The secret Kalkan diary of Lizilu20...And then there were 3!

[Mayday1]

Fabulous report lizilu.......sounds like you had a " Michael Bubble" wake up..........deffo prefer that to Put your F*****g hands up.You are really getting us in the kalkan mood........we come on Monday,so not long to wait to have a look at our favourite place again,with all the new changes.

Have forensics been over to try and establish the possible cause of death of the poor water pump ! Love the reports,please keep them coming.Have a fab relaxing day

[Bob & Jayne]

Another fab report Lizzie, I couldn't wait til I got home to have a sneaky peak, needed your Kalkan fix, feeling much happier now. Hope they get that pool sorted for you.  Have a lovely day today, look forward to tomorrow's blog!  xx

[Joeyloveskalkan]

Thanks for the reports.  Really getting me in the mood for our trip in 4 weeks (not that I'm counting).
J

[Haybo]

72 days...

[Lizilu20]

Friday 22/04/16

Our last full day 

Yesterday, OH made my breakfast as I blogged and I was joined again by a cheeky bird, presumably wanting some of it. It was on the balcony railing, close enough to touch and it chirrup'd  away at me. The birds are so tame here. After I finished I threw my crumbs over the balcony and a flock of greedy birds enjoyed their breakfast too. 

We still have the car and didn't do too much in the way of sightseeing while our friends were here so after saying goodbye to our friends (who are now hooked!) we jumped in the car and headed off to patara.
It's been our mission since 2009, to find the sand dunes, but every time we tried in the past we've either taken the wrong turn or not believed we were going in the right direction. This time we were determined, and we did it!!!
Oh my word! Breathtaking, spectacular, amazing, how many adjectives I could use to describe this awesome sight that was in front of us. It was like looking at a wonder of the world! I presume that most of you have already been to the dunes but if you haven't, then make it your mission to go too. You won't be disappointed. There were a group of ladies having a picnic and a few hikers, presumably walking the Lycian way, but other than these folks, it was deserted and we scrambled to the very top to see patara beach in all its glory, stretching for miles, truly an amazing sight.

We headed home, exhilarated, and decided to drive via Akbel.
Question - why did the chicken cross the road?
Answer - to get to the other side? Ha ha, no, because it wanted to play chicken with us! I think we may have encountered 'death wish chicken' or one of its descendants. Just as we were approaching a group of hens playing merrily by the roadside, one decided to tease us and run right out in front of us - I've never seen a hen run as fast in my life, but it made it unscathed, and gave us a withering look with unruffled feathers as we missed it by a whisker!
We carried on down to chillies which has just opened for the season and enjoyed a delicious lunch. We really must try it of an evening on the summer. The full menu was not available as the only opened on Wednesday, but we got what we asked for which was a hot chicken salad for me, chicken wrap for our daughter and cheeseburger for OH. My hot chicken salad was actually a chili chicken salad, rather than a warm chicken salad - another lost in translation episode, but it actually was warm and not too spicy. In fact it was yummy and we all enjoyed our respective meals.
As we were eating our lunch, we encountered 'death wish tortoise' lazily ambling across the road. I'm not sure if this was George Colin Jaffa or a different one but thank God it was rescued by a kind soul from the blue turtle bar, or it may have been messy! 

After chillies, we had a walk around the harbour, fab to see the boats back in and still being worked on, to make them shipshape for the season, and along the walkway to the beach. As I said earlier, it's not looking too pretty there at the moment but I'm sure it will be tidied up for the start of the season. Two boys were diving in from the rocks and wet OH through as he passed by, he nearly jumped out of his skin! 
We then decided to have a walk by the Asfiya hotel so we parked the car up and walked down the steps by the Likya cottages or posh pods as we call them. This is a lovely hidden pathway that ends up by the clubhouse/restaurant on the harbour and is a nice walk. Shame in a sense about the development - I wonder if eventually the coastline will be built up all around to kalamar bay? But it is a nice walk and the pods are tucked away between the trees and looks as though the developers have tried to be sympathetic with the surroundings.

