a bloke. I can't believe he sat and did this actually. It smells all citrusy and spicy.

Two days to go till the visa trip and the weather in Fethiye today is 'breezy.' Translate as 'proper windy.' Still time for the weather to settle and a smooth crossing to Meis. Please?
We love Christmas here. Take a look at why we choose to spend Christmas in Fethiye.

Seasonal Food in Turkey - Hurma

As it's Sunday, we've again partaken in our second favourite pastime (after sitting in bars) of going to the market. As part of 'Seasonal Food in Turkey,' our intention was to try and keep with the festive theme and take some photos of the dreaded sprouts. They've been around on the market for the last three weeks or so but not today. There's a sprout drought! Could it be the bad weather we've had this week? We don't know, but Christmas just won't be Christmas if I can't force feed ourselves a couple of sprouts. We've got one last chance at Fethiye market next Tuesday.

Anyway, as there were no sprouts, I took a photo of these things instead - equally as traumatic as the sprout in our opinion. For years, we've looked at these on the markets around Fethiye and wondered what they are - our sheltered life in evidence again I think, but then Wigan's two fruit and veg stalls probably didn't see much of a market for them.

Hurma (persimmon) for sale on Çalış Market

The problem with trying to find out the English translations of weird and wonderful fruit and vegetables in Fethiye is that the stall holders, and everyone else for that matter, seem to have their own names for everything. The most common word we've seen on the market translates as 'date.' No, not having that one. Whilst at a Turkish friend's house a couple of weeks ago, we asked about it. 'Oh no,' he said, 'this is a Franka Elması.' Some sort of apple. Not having that one either. 

This same Turkish friend then cut some up and insisted we try it. It's his favourite fruit and he was wolfing them down. We'd been curious for ages and love trying new foods but both of us can safely say that our curiosity is now more than satisfied and we shan't be trying them again. It's easy to see why they're popular here. Turks generally have a very sweet tooth and that was the sweetest, oddest textured food that ever passed my not very sweet teeth. It made my teeth tingle. If you've never had them and you like sweet things, give em a go because you'll probably love them.

Oh, and we hit the jackpot last week. One of the stalls named this fruit as 'hurma'. We mumbled it to ourselves all the way back home then we didn't forget and opened the dictionary. At last. These big orange tomato looking things are persimmons. Wiki tells me they're very popular in Japan, as well. See, you start writing a blog and you become a mine of useless information.

A Day Trip To Kaş From Fethiye

Kaş is a lovely day out from Fethiye and there's a reason why we're writing about it today. We've not just pulled it from nowhere. Hopefully, we will be in Kaş on Wednesday because we will be sailing over to the Greek island of Meis (Kastellorizo) to renew our tourist visa. We say 'hopefully' because some friends of ours went yesterday. They'd already had one crossing cancelled because of the horrendous weather. Yesterday was also bad weather but deemed safe enough to make the short sail across to Meis. Please let it be a still day next Wednesday.

Kalkan from the D400

Kaş is a really pretty place to visit. We love going there - and we're there quite a lot because we do our visa trip from there most of the time. From Fethiye, you can drive there or go by bus; either way, the journey is amazing as you will go along the D400 which passes through the Xanthos Valley (still one of our favourite places in Turkey) and then becomes the coastal road that winds along the mountainside Mediterranean coast. The road eventually passes above Kalkan (see photo above) and numerous stunning bays, the most famous of these being Kaputaş Beach. White sand, turquoise sea, sheer cliff faces. You've just got to take your time when you're driving there - get out of the car and take some photos. It seems a waste to rush the journey.

Kaş was formerly a Greek town and this is obvious in the old centre. Small, ornate balconies wrapped in decorative wrought iron, cascading fuchsia-pink bougainvillea and restaurants with blue-painted window frames.

Kaş old town

The photo below is of a restaurant where we sometimes sit for a drink because it's very pretty, rickety and has amazing views over the bay. We can't remember the name of it off the top of our heads but it's at the top of a steep cobbled street near the Lycian sarcophagus. Our favourite bar though is a tiny little cosy place called Eski Ev on the main square.

