Turkey's For Life First Birthday - Part 2

Well, I know the first anniversary of Turkey's For Life was a couple of days ago but the post was getting too long...and then I didn't post yesterday...and so here's a slightly later than planned Part 2. 

As it's the start of a whole new 'blogging about Turkey' year for us, we thought we should take this opportunity to point out some of last year's achievements and one of the changes we made to the blog to make it more useful to you in the future. 

The change...
New search boxes
To make it easier for you to find what you are looking for in Turkey's For Life, we have changed the search box again. In the past, if you typed a word into the box, you would have been shown all posts containing that word and you had to scroll through them all to find what you needed. A tad laborious if the post you were looking for was way down the page. Also, if we had used Turkish letters and you used English letters, the post would not appear. 

Hooray! All that has now changed! We've changed the search box to 'Custom Google Search' and there is one at the top and bottom of every page in the left hand column. So now, if you type in a word or words, you will be shown a list (exactly like Google search results) of all our posts containing that word. You can do a quick scan for the post you're looking for. 

For example, if you type in 'kayakoy cin bal', any post containing those words will show in the search results. Posts containing kayakoy or cin bal in the title will be displayed first, and kayakoy and cin bal will be in bold lettering. And, Google being Google, if you mistype a word or use English instead of Turkish letters (or vice versa), it's very good at working out what you are looking for, so the search results should still be accurate.

Fethiye - Our beautiful Turkey blogging base

Some Achievements
In our first blogging year, we...

• Took action to actually start Turkey's For Life and fortunately, you decided to read it.
• Set up a Twitter account; created a Facebook page; joined the food bloggers' site, Foodbuzz; joined the travel bloggers' site TBEX; joined the expat bloggers' site Expat Blog; set up a Flickr account and created a Turkey's For Life Flickr group, and as a result, communicated with countless people and ended up very busy on the laptop! (There are others but we'll be here all day...)

Achievements in themselves, but we are also very proud of...

• Our 'Lonely Planet Featured Blogger' badge. Some of you may have noticed that this has only recently appeared on the blog (it's half way down, on the left if you haven't seen it.) It should have been there since April but, well, it's there now. We applied to the Lonely Planet Blog Sherpa Programme in April and were really pleased to be accepted. Occasionally, we submit a post that we feel would be useful to people who are looking for information about Fethiye and other places in Turkey. Through Blog Sherpa, our post about Kayaköy was selected as a 'favourite' and featured on the front page of the BBC World website. Not bad!
• To top our first blogging year off nicely, we were voted into the daily Top 9 by other Foodbuzz users for my attempt at a Turkish dish; spicy cheese and spinach börek.

And for this year and years to come?

• Well hopefully, we will be able to keep posting and Turkey's For Life will keep improving and growing...inşallah!

Turkey's For Life First Birthday - Part 1

Twelve months ago today, I was sitting on the couch in our little living room in Fethiye and I decided to (finally) take action on starting the blog we'd been pondering for a while. We knew absolutely nothing about blogging and didn't really know if anyone would read it. No matter; it was going to be something that would entertain us for an hour or so each day through the winter - a little hobby.

Since that day, we've done 307 posts, we've learned more than we could ever have imagined about the blogging world, social media (Facebook, Twitter and the like), site statistics, html, photography, photography software, cuisine, travel. We've 'met' hundreds (if not thousands) of people from all over the world, in the virtual world and actually met some of those people in the real world, online friends have become real life friends. We now look at Fethiye and wherever else we go in Turkey through different eyes - through blogging eyes, I suppose - and as a result, I very rarely leave the house without my camera just in case a good photo opportunity comes up for a blog post. You never know...

As you can see - and if you write a blog yourself, maybe you're in the same boat as we are - our 'little hobby' of writing a few words about Turkey (mainly the Fethiye area) has completely changed our lives; for the better of course. And, a 'little hobby' is now, well, it's not even a full time hobby. Our Turkey's For Life blog is a part of our life. How odd...how fascinating. Apart from the 'little hobby,' none of the above was ever on the agenda. 

A year in the life of Turkey's For Life

Yesterday, I sat and went through a few past posts because we thought it would be nice to have a mosaic of photos that represent what we've covered; what we've done, where we've been, what we've seen, what we've eaten, what we've cooked, over the last 12 months. This photo of photos is the result. 

By default - and what a great 'default' to have - most of our Turkey posts are about our life in, and observations of, Fethiye, Kayaköy, Ölü Deniz, Çalış. Our favourite posts from here are the Fethiye Blast From The Past post and the Cin Bal, Kayaköy post. Both hold memories of when we first came to Fethiye in 1998, which I suspect is the main reason.

Favourite Turkish food posts? Well, the best meal this year has got to be the hamsi ekmeği (anchovy sandwich) we had at Karaköy fish market in Istanbul. I'm not joking! Barry's is Istanbul pickles. More to do with the memories of the shop making the pickles taste extra special. 

Favourite recipes? Barry's are Yeşil Mercimek Çorbası and the rice fritters by Sarah at Foodbridge. Mine? I love Antep Ezmesi - it was one of the first meze dishes I learned how to make - but my heart says kısır; the best salad ever!