Back to the Yelken for a well earned sun bathe around the pool and a nice glass of wine. Unfortunately the crime scene is still there, the tape flapping in the slight breeze and teasing me! I so wanted to jump in that pool - my phone temperature was reading 30 degrees and it sure felt like it too.

Last night we met up with Christina and she showed up around her beautiful apartment and served us delicious nibbles and drinks. Thank you Christina, you are a fab hostess and we had a lovely time and had to drag ourselves away, but we needed to eat.

We weaved carefully down the street - she was a marvellous hostess and the drinks were flowing! By the handbag shop where I've placed my order  and ended up in salt n pepper.
Delicious food at a reasonable price for the harbour and free dessert of fruit and ice cream. It was very quiet and we had a lovely chat with the guys there.
We were going to go to black and gold but they had closed by the time we had eaten - well it was midnight! So we made our way home, happy and content after another amazing day. 

[Lizilu20]

Saturday 23/04/16

National sovereignty & Children's day in Turkey and it's going home day for us 

I believe there will be a parade from school to the Kaya roundabout about now and then celebrations from 9.30 onwards. Such a shame we will miss it as unfortunately packing will take priority for us. It's a dull day today in lots of ways, the sun is struggling to peep through the clouds this morning and I'm struggling to peep through my eyes. Bit of a disturbed sleep last night as the dogs were barking very loudly here in kalamar. The weather has got warmer and warmer since we've been here and for the last 2 nights we've been sleeping with the bedroom window and balcony door open (thank heavens for fly screens) as its been so muggy. In fact I got up and had a cold shower the other night as I was so hot. I know we could have put the air con on, but it's been refreshing feeling the natural breeze and not waking up with dry mouths, banged up noses and sore throats which is how I often feel while sleeping with the air con on. Hence you could hear every little noise from outside and that's something I'm not used to as I never sleep with the window open at home, unless it's unusually warm.

Yesterday was a fab day all round. After feasting on a delicious Turkish style breakfast
lovingly thrown together by OH, we set off on our last car journey of the holiday, leaving our daughter snuggled in the bat cave  she said she needed to catch up on her sleep!!
We headed right at the top of the hill and on to kaputas for a quick recce. There were a few people on the beach and frolicking in the very calm sea. The toilets are still there as is the refreshment hut. We decided not to traverse the steps so took a few pics and turned around and set off to patara for the day instead.

Our next door neighbours in the apartment had been to patara earlier in the week and kindly offered us the use of their card so we made good use of it, although it's only cheap for a pass at patara and we would have willingly paid. We headed towards the barrier with trepidation, fearing that the guy at the hut would somehow realise that we were interlopers and refuse our entry, but no, all was well as he smiled and wished us a good day at the beach as he swiped our card and thankfully no sirens went off!
We enjoyed a fabulous couple of hours at the beach. The yellow/red striped flag was up so we presumed that this meant ok but with a bit of caution? There were a few people swimming and for the first time we spotted a life guard in the hut and another monitoring the sea in his canoe. The beach was fairly deserted, a few boys playing football which invariably meant that the ball was kicked in the sea and they were having a wonderful time frolicking in the waves, a few other couples and a family - certainly no fighting for a sun bed and umbrella this time of year. We plonked ourselves down and apart from a fight with a wasp who wanted to claim my yellow towel as his own, and a slight hitch where I had to roll off my sunbed into the sand to get up ( not a pretty sight) as my knees just weren't for bending, all was well and we basked under the hazy sunshine, never feeling too hot as the warm breeze rolled from the sea and over our sun baked bods. It was bliss 
When we got back, our neighbour told us about how her swimming costume had left a white ring on her stomach, quick as a flash OH told her to wear it every day for four days and she could be an Audi  oh we did laugh.

