4 Seasons In One Month – March In Fethiye

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A very apt title for the March roundup of our monthly news from Fethiye.

Fethiye Weather – March

Because, let’s kick off with the late winter and early spring weather over the last four weeks or so.

We haven’t had much of a winter at all this year but, intermittently, in March, we’ve had snow on the higher ground, icy winds, storms, hailstones, torrential rain, thunder and lightning.

And, also, equally intermittently, we’ve had bright sunny days, warm t-shirt weather and a dip into the summer wardrobe.

It’s weather like this that makes the wardrobe transition more frustrating. We’re no fashion victims so the daily clothing situation is quite easy.

I’m thinking mainly about the running wardrobe.

One day, it’s time to dig out the wind-proof, long-sleeved tops, extra layers and long leggings again.

The next, it’s back to t-shirts and shorter, summer running leggings (or just shorts, in Barry’s case).

Whatever the weather is doing, we’re basking in the sunshine yellow of mimosa blooms on the trees – and swallowing antihistamines to keep the hay fever at bay!

Keep yourself up to date with wind, rain and sunshine on our Fethiye weather page.

Speaking Of Running…

You may remember that last year, we launched our new page of listings of running events taking place around Turkey.

No sooner had we shared it, the world was flipped on its head and we’ve all been fumbling along ever since.

Well, lots of hard work and logistics by organisers means a few running events are scheduled to go ahead this year and some have already happened.

So, last week, we set about trawling the internet and updating our page.

If you like to take part in trail or road races, take a look at our list of running events around Turkey.

Our local Fethiye Ultra Trail, to take place today, unfortunately had to be cancelled at the last minute but Antalya’s Runtalya went ahead, as did the Efes Ultra.

Alanya Ultra and the Istanbul Half (with a whole raft of huge names taking part) will also happen this weekend. So let’s take it as a positive that organisers are finding away to make these running festivals happen.

We all need a bit of ‘normal,’ don’t you agree?

Super Busy Belediye

The belediye is the local council. And, right now, Fethiye Belediyesi seems to have one project after another – and a few more, in between – on the go.

The Beach Project

The Çalış Beach promenade project is still underway. Since we took these photos, the tiled paving has also begun at the far end in front of Bahane.

In the bottom two photos, you can see how a wooden frame was laid and then concrete was poured to mould a geometric pattern along the edging. This is the area where the tiles are now being laid.

Elsewhere, the reinforcement of the wall has now reached the main beach entrance.

At the section to the left of the main entrance, heading back towards the Fethiye direction, something clearly went awry and the concrete that had been laid has now been removed again.

But, we do have progress and we can’t wait to walk down there next week after the curfew weekend (more on that below) to see further developments.

Harbour Road

The road that follows the seafront between Fethiye centre and Çalış is Cahit Gündüz Caddesi and, later, Yürüyüş Yolu Caddesi.

Over the last few weeks, this stretch has been closed to traffic.

Rather than having overhead cables, these have been buried underground, along the edge of the cycle track. Lighting will, apparently, also be placed along this side of the road.

Once all the cobbles have been laid, the plan is to do maintenance on both the cycle track and the running track – the latter will be re-laid.

This is much needed as the rubber is now loose in many places and a section even blew away from the track in one of the recent storms.

So, watch this space.

This is our regular stomping ground for running and walking so we’re seeing change on a daily basis along this stretch of the harbour towards Şehit Fethi Bey Parkı.

A Memorial To Health Professionals

Staying in the park area, Fethiye Belediyesi and the Muğla Health Chamber (Muğla Tabip Odası) came together in March to plant a memorial tree.

The tree sits on the edge of the park in a grassy area and was planted as a memorial to the health professionals who have lost their lives during the pandemic.

The tree is a günlük tree (liquidambar orientalis) which is native to southwest Turkey where, of course, the Muğla province sits.

If you know this area, you will have seen them. In just a few years, this tree will be huge. They grow to a maximum of 35 metres.

It seems more fitting to have a live memorial which supports Turkey’s biodiversity rather than a sculpture.

And nice that there’s a place of calm where people can go to remember and give thanks.

Fethiye Tourism

As if there wasn’t already enough to see and and do in the Fethiye area the local council have also secured grants to boost cycling tourism and underwater tourism.

No dates or timetable as yet but it looks like the area might be getting a marked cycle route that will link Fethiye with Seydikemer, to the east, via historic sites.

For fans of diving, an underwater history park is in the pipeline. We’re not sure what this will entail but it’s said the area will naturally attract more sea life.

This will give divers more areas of interest and, more importantly, will give the region’s biodiversity a boost.

All of this is just a tiny bit of the work going on around the area. The Fethiye Belediyesi Facebook page is constantly updated.

It’s in Turkish but easy to translate if you want to keep yourself up to date.

The Professional Sporty Bit

That’s the Fethiyespor football team. League 3 is just relentless – it seems like the club are constantly playing matches both home and away.

We’re getting to the crux of the matter now, however, and it’s not looking good for Fethiyespor finishing the season as league champions.

That means the dreaded play offs in the hopes of reaching 2. Lig for next season.

There are five matches left to play. Let’s see what happens…

Eating Out

I was hoping to be feeling happy and buoyed whilst writing this section of the article: telling you the good news about Fethiye cafes and restaurants reopening.

A case of two steps forward, one step back, unfortunately, as they will once more close their doors on April 13th during Ramazan. This is due to a rise in cases across most of the country.

As I type, we’re also back under the Saturday-Sunday weekend curfew rather than just the Sunday.

But, we have managed to do the rounds and say hi to friends and places we’ve missed sitting at over the last few months.

To Denizatı

Like we said, there’s been a good few chilly days throughout March so we’ve had to pick and choose our outings wisely so that we can sit outside.

Our first warm sunny day called for a seafront lunchtime dining experience. So off to Denizatı Restaurant it was for a cheeseburger.

Barry opted for the chicken burger which was a full chicken schnitzel in a bun! Lovely!

And Gustorante

We’ve eaten twice at Gustorante since the restaurants reopened.

Barry’s mum’s age group should only be out between 10am and 2pm and Gustorante is close to where she lives so it means we can have a more leisurely lunch together.

Our two visits have mixed Turkish food with international classics.

Barry loves the grilled köfte and also the cökertme kebab which you can see in the main photo.

We’ve also taken in the Çalış Beach scenery from the terrace at Bahane. The terrace also means you can escape from all the work going on along the promenade.

In Fethiye, of course, we had to go and say hi to Deep Blue and we also reacquainted ourselves with Büyük Ev.

And so, we have until April 13th to make the most of – and support – our local eateries and watering holes before they once more temporarily close their doors.

On The Blog

As usual, we’re a bit late with our March update and have strayed over into the new month of April.

Eggs

This year, that means Easter eggs. We shared our favourite village egg recipes – not a bit of chocolate in sight.

Döner Kebab

If you’re a subscriber to the blog or if you follow any of our social media channels, you’ll also know we shared our new article which is our great big guide to the world of döner kebab.

From a good old classic doner wrap to regional variations. There’s more to this kebab than you might think.

Pate

And if you prefer seafood to meat, check out the new recipe that we shared in March: Füme alabalık ezmesi.

That’s homemade smoked trout pate for the English language speakers.

Naturally, a lack of travel and a slower way of life means we’ve been quite a bit more foodie over the last few months.

Only fitting then that we have also done an update to the look of our Turkish recipes page. A bit neater and cleaner.

And that just about wraps up March. Who knows what the rest of April has in store. We’ll let you know what happened at the end of the month!

Until then, we’ll be running, walking, cooking and blogging…

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