Favourite places? Well, we live in Fethiye, don't we? But, Turkey hold endless fascination for us and we love to travel around whenever we can. Fethiye is a perfect base for this. Istanbul is special for both of us and of the cities we've seen in the world so far, the definite favourite. 

Any Turkey favourites of your own? Either from Turkey's For Life or something we've not written about yet? Well, I could go on and on but you'll be fast asleep before getting to the end of the post so I'm going to leave it right there...for now. 

Thank you to everyone who reads Turkey's For Life and keeps us posting!


Read - Turkey's For Life First Birthday - Part 2

Turkish Food - Foodbuzz Top 9

We are very, very, very happy people today. I wasn't supposed to be doing a post today but something very interesting has happened! Whenever we do a foodie post, we submit it to Foodbuzz - a foodie social networking site. Every day, recipes get 'buzzed' (basically a vote) and the Top 9 are published. Guess what!! The spinach and cheese börek has made Top 9! This has made our day. Anyone who buzzed us, thank you so much. I'm going to sleep with a smile on my face tonight. To anyone who has never heard of Foodbuzz, here is the link to the Top 9. Yehey!!! Thank you again.

Tomorrow is the Turkey's For Life 1 year anniversary post, too! Good news all round.

Istanbul - Istiklal Caddesi Bookshop

There’s something about bookshops. Don't you agree? Some, we can walk straight past and not give them a second glance. Others however, they just have this magnetism that draw you inside and encourage you to browse every shelf and every corner, without looking for anything in particular. When we lived in England, we couldn’t go shopping in Manchester without spending an hour or so in Waterstone’s. Wigan, our hometown, had a great second hand bookshop – the type with creaky stairs and musty smells - that you could lose yourself in for a while and forget the Saturday shoppers outside. 

Whilst Fethiye has outlets selling English language books, we tend to use them to buy what we need and then we leave. They don’t have that draw. That’s why, whenever we go to Istanbul, no trip would be complete without book hunting, spending time browsing and wandering aimlessly around Robinson Crusoe’s bookshop. 

How much money could we spend in here...?

I’ve already mentioned the outdoor book market in Beyazıt where the students’ university textbooks are sold – another place we like to while away a part of the day. Robinson’s is different. It’s on Istiklal Caddesi for a start. I think Istiklal has got to be one of the most – if not the most crowded streets - I have ever walked along…and then you dive through the door of Robinson’s and there’s a whole new world. 

If you’re getting the impression of a huge bookshop, well, it’s not. It’s actually quite small but it’s got that draw. Maybe it’s the mezzanine ceiling. As you walk through the door, the two walls either side of you have floor to ceiling bookshelves and the assistants use wooden ladders to reach the higher ones. 

So, what is it that makes a bookshop stand out from others? Every time we go to Istanbul, there’s a new bookshop open on Istiklal but we can’t resist Robinson Crusoe’s. I’m thinking a combination of history (don’t you think books look great in an old building?), furniture, layout, lighting and the variety of books for sale. Or do some just have a magical ability to hypnotise you and lead you inside…?

If you know of any bookshop gems in other parts of Istanbul (there must be loads in Istanbul?) and the rest of Turkey, we’d love to hear about them then we can visit those, too.

Turkish Food - A Börek Recipe

A couple of days ago, we went to Fethiye market to buy some yufka. Over the years, we’ve developed a love of cooking and have stopped buying many of the ready prepared goodies from the shelves and deli counters. You’d be amazed how much money it’s saved us, too. We’ve posted some of our recipes for home made dips such as antep ezmesi (a Turkish spicy tomato dip), cacık (refreshing yoghurt and cucumber) and hummus, amongst others. If we’re responsible for what goes into these creations, we can’t complain if the taste isn’t quite right! 

However, there are some things in the world of Turkish Cuisinethat are best left to those who know exactly what they’re doing – the expert – the yufkacı. I am truly grateful to all those skilful Turkish people who produce the countless sheets of yufka (such as the lady at Fethiye market) for people like me to use, eat and enjoy. Yufka truly is wonderful stuff. 

This Turkish börek dish is made up from pleasant börek eating experiences we’ve enjoyed while being in Turkey. At Fethiye otogar, I once had a small, coiled börek with a cheese and parsley filling. I’d never seen börek presented like this before and I loved the pattern the coils made. Last month in Istanbul, I had perhaps my favourite börek experience when I had a hot, spinach-filled pastry for breakfast. Chillies galore! So this spicy cheese and spinach pastry is based on those experiences. 

Spinach and Cheese Börek

Spinach, onion, chillies and cheese

First of all, grease a large baking tray and prepare your ingredients for the filling. How much you prepare depends on how big you want your börek to be. Mine finished up around 40cm in diameter. 

You can mix the cheese into the spinach in the pan

• Chop an onion and a handful of chillies (if you’re going the spicy route) and fry them gently for a few minutes. 
• Roughly chop around 250g of spinach and once the onion is nicely softened, add the spinach, salt, pepper and a generous sprinkling of paprika. 
• Once the spinach is wilted, take the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool down.
• When the mixture is cool, add 3 or 4 handfuls of börek cheese and stir it all together. (Crumbled feta cheese will suffice if you can’t get börek cheese.) 

