A February In Fethiye – And Beyond

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It was looking so good….

We were daring to feel positive about the summer season ahead for Turkey.

We were inching our way towards a more regular lifestyle where Coronavirus is concerned. And a heavy weight had been lifted.

#CookForUkraine

But we’re now living in a situation where we are all consumed by the absolute horror of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

I couldn’t begin to write everything here about my thoughts, feelings, feelings of helplessness, worry for others.

But, just to say, social media really does come into its own sometimes.

And whilst I’m sorry that I only came across the Instagram profiles of these two women as a result of the invasion, I’m really glad to have found them – and others.

Olia Hercules (her Instagram account is @oliahercules) and Alissa Timoshkina (@alissatimoshkina) are cookbook authors. And friends who both live in the UK.

They have set up the #CookForUkraine project with others.

If you use Instagram and don’t already follow these two, please visit their profiles.

Olia has family in Ukraine – her brother is in Kyiv – and is updating often.

Alissa is Russian with Ukrainian roots and is sharing her thoughts and feelings. As well as promoting the Cook For Ukraine events.

We have learned so much about Turkey and Turkish culture via food and cooking Turkish recipes. So this project is just something that resonates with us.

Time to learn a bit about Ukraine and Ukrainian culture via its food.

If you want to know more or get involved in Cook For Ukraine by hosting an event or by making a donation, this is the Cook For Ukraine Just Giving page.

There’s a message on there from Alissa Timoshkina about the importance of food for understanding the world around us.

Whilst everything feels so crazy and out of our control at the moment, food seems like a perfect starting place for feeling more grounded.

Lots of photos of Ukrainian dishes on the Cook For Ukraine Instagram account, too.

Here In Daily Life

Here in Fethiye, well, most of February was the ticking along of daily life.

And, of course, with the backdrop of all that is going on in the world, daily Fethiye life continues.

Why We’re Late

We’re so late with this latest news update because we’re not long back from a few days away staying in Antalya’s old town of Kaleiçi.

We were there for Runtalya 2022 (previously Runatolia).

The forecast heavy rain for the event was, in fact, actually light drizzle. Which was a very happy bonus.

Of all the running events in Turkey that we’ve taken part in, Runtalya might be our favourite one.

A great start to the running year, for us.

Apart from the course, the bus journey between Fethiye and Antalya is relatively short and comfortable with fabulous mountain and highland scenery.

And, of course, there’s always the pre-bus journey treat of lunch at Seçkin Lokantası opposite the otogar (bus station).

It’s all part of the weekend away.

Winter weather

It’s fair to say, we’ve had a real winter this year, here in Fethiye.

And perhaps we all got excited a little too early when the temperatures suddenly started to warm up and the almond blossom started to bud on the trees.

Almond blossom is always our sign from nature that we’re nearly there. And the seasons are set to change.

As I type, however, winter has forced its way back upon us for one final swansong before it goes into hibernation once more.

Turkish Airlines had to cancel flights for the second time this year, yesterday, due to snowfall in Istanbul.

Here in Fethiye, we have an icy north wind that’s making temperatures feel much colder than they are.

A Real Feel of -1 this morning.

We’ve had our fair share of rain, too. On the last day of February it was my birthday – and it was also pouring down.

A quick dash to Calisto along Çalış Beach during a gap in the rain for a birthday pizza.

Bar one or two other diners, we were the only people down there. Until a bit later on once the clouds cleared a little.

Fethiye Museum

We often neglect that which is right on our own doorstep, don’t we?

Fethiye Museum is a place we should be dropping into at least once or twice a year, just to see if the displays have changed.

Well, we’d left it years between visits. But in February, we finally got ourselves there once more.

Click here to read our full Fethiye Archaeological Museum article if you missed it.

And if and when you’re next in town, do give it a visit. Added bonus – it’s free!

Eating & Drinking

Valentine’s Day in February was a perfect excuse to eat out for a foodie treat.