This restaurant in Kaş has beautiful views

As for eating out in Kaş, well if you're like us and permanently on a budget, you'll be on the lookout for yummy Turkish street food or a lokanta. This is no easy task in Kaş but our noses are well trained now and we can always sniff some out somewhere. A few streets back from the harbour is the market and fish area. There's a tiny balık ekmek (fish sandwich) place there with only two tables and he makes amazing whiting sandwiches, calamari, mussels and a few other seafoods. Four of us ate there recently. We all had a fish half-bread each and shared a plate of fried mussels and a plate of calamari, all served with rocket salad. It was all beautifully cooked and cost us 30TL (about £12) between the four of us. Now that's what we love about being in Turkey!

Fethiye to Kaş is 2 and a half hours by bus (12 lira each way) or 1and a half to 2 hours by car (depending on how fast you drive and how many tractors you get stuck behind and how many photos you take.)

Get Prices For Hotels In Kaş On Turkey's For Life

Cricket in Turkey? Surely Not...

As this is supposed to be a blog about Turkey, we've been wondering about how much longer we can get away with warbling about the cricket and Test Match Special and then, this morning, bingo! Hürriyet online newspaper had a report about a British man arriving in Istanbul to arrange a cricket match. Curiouser and curiouser. Anyway, this story has now taken up most of our day so I feel justified in telling you about it and giving it a great big unapologetic plug!

When the boys (England) won the Ashes in summer, one man - who we have now found out is called Oli - decided to set off on his bicycle with the aim of arriving in Australia for the next Ashes series. Each country he passes through, he is hoping to spread the word about cricket and arrange some matches. Well, last night, he arrived in Istanbul from Bulgaria, hence the Hurriyet story and us finding out about it. Apparently, he has managed to arrange a cricket match for tomorrow. Who is going to be playing in it, we have no idea but hats off to him. We just get looks of bemusement whenever we mention or attempt to describe the sport. He's got a blog (we've put a link to it on the left somewhere) so we're hoping he's going to say what happened in this match.

The cricket match is to be played in front of Aya Sofya

Further research done by Barry (as I said, this has interested us all day) has revealed that Turkey actually has a cricket board in Ankara. There are 4 teams! Amazing. We've asked a Turkish friend, who comes from Ankara, about this this afternoon and he has no idea. Looks like it's going to be down to Oli to spread the word.

Anyway, Oli has a blog about his journey which told us he was being interviewed on Test Match Special this afternoon. There's a coincidence. Sod's law - storms today mean there was no electricity when the interview was broadcast but we can listen to it later online hopefully. You can link to Oli's website from the blog as well to follow his route or donate to the two charities he is raising money for. There is also a fan page on Facebook and you can follow him on Twitter. His last entry was from an hour or so ago and you'll be pleased to know he's in a pub in Istanbul watching the cricket!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree...

The tree is finally up. The good old winter weather in Fethiye nearly put pay to our plans though. It's tradition in our house that you put the tree up to Christmas music and enjoy a 'little tipple' whilst decorating it. However, thunder, lightening and torrential rain meant we couldn't leave the house to go and purchase a 'little tipple' and the electricity was peaking and troughing all day because of the storm so we were struggling to test the lights.

Somehow, Test Match Special held out throughout the day so the cricket and Jonathan 'Aggers' Agnew kept us sane, and then a gap in the clouds allowed for a mad dash to the shop - much puddle-dodging involved - for a few Efes beers. And so tree putting-up could commence. It needs more lights and a fairy or something for the top but it'll have to do for now because most of the toppings we've seen are far too big for our little tree. Good tree though isn't it? £3.99 from Asda 4 years ago. Bargain.

Just listening to Test Match Special again. The England boys are doing okay - not brilliant, but okay - the lights are twinkling on the tree, today's weather in Fethiye is fresh and sunny and we're just about to eat that old English favourite, beans on toast, for lunch. Sometimes you just need to indulge in the simple foods of life.

Turkish Music - Burhan Öçal

Well, we're supposed to be writing a blog that tells people all the things we love about Turkey. One of those things is Turkish Music.

It's a very broad subject so there's a lot to write about but we'll get round to it all over time. But today, the first person we're going to mention has to be Burhan Öçal

When we first moved to Fethiye six years ago (well, we didn't move here - we just never went home), we were in Cappadocia and there was a CD shop that constantly played Turkish music in the street. There happened to be a bar next door so we obviously became familiar with this music as we heard a lot of it. We went into the shop and asked the owner about what was playing - and so, this is the first CD we ever bought in Turkey. The owner probably thought it was a good starter kit for two young novice Brits wanting to listen to the more traditional sort of Turkish music.