Fresh yufka is best

Now it’s time to start the fun bit. In Turkey, yufka is made in rather large round sheets of around half a metre in diameter. You need three of these. Yufka is a slightly thicker version of phyllo pastry. I have never worked with phyllo pastry so if you are using it, you need to judge how many sheets you need to use and you may have to double them up. 

• First of all, beat an egg and mix a glug of olive oil into it.
• Take a sheet of yufka and cut it in half. 
• Place it on a flat surface with the curved end away from you and brush some of the egg mixture around the curved edge.
• Take 3 or 4 heaped teaspoons of your spicy cheese and spinach mixture and place it about an inch above the flat edge of your yufka. Thin the mixture out so it lines end to end.
• Start to roll the yufka (carefully) and keep going until you have a long thin sausage shape.
• Transfer it to your greased baking try and form a coil, brushing with the egg to help it to stick together. 
• Take the other half of the yufka sheet and repeat the steps. All you do now is keep rolling and brushing and coiling until you run out of room on your baking tray.
• Preheat the oven to around 200 degrees and bake your fantastic creation for 20 minutes or until it looks golden.

An impressive looking spinach and cheese börek

Either serve it straight away or eat it cold. We’ve enjoyed the best of both worlds as we’ve had the leftovers for lunch. 

If you’re in Turkey, use the freshest yufka you can get your hands on. Don’t use the vacuum packed stuff as it dries out as soon as you open the packet and you won’t be able to roll it without it cracking. 

Wireless Internet In Fethiye, Turkey

Ufff! What you are supposed to be reading and looking at right now is my masterpiece. (Well I think it's a masterpiece!) I made use of the yufka, spinach and börek peynir that we bought at the market yesterday, took photos, ate most of the masterpiece and then thought about doing a post. 

And then the electricity went off...10 minutes later it reappeared with the usual power surge...and we've had full electricity - but no internet since! Hopefully, there's a server problem somewhere. I'm not techy. What do I know?! 

Anyway, inşallah, we shall once again be back in the online world tomorrow. (Please little internet globe-thingy, reappear tomorrow.) If it doesn't, we're going to have to do what we're doing now - and it's good news for anyone travelling around Turkey. Once you arrive in Fethiye, there's no shortage of internet cafes. And if you're equipped with laptop/notebook, the vast majority of bars and restaurants have Wifi (lookout for a 'Wireless' or 'Kablosuz' signs). We're sat in a bar doing this.

Whatever happens tomorrow, I WILL get my masterpiece online - hopefully from home!

Fethiye Pazarı - Shopping For Ingredients

Every so often, I get the urge the cook something that I haven't made for ages. So this afternoon when we went up to Fethiye market, rather than just buying the usuals, I had a quick scan round the stalls in search of a bit of inspiration. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to make but the ingredients needed to be right. 

Fortunately, spinach is looking particularly fresh, young and abundant at the moment and it's one of the ingredients I was on the hunt for. (I forgot to take a photo!) Spinach is used a lot in Turkish cuisine and is one of those 'greens' that we've both grown to really like since coming to Fethiye. I can't say it ever made much of an appearance on our shopping lists in England.  

Spinach (far too much of) in bag, we glanced around and finally spotted our trusty yufka stall. The market was really busy today so we couldn't see it at first. A bag full of spinach and no yufka would not have made me a happy girl!

Fresh yufka for sale on Fethiye Market

Yufka is phyllo pastry but ever so slightly thicker, making it much easier to work with. This lady produces fantastic, fresh sheets of yufka and we always go there to buy not only yufka but her home made bread sticks as well. She's on Fethiye and Çalış markets every week.

You can have all sorts of fun with yufka, creating different shapes and experimenting with a mixture of fillings (like we always do) but one of the traditional Turkish fillings is börek peynir.

 Börek peynir is sold loose at Fethiye market

So, off we went to the cheese and yoghurt stall to buy some börek peynir. Turkey has many cheese varieties and börek peynir (cheese for pastries) is a white, crumbly cheese. This stall had a few types and you can sample them all before buying. Some will have a creamier texture than others, whilst some are salty or slightly dry. We tend to go for the creamier, salty cheese -  we've probably tried all of them over the years - and this type, well, it just suits the taste buds more.

Okay, shopping completed. Too tired to do anything with it when we got back from the market this afternoon so tomorrow is cooking day... (Click to this link to see the result of our shopping - spinach and cheese börek.)

Day Trip From Fethiye - Dalyan

As the Turkey's for Life blog heads towards its first anniversary, we've been thinking about what we've covered over the last twelve months...and realised we hadn't done a single post on Dalyan; not too far from Fethiye and a place we are both very fond of.

In high season, hundreds of boats chug through the Dalyan wetlands each day.

As with many other places on the South coast of Turkey, Dalyan is known for its natural beauty and also for the Lycian rock tombs embedded into the cliffs overlooking the river. It's a special place, not only because of its Lycian and Roman history but also because it is an area of vast wetland and Iztuzu Beach is the nesting place of many of Turkey's loggerhead turtles.   