We usually stay in and cook at home but this year was a bit different.

We’d had to wait in all day for a courier delivery. So, by eating time, we’d gone a bit stir crazy.

Guess we were last on the courier’s list…

Çarıklı Et

Çarıklı Et Restaurant was a our restaurant of choice. Lots of restaurants in Fethiye do a set menu for Valentine’s Day which is really not our thing.

Çarıklı Et always stick to their regular menu. So we went there for a steak.

And then the waiter told us they had a special on – lamb tandır!

Neither of us had steak. Both of us ordered the slow cooked lamb!

I seem to remember we said we’d be updating our Carıklı article sometime ago.

That’s still not done. But at least now, we have all the photos we need so that article update will be coming soon…

Büyük Ev Pub & Kitchen

It seems it’s all been about couriers during February!

A missed courier delivery meant we had to go to the Post Office cargo centre to pick up a parcel.

From where we live, it’s a bit of a trek to the cargo centre. So, once we’d successfully retrieved the parcel and headed back towards the town centre, we decided a on a burger treat.

Büyük Ev Pub & Kitchen was our place of choice. And we’re happy to say they’re still doing a great burger.

We’ve also got a new place to add to our list of Fethiye restaurants and bars for next month.

Great Turkish food at reasonable prices!

Fethi Bey Commemorations

27th February is the anniversary of the death of Şehit Fethi Bey; the pilot from whom Fethiye takes its name.

Now that we have Fethi Bey park and the meydan where his statue stands tall, the commemorations are on a grander scale than previously.

Paramotors glide up and down the harbour whilst people gather in the meydan.

And this year, much to the pleasure of the many who missed them not being there, Fethi Bey had his wings reattached!

They had been missing for some time after being damaged in a storm.

Lovely to see Şehit Fethi Bey restored to his former glory.

Fethiyespor

Ahh, thankfully, we have a return to form for Fethiyespor!

About time, too. People were starting to get concerned.

It’s tight at the top of the league. But, hopefully, Fethiyespor can string some wins together to make sure they get guaranteed promotion next season.

On The Blog

Even when we’re not putting out new articles, we’re always working hard on the blog.

Making sure everything is functioning properly, tweaking past articles and changing photos for more up to date ones.

Via social media, we share the weekly Fethiye weather. And, twice a week, the online jigsaws go out.

We all love an excuse to procrastinate!

And, as we were going to the city, we reshared our article about Antalya’s Karaalioğlu Park. The 10k Runtalya route takes you through the park.

In The Kitchen

On the foodie front, we’ve been as busy as usual.

After making spinach and eggs for lunch one day, we made sure our spinach stems didn’t go to waste by making a spinach stem salad.

Twice baked potatoes and Gavurdağı salad have also been on the menu.

And we’re slowly creeping into the Turkish seasonal produce of springtime.

We’ve already bought some baby broad beans. You can eat the whole pod when they’re young.

And this broad beans and sucuk dish is perfect.

We did say winter was still hanging on in there.

If it’s cold where you are, this Turkish dish – lamb and chickpea stew – is ideal comfort food for this weather.

Just as you often see in traditional lokantas in Turkey, we served our stew with mashed potatoes. Turkish rice is also a common accompaniment.

Keeping with the chickpea theme, we’ve also enjoyed a ready cooked rotisserie chicken and served the leftovers the day after with nohutlu pilav.

A great way to get another full meal out of your leftovers.

The Rest Of March

Well, who knows? No predictions from us.

We have no plans to travel anywhere for the rest of this month. So we’ll be appreciating our home in Fethiye. And appreciating what we have around us.

Spring fruits and vegetables will soon be in abundance.

So we’re just happy to look forward to heading to the Friday market, the big Tuesday market and the Çalış Sunday market to see what we can buy!

And let’s hope for a more certain, positive end of month round up for next time!

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