Strictly speaking, this isn't purely Turkish music because it's an international affair. The Trakya All Stars are from all over Thrace and DJ Smadj is a French Tunisian. But, if you like a bit of percussion - which Burhan Öçal is most famous for - and a Roma sound with a bit of DJness thrown in, you could well love this. We do, anyway. And anyone who can pull off the Starsky n Hutch 'word on the street' 70s look has got to be worth a listen.

Anyway, this CD is where our love affair with Turkish music and Doublemoon Records started. There's loads of information on this album and Burhan Öçal on the Amazon website and he's also got his own website. We had to take a gamble and buy the CD. We've got two other albums by him but this was our first purchase so it's extra special and it's one of our most listened to albums. Click on the link below to purchase the album from our Amazon store. 

Fethiye Weather - A Harbour Photo

Şövaliye Island and Red Island from Fethiye Harbour

With regards to the weather in Fethiye, this is our favourite time of year. The lighting is moody and the sea stays flat calm - well, most days anyway. In the summer months, you only get that stillness at night and first thing in the morning and then later on the breeze whips the water up. 

Anyway, I took this photo on the way back from Fethiye market on Friday and the weather is exactly the same again today so I thought I'd share this photo. It's not a bad old stroll we have to and fro for our weekly shop of fruit and veg.


Just a couple of notes about the blog today, really. As more posts go on here, we'll be linking between them whenever it's relevant so that the blog is more interesting/useful (hopefully) to you. Those links will appear in light blue, bold text so you know they're clickable. 


We've also (hopefully - again) made it easier for you to comment by making a pop-up box appear. It's set to Google Account by default but you can still select 'anonymous' if you want. All comments are much appreciated by the way and we reply to all of them.

Seasonal Food in Turkey - Çintar Mushrooms

Çintar Mushrooms for sale on the Sunday Market in Çalış

Look at these lovelies. Usually to be found on the Fethiye and Çalış markets in November and December. We've never really thought about what type of mushrooms they were before. They've always been just çintar to us but since we've been doing the blog, you get curious about what things are. So, a little bit of internet research was necessary.

We think (if you're a mushroom enthusiast and I've got this completely wrong, please feel free to correct me) the Çintar mushroom is a Saffron Milk Cap (Lactarius Deliciosus if you're being more precise). The pictures on the internet match and it says they grow around pine trees - plenty of those in Fethiye. One site also said they are quite rare and so command high prices. 5 lira a kilo sounds good to us then. Lucky us!

Even if you're not a mushroomy person (which I'm not), these are worth a try because they're quite meaty and have a bit of a nutty, woody flavour. I looked on the internet for recipes but I don't think you can beat how we've been shown to do them. The Catalans do the same as well, apparently. Fry them up in a bit of butter and then stir in some scrambled egg. Of course, we'll be adding a bit of chilli as well. Looks like that's lunch sorted then.

Since this post, we have experimented further with the çintar mushroom. Take a look at our Turkish recipe for Çintar Mushroom and Spinach Börek. We've also made a çintar mushroom risotto and the ever so simple but never to be beaten çintar mushrooms on toast. If you make any of these dishes, we'd love to know how you get on. Let us know in the comments below.

Fethiye Earthquake

All right, I'm exaggerating. It was an earth tremor and most people we asked last night in Deep Blue Bar didn't even feel it. We did though!!! Oh yes. Sitting on the couch being rocked from side to side and then you can't decide if it's finished because it still feels like you're rocking, like when you get off a boat. 4.5 on the Richter Scale between Fethiye and Rhodes according to the website we use - not that we're obsessed or anything. And, we've also heard there was a tornado off Ölüdeniz as well. Something very odd going on with the weather in Fethiye at the moment. It's all kickin' off. Oh, I'm grouping weather with earthquakes because all our Turkish friends always talk about 'earthquake weather.' Does earthquake weather exist? It does in Fethiye anyway.

Kont the Dog hogging the bar area in Deep Blue Bar

Anyway, meet Kont. Brits, you might wanna be careful how you pronounce that one. (It means Count.) I hope everyone who knows him is now going 'Awwww!' Kont is the Deep Blue Bar dog and he's the best great big bear of a lovely dog ever. He had to pop up in the blog at some point - I'm surprised it's taken us this long. Well, we were talking with our friend last night and he said, 'Kont's been very strange today. Tail between his legs and staying very close to me all day. He wouldn't leave my side.' Everyone always says animals know if there's going to be an earthquake and as Kont the Dog is superduper clever - and was looking completely fine in the bar last night - I reckon he knew this little tremor was coming and that's why he was looking after his mate. Aww, doggies!