The king of Caunos was entombed here

If you've ever been to Dalyan, you will no doubt have a similar version of this photograph stored away. These Lycian rock tombs, from 4,000 BC, are what a lot of people come to see. Sadly, they've recently made the news because natural erosion and years of neglect means the rock tombs are slowly crumbling. Teams backed by the Turkish government are setting projects in place to restore and protect the tombs. I'm a bit of a history boffin so we'll always continue to visit Dalyan just so we can view any progress. 

Entrance to the protected area of Iztuzu (Turtle Beach)

The last time we went to Dalyan, we took a people's boat (water taxi) along the river to Iztuzu Beach because we had read that Özlem the loggerhead turtle was being released back into the wild from the turtle sanctuary. This is another reason why we love to visit Dalyan and why the area is so important.

 View of Iztuzu Beach from the turtle research centre

Thankfully, Iztuzu is now a protected area so, in theory, turtles should be able to lay their eggs unhindered. The turtle research and rescue centre, situated at the end of the far end of Iztuzu Beach is now a registered foundation so if you go (be prepared to get all kinds of emotional!), I'm sure they will be very grateful for any spare kuruş or liras you may have. If you click the link underneath the first photo, it takes you to a post we did about Özlem the turtle's release and there is a very cute (and yes, emotional) 15 second video of her flip-flopping from the beach and into the sea. 

If you know anything about Dalyan, you're probably wondering why I haven't mentioned the famous mud baths yet. Well, neither of us have ever seen much attraction in standing in sludge and caking our bodies in mud and have therefore never taken part in the activity, so no experience to report there. We'll leave that one up to you...

Dalyan is easily reached by public transport. We took the Ortaca Coop bus from Fethiye Otogar. At Ortaca otogar, take the regular dolmuş into the centre of Dalyan. (Many intercity buses make a stop at Ortaca if you are arriving from elsewhere.)
To reach Iztuzu Beach or the turtle sanctuary, you can either take the dolmuş straight there from Ortaca otogar or (in season) you can make a round trip. Take the Dalyan dolmuş into town and jump on a water taxi to the beach. You will have to walk to the opposite end of the beach - a beautiful one-hour walk - visit the turtle centre and then take the dolmuş back to Ortaca from the car park beside it.

Compare prices for Dalyan hotels on Turkey's For Life

Turkish Food - Bazlama Bread

Bazlama - otherwise known as 'village bread' - is a type of Turkish bread that we have developed a huge fondness for of late. 

Bazlama - Turkish village bread

As you can see in the photo, Bazlama is a large, round, flat bread and it's our weekend treat. If you're familiar with the gözleme stands at the Fethiye markets, you may have noticed that they also sell this bread - although, for some reason, it's assumed that tourists won't want to try it and the business owners only advertise 'pancakes' (gözleme) on their menus. Ah well, this is Fethiye. It's there for you to eat if you want it - a case of, if you don't ask, you don't get!

If you've never had this bread before, give it a try when you get the chance and let us know what you think. On the gözleme stands, you will see ready made bazlama piled up. When you order it, it's sliced (quite expertly - it's thin!) through the middle and filled with your chosen filling - cheese seems to be the favourite. It's then heated up and served hot. You only need one between two people and that's a pretty hefty lunch.

I did say this was becoming a bit of a weekend treat for us. Bazlama is now sold at our local supermarket (not by the local bakery unfortunately, but we can't have everything, can we?) so we walk up to buy one between us. And what do we do with it? Well, taking inspiration from the gözleme ladies at Fethiye market, we add a filling and heat it up...in a toastie machine. Bazlama does a mean weekend toastie!

A Bayram Stroll Along Fethiye Harbour

The final day of Kurban Bayramı in Turkey, but as most Turkish workers are enjoying a 9-day break, today still had that relaxed holiday feel about it. Tomorrow and Sunday are likely to be the main days of mass travel as family members return to their homes elsewhere in the country.

The weather in Fethiye was certainly being kind to families hoping to enjoy the last day of the festival together. The sun was shining and the whole day was clear and still. It was a shame to waste the day by staying in doors so we went for a walk along Fethiye harbour. Promenading families, couples and friends had definitely had the same idea as us.

Fishing along Fethiye harbour during an Autumn sunset

Bars and restaurants along the harbour were busy with customers eyeing the tables (all full) next to the sea. As soon as someone got up to leave - well, there was no shortage of takers for the newly vacant, shaded seats. We even managed to grab a couple of chairs, eventually. 

The parks and street gyms were packed with children playing and parents supervising and pushing swings. And any spare gaps along the harbour wall were filled with what is now Fethiye's must-have fashion accessory; the fishing rod.  It's impossible to walk along the harbour these days without seeing a continuous line of fishing rods. I actually took this photo a couple of weeks ago but the silhouetted figures enjoying a spot of fishing in the photo above are now a typical sight along this stretch of Fethiye harbour - there were just a lot more of them today. 


Safe journey (iyi yolculuklar) to all who are travelling back to their homes over this weekend.

