Hmm, well we have to go the ‘autumn’ route with our Fethiye news title, don’t we?
Monthly news seems to have gone by the by of late – and yes, we’re fully aware of that. And it’s only personal news, after all. Things we notice going on around town and bits and bobs of what we’ve been up to.
The problem is, we’ve been up to so much with all our friends and family being over to visit, we’ve not had time to write it all down, here, as a monthly update.
Anyway, the final month of the year is a time for catch up, and a look back, so let’s get going with some of our news from Fethiye…
Happy 7th Blog Birthday To Us
At the end of November, our lovely blog (lovely for us), our baby, turned 7 years old. Wow, 7 years of writing and photos and social media. A big thanks for reading and following!
In the past, on our blog birthday, we’ve done a bit of reflection – a bit of looking back and looking forward – but December comes along after that. And so these days, we kind of merge the two into one.
December is the month of reflection…and when New Year is upon us, we get some extra umph and feel the urge to set new goals.
So, happy blog birthday to us! Reflection and looking forward is all to come.
Running & Race For Life
Yes, that’s how long it is since we’ve caught up with ourselves!
It took a bit of determination, but, somehow, we managed to stick to our self-chosen training programmes towards the end of September and through October so that we could run with some sort of commitment in the Istanbul Marathon 10k and 15k runs in mid November.
The 2nd Fethiye Race For Life was in early October and it was lovely to take part in that – great cause, fun yet poignant atmosphere, and just fabulous to have an event like this in Fethiye. We’ll definitely be part of the 3rd one!
October was our busiest time with lots of friends over to visit so getting ‘stuck’ in bars is always easy.
And, of course, we got ‘stuck’ on numerous occasions, Deep Blue in Paspatur being the main culprit!
Well, that’s what friends and summer are all about, isn’t it? So, there have been some not very pretty training runs with hangovers and hot weather, there was the special Race For Life where weather really wasn’t important (it was hot and sunny, in case you’re wondering) and everyone was just there to be a part of it, and we survived our run in Istanbul, too!
Oh, and let’s not forget this October’s fantastic 2016 Ölüdeniz Air Games. That happened in the midst of a big group of friends in town and they all said the day we spent there was the highlight of their holiday.
In that case, here’s to more successful Air Games events, eh? We put any events we hear about on our calendar so keep an eye on that then you don’t miss out on any when you’re in town.
(De)Construction In Fethiye
In other Fethiye news, the start of winter means the oh-so-familiar sounds of angle grinders, diggers, the engines of cranes; just about anything to do with the construction industry, really.
The wibbly-wobbly buildings that were once home to Sezai’nin Yeri, Kefal Restaurant and Kismet Bar are now no more.
And rebuilding has already commenced! Wonder if this winter is going to be a big push to get those sorted? Let’s see…
What used to be the old Esnaf private hospital is also now a big pile of metal-tangled rubble.
Amazes us how all that can happen in a narrow side street with relatively little mess.
Anyway, shall we predict an apartment block for that site? Of course, there’s all sorts of clanking and crashing and banging going on around the whole of Fethiye. We just happen to walk past the two places we’ve mentioned, quite often.
New ‘Faces’ Along Fethiye Harbour
There’s something very sad about seeing closed down empty cafes and restaurants. But two new additions to Fethiye harbour have cheered our little spirits again.
Gold Semaver is serving gözleme, tost and çay etc and has managed to get itself a little crowd of regulars who sit and smoke nargile, too. Multi-coloured chairs and tables along with brightly coloured awnings have made a little happy corner.
And then there’s Çarıklı Et Restaurant. These guys are the local butchers who have bases in Fethiye fish market and in Taşyaka, too. Along the harbour, though, they’re now a restaurant.
The Fethiyeli love a locally-owned place so this restaurant is already – happily – pulling in the punters. All good for the harbour. Good luck to them!
Don’t forget, you can visit our dedicated bars and restaurants page for a few ideas of where to eat and drink around the whole Fethiye area.
An International Award For Hotel Unique
When it first opened and we wrote our post about Hotel Unique along the Karagözler in Fethiye, we said it was our favourite building in Fethiye.
Well, we’re obviously not the only ones who love the place because they won Best Luxury Design Hotel in Europe at the World Luxury Hotel Awards in Doha in October.
Great for the hotel but also great for Fethiye, too, to have a bit of international recognition.
We’ve got some friends staying there soon so looking forward to having a little excuse to spend a bit of time there…
Ups & Downs For Fethiyespor
Ahh, yes, here we are in the 2016/17 league table hovering about in 11th place as I write. That’s a climb actually as all was starting to look a bit bleak a few weeks ago.
But, well, you can’t support Fethiyespor and not expect these topsy-turvy seasons we always seem to get.
A new technical director has been brought in and we all get hopeful again. That’s how it works!
Three more matches before the New Year break – two at home and one away – and we’ll have a better idea of what’s what by then…hopefully in a good way.
On The Blog
We’ve been writing some articles about our trips to Istanbul of late – but Fethiye never goes neglected.
This year, the Olive Garden in Kabak is open all year and there have been some new additions to the menu, too. You can see more tempting foodie pics and details in our article about the Olive Garden.
And the nights are definitely getting colder now.
Last week, in a moment of comfort-food-hunting laziness, we got the house toasty and warm, opened our Netflix viewing list up…and then we ordered a yummy pizza delivery from Calisto in Çalış.
Wow, we’ve not done that for ages but can definitely assure you we’ll be doing it more often, this winter.
Anyway, that article was shared again, too, and is complete with details of how to set yourself up for pizza delivery.
Of course, you can just go along and use the bar/restaurant, too, if you’re not a delivery fan.
November’s been good for kitchen time, too. It’s so lovely being able to go to a much cooler Fethiye market and buy lots of ingredients in prep for winter.
Barry’s made the winter chutney and I’ve made the mincemeat for Christmas mince pies and pickled three big jars of onions…one of which we’ve eaten!
Couldn’t resist. I’ll be pickling red cabbage and beetroot, too, in the next couple of weeks. Yummy!
Facebook Photo Favourite
Dedicated though we are to our blog and social media accounts, our news updates for Fethiye haven’t exactly been ‘monthly’ of late. It’s a lot of photos to sift through!
So, today’s photo favourite got lots of likes (not necessarily the most) and it’s one we love, too.
We love it because the tables and chairs being by the sea wall along Çalış Beach mean it’s winter and it looks so lovely on sunny days when everyone is outside, enjoying the rays.
And that should just about bring us right up to date. We’re always sharing links, photos and videos on our Facebook page and we share a daily photo on Instagram, too.
And if you want to be right here and now, in the moment, we use Instagram Stories, too, where we share bits and bobs of daily life.
As for following us on Twitter, that’s Barry’s domain so you can follow his little ditties over there, should you so wish.
Oh, and yeah, we have made a mental note to not leave our little alternative Fethiye news updates so long next time…
Tolga
Saturday 8th of April 2017
Happy anniversary! I've been checking out your articles and been enjoying them- quite unique. I was in Fethiye area recently, stayed in Hisarönü and walked an average of 15km each day- Kayakoy, Faralya etc. :) I was surprised with how much Fethiye has grown in 20 years and with all the developments along the sea front.
Mette
Sunday 11th of December 2016
What a lot of news you've accumulated this autumn. I'm almost out of breath reading you backlog catalogue, so I can't imagine what living it must be like. Happy blogging anniversary.
Turkey's For Life
Tuesday 13th of December 2016
Thanks a lot for the happy wishes, Mette. :) Yeah, we got a bit behind with our Fethiye news just because so much was happening! :)