Turkish Food - Gözleme

We absolutely love Turkish food (well, we just love food actually) so we've decided to write about different food every so often. I've got absolutely no idea why Turkish cuisine isn't more famous around the world - it's amazingly varied and most importantly, it's absolutely delicious.

Our favourite: Meat and potato-filled gözleme served with pickles

Anyway, gözleme or saç böreği is first on the list for the simple reason that it's really cheap, we eat a lot of it and we had one of the best gözleme we've ever had on the Friday market in Fethiye yesterday and I'm still thinking about it. It's bit misleading to call them pancakes because, if you've seen one being made, you'll know that it's a pastry dough that's rolled out very thinly into a big circle and then your chosen topping is sprinkled on top. It's then folded in half and cooked on a huge, metal plate. Watching this process is also part of the fun of eating gözleme. It's a skilled job.

Our favourite fillings are minced meat and potato but other traditional fillings include white cheese and spinach. Some people like all of these mixed together in the one pancake but you can't beat good old meat and potato for us.

In the Fethiye area, gözleme is available at all the markets and is very popular. Most of the stands now do sweet fillings as well but if you choose a sweet one it means you miss out on a good side serving of lovely, tangy pickled red cabbage, pickled chillies or pickled mixed veg. The Turks love their pickles. None of this bought-in nonsense. You make your own. Massive jars of them.

If you're not a 'market person', gözleme is also found in little roadside cafes (it's usually advertised outside) and villages. In the Fethiye area, Bülent'in Yeri in Kayaköy and the nomad tents at the end of Çalıs Beach do a mean gözleme.

In other news, our blog is two weeks old today and you may already be noticing a pattern. We love markets and bars! As it's the weekend, we shall be frequenting Deep Blue Bar again tonight. It's a friend's birthday so I'm suspecting tomorrow might be a write-off.

Seasonal Food in Turkey - Chestnuts

We're well and truly into the festive spirit now. Even been out and bought a decoration for the front door today but no tree or decorations are going up until I've Christmas cleaned the house - it's tradition. At this rate, it's going to be Christmas Eve before anything gets done cos we're too busy playing with this blog every day.

Anyway, after listening to a bit of Nat King Cole yesterday, I thought I'd write about another festive and seasonal food that's out at the moment; chestnuts. Me living the sheltered life I obviously did, I had never tried a chestnut until coming to Turkey. I always knew they were associated with Christmas (because Nat informed me so every year) but they were just conkers to us. They got varnished - if you were cheating a bit - threaded onto a shoelace and hours of fun was had in the playground at school. That was until they got banned - health and safety and all that.

Chestnuts (Kestane) for sale on the Tuesday market in Fethiye

We've bought chestnuts in the past and roasted them in the oven but it's not quite the same as 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire...' You need that little bit of black on them and a charred flavour. Mmmm. Most of the bars in Fethiye have real fires and there's nothing better than sitting in one of those bars and having a plate of hot roasted chestnuts, straight from the fire, handed to you.

Right, I've mentioned Bruce and Nat now (and somehow managed to link them to my blog the day after - however tenuous it may be). The next one to pop in my head is Bing because we listened to him yesterday too. Hmmm, 'White Christmas.' Can't see that happening in Fethiye somehow. Bing's already got one vote in our Best Christmas Song poll. Someone's even voted for Cliff...but let's not even go there - not yet anyway.

Santa Claus Is Coming To...Fethiye

Santa advertises the New Year Lottery in Fethiye

Santa Claus is coming to town??? No, he's already here in Fethiye and he's advertising the New Year lottery tickets with a prize of 30 Trilyon (not even going to start working out how much that is in Sterling but it seems a decent enough amount to me.). Seeing as St. Nicholas came from Turkey (Demre) originally, it's nice to seem him back on home turf.

Well, it's all coming together now in terms of getting into the Christmas spirit. First, we saw the lottery Father Christmas on the main street in Fethiye. When we got home, we opened our TWO Christmas cards and the postman has delivered another for us today. The good thing is, they're all different. We only got three cards last year and two of them were twicers! What's the odds on that?! Not like the old days when I was teaching. We used to get as childish as the kids and tell them in assembly how much we loved Christmas cards just to see who could get the most out of all the teachers. I always got well over 100 - you could tell if the kid had written it reluctantly and didn't really like you if it was on of those thin papery cards with a candle, Christmas tree or robin on it. It didn't matter though. They all counted.