Çalış Beach Sunset - Photo Story

A cloudy day ends in a beautiful Çalış Beach sunset

I know we've posted Çalış Beach sunset photos in the past, but this is an Autumn sunset - and well, we all love a good sunset photo. 

We've had a couple of friends visiting Fethiye from Ankara for the last couple of days. They left tonight after trying to extend their stay but they were told there were no available seats on any intercity buses for the next three days - that's Kurban Bayram for you!

As time was obviously limited we made a quick decision about what to do last night. Our friend is quite into photography and they've never visited Fethiye before so the natural thought was, 'Well, we've got to catch the sunset at Çalış Beach.' We made it, just as the sun had disappeared below the horizon and was colouring the sky and we both took far too many photos.

Our friends were keen to see some of the Fethiye sights we have on our Fethiye Must Sees page and I thought, 'Well, at least the Çalış Beach sunset can be ticked off the list.'...Except it can't because I went into the page this morning and we've not even got it on there! Hey, we're a work in progress. The wrong shall be rectified in due course.

(Update 04.02.2012 - We are happy to say that the Çalıs Beach sunset has been added - finally! - to our Fethiye Must Sees page.)

Kurban Bayram - A Look Back at Day One

We know many of the goats and sheep of Turkey are sacrificed during Kurban Bayramı but we've never really noticed any of this happening - until yesterday. Maybe we've never been out and about in the morning of the first day of the festival. Yesterday, however, we were out and about as we went up to the otogar (bus station) to meet a couple of friends off the Ankara bus.

There was hardly any traffic on the roads - it's a holiday and most families spend the day together at home - but in the space of 20 minutes or so, we did see three pick-up trucks carrying sheep. As we walked our friends to where they were staying, we saw a sheep being led across the car park...and as we were walking home, we saw that same sheep in the family garden and the man of the house approaching with a rather large blade. I'm not squeamish but it was early! I think we were both grateful for the bushes obscuring our view.

The sheep and goat population of Turkey is significantly lower than it was yesterday morning!

Later on in the day, we were all in the centre of Fethiye together and again we saw a pick-up truck. Except this time, it was carrying a whole load of sheep and goat skins - what was once inside the skins was no doubt roasting merrily away in people's ovens. The same pick-up truck has gone down our street this morning, collecting more skins.

In Fethiye at least, Kurban Bayramı is not just about sheep and goats. It's a time for family and (for the younger generation) friends to be together. Many families will spend the day together, all wearing their brand new Bayram outfits, just as we do on Christmas Day. And, just as we do on Christmas Day, the younger members of the family will stay around for a while and then make their polite excuses and head out to be with friends.

And so it was at Deep Blue Bar last night. We were in there early and there wasn't a sole around. Two hours later and you couldn't move. 'Iyi Bayramlar,' (Happy Festival) we said to different friends as they streamed into the bar. 'What have you done today?'
'Oh you know - family.'

That was the standard reply and I know if we ask the same question again today, the reply will be much the same. Why? Because, just like we do on Boxing Day at Christmas, most people in Fethiye will be going off to visit the homes of aunts, uncles and any other relatives they didn't see yesterday, to wish them Iyi Bayramlar...and no doubt, later on tonight, Deep Blue and the other bars of Fethiye will be packed again with the same friends, polite excuses made and good deeds of the day accomplished.

Kurban Bayram in Turkey

Wow, the last time we posted on Kurban Bayram was on the 30th November last year - our second ever blog post. We're careering headlong to being one year old! In Turkey, Kurban Bayramı is the time of year where goats are sacrificed, new clothes are bought, the roads become much busier, intercity buses are full, families get together, holidays are enjoyed.

The goat population of Turkey is set to drop significantly tomorrow

Last year, we concentrated on the goat - sorry, just couldn't resist another goat photo - and the new clothes, but this year, I've been influenced by a couple of articles in the English version of Hürriyet that have got me thinking. And what I'm thinking is that over the next 20 years or so, the face of summer tourism in Turkey and beyond is going to change. Why?

As you're no doubt aware, the Islamic calendar follows a lunar cycle and so, in the Gregorian calendar, any Islamic holy event (such as Kurban Bayramı) falls 11 days earlier each year. Ramazan, Şeker Bayramı and especially Kurban Bayramı have fallen over the autumn and winter months in all the time we have been familiar with Turkey. Now, however, these important events in the Islamic calendar are increasingly inching towards the Turkish summer months.

Many Turkish people will head to the coast as Bayram heads towards summer months

In Turkey, depending on which days the festival falls over, the holiday is sometimes made longer. For instance, this year, Kurban Bayramı officially begins tomorrow and ends on Friday. As this is most of the working week, the holiday has been extended to a 9-day break, taking in both weekends...meaning more time for visiting families and taking a holiday.

This week, Hürriyet reported that more Turkish people were taking holidays over the festival of the sacrifice than ever before. Domestically, Jolly Tours have stated that Black Sea tours are sold out, there's hardly a hotel bed to be had in Antalya and TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) has sold all its hotel availability. According to Jolly Tours, they are also flying 100,000 Turkish people abroad over the holiday period. You can read the complete Hürriyet article here. There are also some great comments at the bottom of the post!