We returned home, windswept and brushing the sand off, to an afternoon of prosecco and nibbles on the balcony. I'd been saving the prosecco all holiday for 'the right time' and this was it. We had a lovely afternoon, chilled and relaxing, chatting and reminiscing about our fab holiday.
Far too Soon it was time to get showered and out for the evening.

We called in at Kaya for a drink and had a real laugh with the help of google translate.
I was secretly speaking stupid phrases into my phone (which translated them into Turkish) then randomly adding them into a conversation with Erol and Kadir. It was all very childish but great fun and when they cottoned on, they were doing it back, so funny  we said our farewells and lots of hugs later we set off en route to the bag shop.
I'm now the proud owner of a lookalikey Prada saffiano from the new range. Apparently the first one he has sold this season as they were only delivered from the factory yesterday.

We had not decided where to dine but kalamaki looked tempting and seeing as we'd never been before we decided to give it a whirl and I'm so glad we did. It was delicious and we will definitely go back.

We called on to black and gold and had a last rusty nail cocktail there, more hugs and promises to return in August and back home for the last sleep on our comfy bed in our lovely apartment.

We have until 6pm today, so weare planning on brunching downstairs at the Yelken bistro and then the packing will commence. So I'd better get my skates on.

This is Lizilu checking out for now, see you on the other side. 

[Haybo]

Lizzie, an absolute tonic to those of us patiently waiting for our turn to come! As you know, I am only going for 7 days so I want to make sure i show my friend the very best there is.  I think we will be sticking to Old town for meals so am loving the sound of Salonika, am thrilled Mustafa has moved to a spot with a great view, although I love the spot by the Mosque and think we will try Marina.  I am keen that i have a 'different' stay than I would with the family, so would like to try the less busy beach clubs...maybe caretta and if they permit it, the Kalamar Hotel. 

Have a splendid last day and a safe trip home.  Who's next?

[hobbo]

Have a safe journey, we will be flying in as you leave, possibly on the same EJ plane? We are bringing a couple of friends with us this trip who have never been to Turkey before. I've really enjoyed your holiday, many thanks for doing the research and sharing it on here it has helped us plan our 8 days

[Bob & Jayne]

It certainly has been a tonic reading your holiday blog Lizzie, thank you so much, we have laughed from beginning to end, and feel like we have been there with you.  Have a safe journey home, and maybe there may be a final blog when you get back. 

J&B xxx

Hobbo hope you have a lovely holiday too, and maybe a post or 2!!!

[Lizilu20]

Thanks guys and yes Hobbo that's our flight. We will wave to you as you disembark while we are queuing to board 

Jayne - I will finish off tomorrow as I have a few snippets of information that may be of use to the forum including the hunker expansion of which the deal was signed yesterday.
 

[Haybo]

Oooh spoilers!

[janeb]

Thank you so much, I've really enjoyed your posts.

Have a safe journey home. 

[Derbyshire]

Also thank you for your lovely reports x

[kalkan4eva]

Oh Lizilu, your stay is over too soon 
Thank you for sharing your holiday with us, I've loved reading your reports and it's really put me in the mood for our own stay in a mere 47 days time 
It won't be long until you are back in Kalkan again and I look forward to reading more about your adventures then.
Anyone willing to pick up the baton..? Mayday1? hobbo? Is there anybody there?

[Haybo]

If you haven't done it already, dont forget to click on  the Thanks to show your appreciation  for Lizzie sharing her antics with us xx

[Chris_S]

And not just for the series - if you enjoy each Post, say so!

(You can get very paranoid about watching the Thankyou Count go up - it lets you know you're getting it right!)

