Time for another Fethiye monthly news roundup. And, honestly, it feels like our feet haven’t touched the ground in May.
Such a busy – but lovely – month with friends over from the UK. And two short breaks for us either side.
So, let’s get cracking with what’s happened amongst all of that…
Bayram(lar)
May was busy for the Turkish national holidays and festivals calendar – and for the Fethiye events calendar, too, for that matter.
19th May
19th May is Atatürk’ü Anma Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı – Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth & Sport Day. Parades took place in Fethiye and a free live concert was put on in the town square.
We’re obviously behind the times, these days, as we were unfamiliar with the band who were performing – Dolu Kadehi Ters Tut – but they were clearly known to the thousands of excited youngsters who went to watch them!
Kurban Bayramı
Kurban Bayramı is the Feast of the Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) and as this year’s festival fell on the Wednesday til Saturday, the government declared a 9-day holiday so that the Monday and Tuesday and the weekends either side were included.
Extending the holiday in this way gives the Turkish tourist resorts a big boost for the start of the season.
Whilst it was lovely to see Çalış Beach so crowded, we’re sure lots of people wouldn’t have been too happy joining the snaking queue of cars trying to get down the hill to the resort of Ölüdeniz.
Wrestling & Shopping
And whilst early May saw the now annual oil wrestling event taking place in Karaçulha, towards the end of the month, it was also the annual Çalış Spring Fayre.
Because of our busy month, we were away for both of these local events.
I love a bit of wander through the artisan stalls of the fayre. But we also had a great time where we were, too!
More of that, further below…
Şövalye Island Visit?
Car-free Sövalye Island is that little stretch of land between the Fethiye Peninsula and Çalış Beach.
Complimentary shuttle boats will pick you up for restaurant visits. But if you just want to head to Şövalye Island for a wander and a swim, the Muğla Büyükşehir taxi boat started to run again in late May.
It leaves from Fethiye harbour and there are four crossings, daily, there and back.
More details in our article about Şövalye Island.
Daily Life = Blog
This blog is made up purely of personal experiences. So bits of our daily life naturally become content on here – and it means we get to update and refresh longstanding articles, too.
Things change, don’t they?
Friends To Visit In Fethiye
Two different groups of friends over in May contributed to a lovely busy month.
Some of them love wandering around Paspatur and it’s tradition that we always meet at Deep Blue.
A perfect opportunity, then, to update our article about Deep Blue Bar.
In The Kitchen
And a lot of what we cook also becomes a recipe on the blog – an ever growing list of Turkish recipes and the occasional international recipes, too.
As May progressed, whilst the Fethiye weather was a bit of a mixed bag, the temps were generally climbing.
That means our diet starts to change, too. We naturally stray into a world of meze and making salads and grills.
So the month of May was memorable for lots of helpings of Barry’s homemade chicken liver pate.
Classic grilled köfte has been on the menu. And I also made a huge yeşil tabağı (green plate).
Oodles of health benefits in the yeşil tabağı which is a mung bean salad with lots of other richly coloured green ingredients.
No new recipes in May.
As we said, our feet haven’t touched the ground. We’re thinking June will be a tad more chilled so, hopefully, we’ll have some more kitchen time.
And Some Travels
Last year, on 5th May, we finally decided to get married. And so, despite many years together already, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary this year.
Greece
We decided to mark our anniversary by heading to Greece for a short break – a couple of Greek islands.
So that has paved the way for a few article updates. And also a brand new article that is in progress…
We took the catamaran over from Fethiye to Rhodes and had a couple of nights there.
So an update to our article about the Fethiye Rhodes high speed ferry. And also an update to our guide about Rhodes Town.
We explored more of the ‘new’ town, this time – which we loved – so there’s now a bit more about that in the article.
We also took a ferry from Rhodes and headed over the the island of Halki for a couple of nights.
It’s taken a lot longer than expected to sift through my photos and decide which few will make the upcoming article.
Anyway, that’s all now done.
So work on the writing will start when this news update is finished. For now, this is one of the pics that made the cut.
Dalyan
And then, towards the end of the month, it was the very welcome return of a running event in beautiful Dalyan.
Do keep an eye on our Turkish running events page if you like to take part in road and trail races.
This was a road event and a trail event combined. Barry and a friend did the 10k. Nothing for me at the moment due to injury.
Any running event for us is a happy excuse for at least a couple of nights away. And it’s always lovely to jump on the dolmuş from Fethiye to Dalyan.
Our guide to Dalyan is now also freshly updated.
Make Us Your Preferred Source
If you could make Google show you more content from your favourite travel and food sites (like us), would you?
Google has quietly started rolling out a new ‘Preferred Sources’ feature in their Search and AI results.
It lets you choose the publishers you actually want to see more often when you’re searching for things like travel ideas, recipes and guides – like us!
If you’ve enjoyed our Fethiye & Turkey travel guides, local food spots and recipes over the years – and would like to see more of them when you’re searching on Google – then we’d be really grateful if you could tick the little square box across from our logo on this page.
Thanks a lot!
In Other News
Very short and sweet, this month, because we’ve been out and about so much.
But, right at the beginning of May, this article really jumped out.
Over the years, we’ve visited the Galata neighbourhood of Istanbul a lot. And we’ve stayed there a couple of times, too.
We’ve seen a lot of changes. With lots of local shops and businesses disappearing and tourist souvenir shops and the like taking their place.
This article, The Great Galata Replacement, restores some hope. It celebrates the adaptiveness, inventiveness and determination of some business owners looking to remain in the neighbourhood both by embracing tourism and retaining some of the unique atmosphere of Galata.
Into June…
It’s starting to feel like summer. And our current pace of life is slowing down a little.
We’ve got a couple of recipes we want to add to our list of Turkish salad recipes.
These are great for summer. But if you know Turkish cuisine, you’ll know it’s VERY rare there isn’t a salad of some description on the table even in the depths of winter when everyone’s tucking into hearty stews and casseroles.
And, as it’s June, we might venture to one of the local beaches or a pool. Summer really has started if that happens!
Let’s see what the month has in store…