Over the coming years, it appears summer tourism in Turkey is in for a huge boost over the festival periods and it'll be interesting to see if other countries start to target more Turkish tourists in the future.

Obviously, Kurban Bayramı is a very important festival for all Turkish people. Yeşim, an Istanbul girl who is author of the blog, Yesim Style Kitchen has written about it in her post today.

To all who are travelling and all who are celebrating Kurban Bayramı, iyi yolculuklar, iyi bayramlar!

Kurban Bayramınız Kutlu Olsun!

British Turkey Cravings - Crumpets

Whenever we're sat in bars, restaurants or wherever and we get chatting to non-Turkish people, we're always asked, 'What do you miss about England? You must miss different foods.' Well, we wouldn't be normal if we didn't miss anything. We miss the Lake District in the Northwest of England as we used to go trekking and camping there a lot. Happy memories...but we'll trek there again sometime.

When it comes to food and drink, we've never really craved much. We both love different foods so past cravings are usually forgotten about. Barry has asked for friends to bring out Midget Gems (sweets) on occasions but apart from that...well, one day we were chatting and I can't remember how we got onto the subject but we ended up really craving crumpets! And as we talked more about them, ohhh, how we wanted a crumpet. So, when we have friends coming to see us, they always ask us if we need anything. This time's request was a pack of crumpets (little treat) and crumpet rings - we can sort the craving as and when if we learn how to make crumpets.

The first crumpet attempts in the pan

Fortunately, we have the sort of friends who don't feel the need to say, 'What?' when we make odd requests. These two friends hunted around for some crumpet rings for us and finally found some a day or two before they flew to Turkey. We ate the packet of crumpets they brought out for us and then, the other day, we christened the crumpet rings.

The first home made crumpet

If you know crumpets, you'll be able to see that the consistency wasn't quite right. But it wasn't far off - and the taste was absolutely perfect. Butter and jam on top. Mmmmm. That sorted the craving. We're wondering if maybe the room wasn't warm enough to kick the yeast into action because it was a bit of air that was missing from the crumpet...and so we decided to give pikelets a go. The flat crumpet.

An array of British Turkey craving quashers

A work of genius. And actually, I should point out that I'm using the royal 'we' here. Barry is in charge of crumpets - and pikelets. The mixture made 4 experimental (and good) crumpets and, as you can see, numerous pikelets. We've just finished the last two today...

Home made pikelet with butter and jam

...served hot with butter and jam...craving abated. Let's get back to all things Turkish...

If you're reading this and wondering what on earth a crumpet is, you're missing out. It's a Delia Smith mixture of 1tbsp yeast, 225g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, salt. Once cooked, you stick them under the grill, crisp them up a little, let your butter melt on top and then, if you want, add jam. (We highly recommend the jam!)

Turkish Beer - Perge

As you know, we're no strangers to the odd beer. We prefer to think of ourselves as beer appreciators; connoisseurs of the beautiful amber-coloured fizziness in a bottle. Whichever European country (or particular area of a country) we find ourselves in, we have to try the local beer. It's a culture thing.

When we travelled through Eastern Europe a few years ago, so determined were we to sample a beer in each country we visited, we even tried a local beer in Slovakia. What's so special about that you ask? Well, we were in transit through Slovakia, between Poland and Hungary.

The bus driver pulled into a service station for a toilet break - and Barry jumped off the bus and ran into the service station shop for two beers. Realising we had no Slovakian currency, he got out his credit card, felt guilty and added a few little snacks to the shopping basket to make the credit card transaction more worthwhile. When we got the bill a month later, the whole Slovakian beer experience had cost us 28 pence!!! Wonder if it's still that cheap...

A new (for us) Turkish beer - Perge

Anyway, if you're reading this, chances are you have an interest in Turkey and are therefore aware that Turkey's most famous beer is the much-more-than-drinkable Efes Pilsen. We don't mind the odd Efes. At 5%, it's a pilsen of the usual strength and very refreshing on a hot, sunny day...or any other day! There are a few other Turkish beers but Efes Pilsen is definitely the most popular; the very daddy of Turkish beer.

However, since the Kipa supermarket chain saw fit to extend its number of stores by opening one in Fethiye, we have found another interesting alternative to Efes Pilsen. Perge Premium Bira. Perge is brewed in the Mediterranean region of Antalya, in the Manavagat area (of Manavgat waterfall fame) using natural spring water.

If we're staying in at the weekend, we go to Kipa and buy some Perge, just for a change. It's 4.2% - available in 50cl and 30cl bottles - and tastes similar to Czech beers such as Staropramen or Pilsner Urquell (but better than Pilsner Urquell, according to Barry). High praise indeed! Is it better than Efes Pilsen? No. It's an alternative; a change; and very welcome. Has anyone else seen or tried Perge beer?

Thanks From Fethiye!

Well, call us sad but we have been watching our Turkey's For Life Facebook page all week, willing the number of people to tick up and over 1,000. Yes, it is sad isn't it? It actually tipped over the 1,000 mark yesterday but we were waiting, just to be sure - and then today, Yehey! So this is a great big thank you to everyone who clicked the 'Like' button.