[Lizilu20]

Wow, thank you so much everyone.      It was a pleasure to bask in the warm Kalkan sunshine and report back to you all. Sadly I'm now sitting at my desk and reminiscing on the wonderful holiday we have had.
As promised here is my final installment and I'd just like to say a HUGE thank you to you all for your appreciation. Like Chris_S says, it's good to know you're getting it right. I'm sure you'd tell me if I wasn't though   

So, Saturday dawned and it was with a heavy heart I picked up my I Pad to report back. The sun was doing it's best to peep through the cloud and selfishly, it made me feel a little better about going home. 
Blog complete, we decided to breakfast downstairs at the Yelken Bistro. It's not the cheapest of places to eat but the ambience is lovely and the food is excellent and so beautifully presented. We enjoyed the poshest full English ever, served on a wooden board with sausage, bacon fried egg on toast, mushrooms and tomatoes and a rocket garnish, oh and the best hash browns known to mankind! We also had 2  Americano coffees and freshly squeezed orange juice. It was a lovely treat and I enjoyed every calorie! Our daughter declined, preferring  to languish in the cave until the last moment - no surprises there then.  While we were eating, the boys from the Bistro were erecting some garden furniture in the beautiful lawned area opposite, which they have been lovingly cultivating for some time now. I can report back that I had exclusive rights to the first customer swing of the season on the fantastic swinging sofa. I gave it some welly and there were no misshaps so I can definitely recommend a drink, a meal and now a relaxing post prandial swing too. 
Packing done and daughter peeled from the sheets, we watched Tommy Lee undo the crime scene tape and the pool bubble into life - yay!!! It was our cue to race down there. The sun had now burnt through the clouds and the pool was open for business.
So we spent a fantastic afternoon, lazing, basking and swimming until it was time to get showered and ready for the flight home. We managed an hour with our lovely apartment neighbours down in the Bistro for drinks before our taxi pulled up and we said our goodbyes with tears in our eyes.

The flight home was comical - our neighbours from home were in the airport waiting, so we enjoyed an astronomically priced Efes with them and as we approached the speedy boarding queue, someone shouted my name and there were some other neighbours fom the next avenue! All of a sudden I felt a flash before my eyes which blinded me and heard a voice shout 'it's our Nurse!' as 2 families of my patients started taking photos of me like paparazzi!! They all wanted selfies with me! It was so funny. We then boarded and on the opposite aisle was OH's old accountant! what a coincidence. 

So a few observations:

1. Never forget the mossie spray no matter how early in the year. We have been bitten to death despite wearing OFF. It seems as though any square inch of flesh that the OFF misses, the mossie's will seek out. Poor OH looks like a spotty teenager as he has a few bites on his face and neck.
2. Hunkar signed the deal on Friday and it's official, they are moving to Kalkan Kebab on the corner and still keeping their original premises. That was the story on Friday night anyway.
3. The former ill fated Yesil Ev is now called Porcini ( opposite can can on Kalamar road) I got it a bit wrong the other day and mislead you, sorry - and will hopefully be opening soon.
4. The bar on the corner where the boat is, is now The cosmopolitan bar, advertised by  a newly painted and upturned boat emblazoned with the logo and was up and running on our last day. So lots of watering holes and places to eat along the Kalamar road now.
5. Don't hesitate, book your flights and get to Kalkan. We saw no sign of trouble there and it remains as wonderful as ever. I'm not that naive to think that it may never be affected as could my little village at home. Who knows? But I honestly felt no different than at any other time on previous holidays.
6. Easy Jet are by far superior to TC nad Monarch, just wished we had booked our summer flights with them too.

So until August, I really am signing off and it's over to you guys! and thanks again for your kind comments and shows of appreciation. It means a lot. x

[Joeyloveskalkan]

Oh no, ends on a cliffhanger!
J

[Lizilu20]

 

My fingers slipped on my battered keyboard ha ha  - sorry! 

I've edited it 

[Blue Lizard]

I have enjoyed sharing your holiday..it has brightened up the dreary days waiting till it's our turn!.....but Sacre Bleu!! whats this!! wooden plates for your full English..and oh my god! Rocket!! now somethings just aren't right!..rocket is taking up the space that should be occupied by another Sausage!! mmmmmm!