Another month in the bag. The merry month of May is done and dusted. And we cruise on into June.
But not without looking back on some news from Fethiye from the last four weeks, of course.
A month that has seen two elections and the month when inci kefal (pearl mullet) leave the waters of Lake Van to swim upstream to spawn.
Meanwhile, in Fethiye…
Mixed May Weather
Very occasionally, we do get wet – and sometimes not very warm – months of May.
May 2023 has certainly given us that.
The weather in Fethiye has given us clouds, rain, wind, occasional thunder, cooler temperatures, higher temperatures.
April and May are usually busy months where the events and festival season is concerned.
At the beginning of the month, some of the final events of the 13th International Fethiye Festival unfortunately had to be cancelled because of the terrible weather.
Better luck for everyone next year if the festival goes ahead again.
Whilst it’s not been the weather our friends visiting from the UK would have ideally wanted, we’ve still had a great time. And, of course, the rain is doing lots of good for the environment.
After a very dry winter, a few reports last week suggested that some of the reservoirs are returning to better levels.
And, of our friends who chose to stay in the UK for the holidays there, well weren’t they just blessed with perfect weather?
Barbecues galore! And we hope some of them made some good old chicken shish and rustled up one or two of our suggestions for the best meze for summer barbecues.
19th Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth & Sport Day
19 Mayıs Atatürk’ü Anma, Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı – or Commemoration of Atatürk Youth & Sport Day – was celebrated in style, this year in Fethiye.
Organised group marches along the harbour by different youth sports clubs. And, as is customary, now, free live concerts by top Turkish musicians.
A double whammy for Fethiye this year with Gripin playing on the 18th and Volkan Konak performing on the following evening.
Huge crowds on Beşkaza Meydanı for both events.
International ______ Day
A day for everything, for everything a day. And a week or a month for that matter.
Always something, isn’t there?
History & Food
18th May was International Museum Day and all around the country, different museums stayed open until 11pm.
Whenever you’re in Fethiye, don’t forget to give Fethiye Archaeological Museum a bit of your time.
What it lacks in size, it more than makes up for with the quality of the artefacts on display in there.
And we can’t miss out on 13th May International Hummus Day. A big bowl of homemade hummus to celebrate. Any excuse.
Spruce Up
Early May is the time when parts of town and local businesses do a bit of a spruce up so that everything is looking tiptop for the summer season ahead.
Happy Snails, Happy Runners
Not big news for everyone, no doubt, but we were happy to see the belediye (council) maintenance staff giving the decorative snails in Fethi Bey Park a paint job.
The snails line the running track and they’d been looking as tired as I feel when I’m running along there!
Lovely, bright and colourful again, now, they make the morning run a far more pleasant experience.
So much do we like the new snails, this scene was one of our online jigsaws in May.
Happy Eating & Drinking
Obviously, lots of the local bars and restaurants have a clean up.
The Çalış fishermen’s cooperative closed for a while over winter – and into spring – but they’re now fully open again.
We did mention this in last month’s news update but they’ve made the entrance area prettier since then.
They have a new display fridge, cute garden area at the front and the seating area along the canal has had a paint job, too.
And, at the top end of the beach, Mutlu Hotel has a whole new bar area, including a separate coffee bar.
It looks great and is already doing well in attracting people to that end of the beach.
Seasonal Food
If May is good at one thing, it is abundance!
We’re loving the sights and aromas that are wafting around the Çalış Sunday Market right now.
Lots of seasonal eating going on at the moment! As well as a treat of gözleme and ayran whilst shopping, too.
The vibrantly coloured summer fruits are starting to make an appearance.
Sunshine yellow loquats (yeni dünya); bright green, glossy greengage (erik), apricots…and local cherries!
It’s also the season of beans. And last week, we bought our first batch of the season – barbunya (borlotti beans) – and made a lovely big bowl of barbunya pilaki.
New tomatoes and new potatoes on the market stalls have prompted us to make bowls of potato salad and kısır.
Whilst all the lovely fresh herbs and salad stuffs inspired a Turkish orzo salad and a batch of homemade falafel.
On The Blog
As usual, we’re always doing lots of background things with the blog that, whilst not obvious, just make everything work more efficiently.
This does take some time away from new article writing. But it’s all essential stuff.
And something is working because, in May, we had a record number of visitors to the blog!
Thank you!
And we have managed to get some substantial article writing, photo editing and bringing the whole thing together, done.
Istanbul Content
After a 5 year hiatus from the crazy, amazing city of Istanbul, we returned to Fethiye armed with lots of fresh memories, experiences, photos and information.
Nothing stays still for long – if at all – in Istanbul. Including the city’s parks.
So we’ve done a big update to our guide to Gülhane Park.
And more (we hope) quality content for our Istanbul section of the blog.
Our guide to Pierre Loti Hill and the Eyüp Sultan neighbourhood.
We’ve got more of Istanbul for you coming up in June, too…
It’s About Time
And much closer to home; how on earth have we been doing this blog for so long without writing this great big guide?
Until now, that is…
We’re referring to our ultimate guide to Çalış Beach!
Everything you need to know about this little resort that is also a big part of our everyday life.
Into June
We should have been writing about the spring fayre along the beach for the May news article. But that event will now happen this coming weekend.
Hopefully with sunny weather, too!
Later in the month, we have more friends coming over for a holiday so it’s another busy month for us.
We’re hoping to hire a car for a couple of days to show them some of the famous Fethiye sights and beyond.
We can feel a ‘blast from the past’ coming on – visiting places we haven’t seen in years!
Let’s see…
And In Other News…
Our little section that is not related to life in Fethiye but that we think is worthy of a mention nonetheless…
A Turkish First
Big congratulations to Turkish actress, Merve Dizdar. She is the first Turkish person to win Best Actress at the famous Cannes Film Festival.
She won the award for her role Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s, ‘About Dry Grasses’ where she plays a teacher in an isolated village.
Film buffs will know director Nuri Bilge Ceylan is no stranger to recognition in Cannes, himself.
In 2014, he won Palme D’or at Cannes for his film ‘Winter Sleep.’
If you love a film with fantastic cinematography, we can highly recommend Nuri Bilge Ceylan films.
We’ll definitely be looking up ‘About Dry Grasses.’
Lighthouse Completion
And in the world of archaeology, the ancient Patara ruins, just along the D400 from Fethiye, have a major new attraction.
When we last visited Patara, archaeologists had begun reconstruction of the ancient lighthouse.
Using almost 90% of original stones that have been found underground, the Patara lighthouse is now complete. Amazing!
Time for a revisit, we think!
Let’s see what June brings… Could be interesting.
Patricia Lloyd
Thursday 1st of June 2023
Just a note to say how much I enjoy your newsletters, the scenery and the descriptions make me long to join you.
And thank you for the recipes; I am vegetarian but many of your recipes can be adapted easily and greatly enjoyed.
good wishes to you and yours Patricia
Turkey's For Life
Monday 12th of June 2023
Hi Patricia, thanks a lot for your comment. Pleased you like the newsletters as we enjoy writing them. :) Yes, lots of recipes are vegetarian and vegan - and can be adapted, too. :)