Autumn sunset over Fethiye bay

Today's photo is a tenuous link to this post. We're thanking you from Fethiye and this is the autumnal Fethiye sunset we're getting at the moment because the weather is so beautiful. I took this on Sunday afternoon after we got back from Kayaköy.

I've also changed yesterday's photo. We only had one Atatük photo which I took in Dalyan last year. It's already been used on the blog when I wrote about Cumhuriyet Bayramı and we weren't happy using the same photo twice. We had to go into Fethiye this afternoon so I took my camera with me and got a photo of Fethiye's Atatürk statue. That's dedication for you!

Turkish History - A Significant Anniversary

Today is another hugely important day in the Turkish calendar. On the 29th October, I wrote about Cumhuriyet Bayramı which marks the anniversary of the declaration of the modern Turkish Republic. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was named as the first leader.

 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk statue in Fethiye

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 10th November 1938. He died at 9:05 am in Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul and the clock in his bedroom is still kept at 9:05. Many people in Turkey stop whatever they are doing on this day at 9:05 and have a moment's silence to honour his memory. Special events and ceremonies take place all over the country through the day.

Atatürk's huge mausoleum, Anıtkabir, is on a hill, overlooking Turkey's capital city, Ankara.

A Stroll Around Kayaköy - Lazy Sundays

On Sunday, we went with friends to Kayaköy for a traditional village breakfast at Yalçın Restaurant. The weather was perfect and, as there were so many of us (around 10 people), the breakfast table was looking particularly spectacular. If we go again soon, I must get a photo. We were too busy taking photos of our friends' baby! Well, he's just very cute.

Once the food was demolished and the seemingly never ending supply of çay (Turkish tea) finally ended, it was suggested we go for a stroll to walk off our breakfast. We were told on Sunday that it's a Turkish custom (I suppose Brits would call it an 'old wives' tale' and I can't really think of a Turkish equivalent) that after food you should either take a sleep or walk forty steps. Two opted for the sleep - kind of. They stayed behind to play tavla (backgammon) while we went off for quite a few more than forty steps.

Ploughed fields in Kayaköy

As soon as we set off, I was way behind everyone, snapping away with my camera. This time of the year in Kayaköy is just fabulous. Sunday was pleasantly sunny and warm, we'd just whiled away a good couple of hours over breakfast and now we were ambling through country lanes, surrounded by farms and mountains. Just perfect.

Traditional village houses in Kayaköy

Kayaköy valley is full of old village houses like this one. Two of our friends have family in the village so the stroll was very gentle as one of them darted in and out of a couple of homes to say hello to people she knew.

Not many pomegranates left on the trees of Kayaköy

I wrote about pomegranates a while back. The ones on this tree were particularly sour - but sweet ones were pulled from trees (I believe we call that scrumping in England!) and we pulled them apart and shared them between us as we walked round. Crispy, fresh, juicy, sweet - well, just the taste of fruit straight from the tree.

As we came full circle and were about to return to Yalçın to pay our bill, we walked past this busy field.

Barbunya bean harvest

No lazy Sunday here. Harvesting to be done. And this harvest is one of our favourites - the babunya bean. We are right at the end of barbunya season now so this must be one of the last crops of the year. Hmm, might just have to buy some from the market next time we go - I can feel a big Autumnal plate of barbunya and sucuk coming on...

Istanbul - Çiçek Pasajı (A Surprise Bargain)

Ever heard, or even said, the phrases, 'It's full of tourists. I don't go there. It'll be too expensive.' Well, if you skip these places, you could well be missing out, as we found out when we went to Istanbul in October.

Istiklal doorway to Çiçek Pasajı

This is a photo of the famous Çiçek Pasajı (Flower Passageway) along Istiklal Caddesi. The first time we went to Istanbul, about six years ago, we had a walk through Çiçek Pasajı as it was on our list of Istanbul must-sees. We'd been advised not to eat or drink in there because 'it was touristy and over-priced,' by friends and by one of our guidebooks. Ever since then, we've walked past the beautiful Çiçek Pasajı and never really given it a second thought. 'Lovely as it is, we've seen it - no need to go in there again,' was our thinking.

However, being that we write a blog about Turkey these days (had you noticed?) we decided to stroll through the building just to grab a couple of photos of the interior. We went in through the rear entrance and walked down, towards Istiklal Caddesi, ignoring all the empty 'expensive' restaurants and I took a couple of photos. Now, if you read this blog regularly (or if you know us), you'll know we're no strangers to the odd Efes Pilsen every now and then. Exploring the delights of Istanbul is thirsty work and we'd been wandering around for most of the day...

Beautiful interior of Çiçek Pasajı

Imagine our delight when we discovered a little bar just before the exit from Çiçek Pasajı. Imagine our even greater delight when we saw that a large Efes was being advertised at 5 lira. 5 lira. Can you believe it? The cheapest beer price we had seen all weekend! The cheapest beer price we had seen all weekend in 'expensive' Çiçek Pasajı. We sat our weary bodies down and took in our rather opulent surroundings while sipping and savouring our icy cold cheap beer, not quite believing our luck.