We also played our Christmas music yesterday - and shall be doing so again this afternoon - to make us feel festive. It's amazing how many awful (but great) songs there are out there. I'm off to listen to Nat King Cole's, 'The Christmas Song' (The chestnuts one).

Tis the season to be...

Right. Determined to start getting festive as from today. I don't know if it's the lovely weather or what but I just know Christmas is gonna arrive all at once and we'll have done absolutely nothing about it cos those festive feelings are just not happening at the minute.

Köyceğiz tangerines on the Tuesday market in Fethiye

So, here is my first attempt at feeling festive. Seasonal fruit and vegetables in Turkey. Fortunately, a lot of the fruit and veg which is in season at the minute matches a lot of the words that pop into my head when I think about Christmas. December is citrus season and the smells on Fethiye market on Tuesday were just - well - citrusy. Lovely. Tangerines galore at the minute. You can never get bored of a tangerine - hours of fun pulling all the pith off each segment. And tangerines just make me think of Christmas when I was a kid. It was probably the only time I ever ate fruit...hmm, what a healthy childhood I must have had.

If you're lucky enough to be driving along the Fethiye to Muğla road at this time of year - joyous! 24 hour roadside stalls all through Köyceğiz, full to the brim with tangerines, oranges and lemons. Probably psychological but they don't half taste better when you just jump out of your car and buy a massive bagful.

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Walk From Fethiye To Kayaköy

Well, the weather was so lovely yesterday (and it's the same again today) that we decided to go for one of our favourite walks from Fethiye to Kayaköy (aka the ghost village). As we're supposed to be writing a blog telling everyone about all the loveliness of Turkey, we thought we would post this walk. The views of Fethiye marina and bays are amazing.

Start from the Park Marina Vista Hotel (they've got a gorgeous seaside bar should you fancy a quick Efes Pilsen to psyche yourself up before setting off) at the end of the Karagözler. You can catch the Taşyaka/Karagözler dolmuş as far as there.

From here, take the road to the left so that you double-back on yourself and start to climb. It's a gradual ascent but if you start to feel really out of puff as I often do, just stop and pretend you're admiring the stunning scenery.

It's a single, winding tarmac road at this point so you can't go wrong. Just keep admiring the views over Fethiye marina and centre as you continue to climb.

After about 20 minutes or so, you'll come to a junction on the road. The road straight ahead goes to Hillside Hotel. We're taking the forest track to the left that you can see on the photo.

This continues uphill - not steep - and you can still see the gulf of Fethiye and the boat yard through the pine forest.

As you plod on up the forest track, you leave the views of the harbour behind and Red Island (Kızıl Adası) appears through the trees. Keep following the path up the hill and eventually, you will come out into a clearing - and a welcome flat part of the track for a breather. If you do this walk on a Sunday it's usually busy here with Turkish families barbecuing and picnicking. Keep to the track, bearing right to continue uphill. Views over Tarzan Bay will appear giving the opportunity for another breather.

As you follow the track, you will come to a junction (see picture). Take the track to the left, continuing uphill to another (very similar-looking) junction...

Voila! Buyurun! There you go! Joy of joys. After about 200 metres, and a tiny bit more ascent, you will come to this fork in the track. The good news is, for this walk, this is the top. There are a couple of rocks just to the right that are just big enough to sit on and have a minute.

After that, hallelujah! You take the right fork and start going downhill. Bliss.

As you skip down this hill, after a few minutes you will be able to see all the ruins of Kayaköy nestled into the hillside. You also get to see Babadağ from a dramatic angle, just to your left. Even better if there's still snow on top - this usually lasts till spring.

The track eventually becomes a road again. Follow this to the first junction (you'll see a big tree on the left with a wall round it) and turn left. When you come to the next junction with a big tree in the middle of the road, take a right to bring you into the village square.

You'll see all the local men drinking tea and playing tavla (backgammon) and okey. Look to the left and you'll see what used to be the clock tower in the middle of the road. (We have no idea what happened to the clock). Turn right at the clock and this road will take you to the ruins of Kayaköy. Oh yes, by this time, you're going be feeling a tad thirsty. Bülent, the owner of Bülent'in Yeri (on the roadside opposite the ruins) is always a happy looking chap and they serve lovely gözleme (Turkish pancakes).

Opposite Bülent's is a track and a sign advertising Poseidon. If you fancy sitting and admiring the ruins - with a bit of good music thrown in - then Poseidon in Kayaköy is also a good place for a beer, food - and a soft drink of course.

• Allow between 2 and 2 and a half hours for the walk. Any walking boots, comfortable trainers or sturdy sandals will be okay.
• If you are feeling particularly strenuous then you can continue by trekking from Kayaköy to Ölü Deniz. (Allow a further 3 hours for this stretch.)
• If not, then don't worry, there are dolmuşes back from Kayaköy to Fethiye every hour, on the hour (every half an hour in summer) and you can flag it down on the main road by the entrance to the Poseidon.

Mondays In Fethiye

Yeahy!! It's December, it's Monday and the weather in Fethiye is lovely, lovely, lovely. Snow back on the mountain tops, sunny, clear, warm - are you getting a feel for it yet? Off for a walk afterwards to make the most of it. I'll put the walk and photos on later in a separate post about walking from Fethiye to Kayaköy.

An example of a sunny day on Fethiye Bay

We went for our morning jog earlier on to cleanse away the sins of the weekend boozing and all the extra stodgy food I always feel the need to eat when I'm rough. I'd be lying if I said this jogging was getting any easier. Am I not supposed to be super-fit by now?? For five weeks I've been toiling at this. From the programme we're following, we've got one more session to do of 4 reps of 5 minutes running, 2 minutes walking. After that, we're supposed to do 3 reps of 8 minutes running, 2 minutes walking. Now, I'm sorry but...Think I'm going to put my own little adaptations into this training programme or else I'm going to become the main source of entertainment for the workmen on the new Fethiye harbour - and they certainly won't be looking at me to admire my running skills or glamour on the track!

The Bog Blog - Deep Blue Bar's New Toilets

Oh, Rough! Rough! Rough! The evil Efes Pilsen - as usual. Far too many in far too short a time. Photos have appeared on Facebook this morning and I don't remember half of them being taken. At least I know we enjoyed ourselves.

Well, I'm a way off being a roving reporter. We went to Deep Blue Bar last night and I was armed with my camera for the inaugural photograph-taking of the new toilets. I managed to get a couple of shots the ladies. How posh are they?! Blokes, you'll have to use your imaginations. You've got the same as us except you've got a cubicle (for when the longer visits are necessary) and a urinal as well. Woo hoo. We've also got that foamy moussey soap as well.

Obviously, it's too cold to sit outside at nights now so the smoking ban is more noticeable. Quite strange to be sitting in a bar in Turkey watching people wrap up and nip outside for a cigarette. We're not sure if I like it or not, yet. We're pondering it...

Learning Turkish: Speaking Is Not Easy!

(The weather in Fethiye today is still erring on the side of angry, hence today's photo.)

Don't worry. We're not gonna give you all Turkish lesson on a Saturday afternoon.

We've just had our Turkish lesson though and so I thought I'd ask about my speech impediment that only appears when I make any attempts to speak Turkish. Is it just me or do loads of Brits (or maybe anyone with English as a first language) have a problem rolling their 'Rs'? It is just a physical impossibility for me and no matter how many times people make that vibration noise with their tongue to my face, I CAN'T DO IT. I can see what they're doing. I can hear what they're doing. But...you get the point. Maybe it's in your genes. 

It's amazing how difficult it is to make yourself understood in Turkish without putting a lot of stress on your letter R. Actually, if the word ends in R, there's almost a 'sh' at the end. Hence the football commentators saying 'KoRneSH' every time there's a corner. An English friend of ours was saying that in the bar last year, Shaun Connery style, and everyone understood him. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong.

Still on football, we watched the World Cup draw last night. All a bit Eurovision I thought - and they'd apparently done a couple of rehearsals - but at least England got a good group. Couldn't follow the rest of it at all but got the impression it was an all round good draw for us. Absolutely gutted Turkey didn't make it through this time. We followed them in the European Cup a couple of years ago and the atmosphere in Fethiye was amazing. None of that this time. We'll have to try and rustle some enthusiastic supporters up from somewhere...anyone fancy a holiday in Fethiye next June???