This place is a people watcher's delight. We were in our element. Obviously, people from all over the world visit Istanbul and Çiçek Pasajı is on most of their 'must see' lists. Into the passage the people strolled, gazing up at the ceiling, pointing out different areas, videoing and photographing the beauty of the building...and out they strolled, straight back through the way they came in.

I can only think that Çiçek Pasjı has become a victim of it's own beauty and fame. It has a reputation for being over-priced and maybe tourists avoid eating and drinking there because they believe it to be expensive. (It was expensive in the past.) But, judging by the price of our beer, maybe the over priced restaurants are no longer over priced. We sat at our little cheap bar - fantastic surroundings and a people-watching bonanza - for an hour or so and a quick photograph snapping session turned into a very pleasant (and cheaper than expected) afternoon, enjoying the delights of Çiçek Pasajı.

And the moral of the story? This is Turkey. Assume nothing and explore everything...you could miss out otherwise.

Fethiye Ottoman Water Cisterns - A Photo

We found out an interesting piece of history about the Muğla region (Muğla is the area of Turkey stretching from the Bodrum peninsula in the far Southwest to just east of Fethiye) today. We can't speak for other towns and villages of Muğla but if you know Fethiye, you'll have probably seen these stone, domed water cisterns, dotted around the hillsides.

Ottoman cistern by the roadside on the way to Kayaköy

The cistern in this photo is on the side of the old forest road on the route of the trek from Fethiye to Kayaköy. Apparently, the cisterns of this design are particular to Muğla and were built in the 1500s during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent by none other than Mimar Sinan (architect of Süleymaniye mosque in Istanbul, amongst others). They were built to provide the Ottoman army with access to water while on duty.

Professor Namık Açıkgöz from Muğla University is carrying out research on the cisterns to highlight their historical importance. You can find out more about this story in Today's Zaman.

The Special Istanbul Taksim Burger

If ever a snack deserves to be given it's own blog post, it's got to be this one. In fact, this is not even Turkish food as it isn't available all over Turkey. As far as we know, you can only get this snack in Istanbul, but it would even be unfair to call it 'Istanbul, Turkish food.' We need to narrow it down even more than that. This is 'Taksim, Istanbul, Turkish food' and we think the snack is only available from a row of three kebab shops just off the top of Istiklal Caddesi.

So what is this special snack? Hmm, is it special? It's certainly different! I'm referring to the Islak Burger. 'Islak' is the Turkish word for 'wet.' The Wet Burger. You can see why it aroused our interest.

We know you're just itching to try one!

The exclusivity doesn't stop there. Not content with creating and selling the phenomenon that is the Taksim Islak Burger, these three kebab kiosks add a further ingredient to tempt the tastebuds. These are no ordinary Taksim Islak Hamburgers...

Mmm, wet burgers from Istanbul

...These are Özel Soslu Islak Hamburgers - a wet burger with special sauce! Are you tempted yet? I wasn't. What on earth is a wet burger with special sauce? Closer inspection revealed that the burgers were made up and placed in rows under lights (as you can see in the photos). The burgers are on a hole-studded metal plate so we can only assume that there is hot water underneath, causing steam to rise; hence wet burgers.

As for the özel sos - for the purposes of blog research, Barry had an özel soslu ıslak burger for his lunch one day. His description is 'spicy, tomatoey.' This 'spicy tomatoey' special sauce actually coats the outside of the bun, not the burger inside. (The burger comes wrapped in a paper serviette that soon becomes soggy). Oh yes, and 'burger' is a bit misleading. I'm happy to report that the meat inside is döner beef and not a cheap, processed circle of nastiness.

The Taksim Özel Soslu Hamburger was very much enjoyed by Barry (I had a half bread!). Workers on their lunch hour were also queueing to buy them so they're popular - and why not? 2 lira per burger is a cheap lunch...and cheap enough to try, merely for the purposes of a bit of blog research.

Have you ever had an ıslak burger? If you're familiar with them, do you know how they're actually made? See, we are curious - even if I'm not too bothered about eating one.

Seasonal Food in Turkey - Huge Green Cabbage!

As the chill quickly descends over Fethiye (is it going to be a particularly cold winter? Our friend predicted it a while ago and I'm starting to think he might be right!), the autumnal, seasonal produce is appearing on the markets of Fethiye.

There isn't a season of the year where you can't get hold of cabbage on the Fethiye markets but it's late Autumn / early winter where you see these on a regular basis...

Huge cabbages on Çalış market

I took this photo last winter at Çalış market. I like it because the red cabbages are next to the green ones - perfect for giving you an idea of just how big these green cabbages are! And I am not exaggerating; there are bigger ones around at the moment. This is a late season photo. Look at the price, too. 1.5 lira each. Bargain!

When we moved to Turkey, we were determined to make full use of the fruit and vegetable markets and learn to love some of the fruit and veg we didn't really like when we were in Britain...including cabbage. Well, we've found loads of fantastic uses for cabbages (it appears you don't just have to have it boiled to death and slopped on the side of your Sunday lunch) in Turkish cuisine so we actually buy these huge specimens on occasion. Well, we do try to hunt out the smaller ones as there are only two of us. Recipes coming soon and even if you don't like cabbage, you'll love these dishes!