Here we are again!

[Lizilu20]

Hi All, we arrived late Saturday night after a small delay at Manchester. It's a wonderful feeling to be back  OH started as he means to go on - immediately as we got here he was admiring the view and disappeared down a kerb mid sentence in a classic, now you see him, now you don't moment!! 

Yesterday was our first real day here and we woke up to glorious sunshine and a warm breeze, always a good sign. We got ready and thought we would have a walk up to cafe vita for brunch, but when we got there it was closed until 12 so we walked all the way back again and went to collect our hire car - yes watch out Kalkan, we have wheels again!! We finally got to eat at cafe vita and my turkish breakfast was delicious as usual. We then took a drive down to kalamar bay and had a little walk round by the beach club, which of course was closed and deserted bar a turkish lady and her child snuggled up on a towel, making the most of their Sunday. I can imagine its going to look a lot different when we are back here in August.

We then went into the old town to change some money and have a mosey round. While we were there, a fleet of cars, horns honking did a circuit of the old town, lots of cheering an waving going on and one of the jeeps had about 10 little boys hanging out of the back, waving and shooting water from water pistols at us. We presumed it must be a birthday party or a wedding or something, although no sign of a bride and groom.

We then spent a lazy afternoon soaking up the sun, first at the fener cafe, but it got that breezy there that we had to hold on to our drinks for fear of them disappearing over harbour wall!! So we decided to go back to the apartment and laze there instead. We were just reclining on the balcony when we heard and agonising yelp and much howling coming from outside. We thought it must be some dogs fighting so we went to investigate and found that it was a dog stuck in our empty pool. The silly thing had gone in to drink the rainwater at the bottom and was well and truly stuck. Well, we were at a loss to know what to do. The poor thing was really distressed but OH was frightened that it might turn on him if he climbed in there with it and then, how would he get out!! We tried getting a brush for the dog to hold onto so we could pull it out, but how do you tell a dog to do this??? We tried all sorts of ways to tempt the dog out but to no avail. We had to stay with it, making reassuring noises as everytime we moved, it howled even more, our girls were so upset. Our management guy finally came to the rescue and warily and bravely got in with the dog who promptly rolled onto his back for a tickle!! With him at the back pushing the dog with the brush and us at the front cooing and cajoling, we finally got it out!!! We were so relieved and then the blooming stupid thing went and tried to do it again, so we then had to be on dog watch all afternoon!!!

Last night we ate at Sade and we had a fab meal. Mixed grill for OH, sea bass stuffed with calamari, prawns and spinach in a cream sauce for myself and lamb shanks for the girls. Boy it was good. It wasn't cheap though, right at the upper end of the scale, but it was a truly fabulous meal and the service was exemplary. I was asking our waiter what the commotion was in town earlier and he explained that it was a circumcision party!!! All those little boys ( looked around the age of 8 or so), were merrily on their way to lose a body part!!! I bet they're not singing, dancing and squirting water out of pistols today!!!

We bumped into Mr and Mrs Hobbo yesterday and it was lovely to see them and catch up.

Today is a rotten day  Accuweather is accurate unfortunately. The rain is bucketing down so not sure what we will be up to. Anyway, I know I'd much rather be in Kalkan in the rain than at home in the rain!!!!

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=10837.0

[onelove]

Fab report Lizilu20.  Hope the weather picks up.  But as you said, who cares, your in Kalkan 

[Skunk]

Sorry to hear the weather's not sunny but it was forecast!  Sounds like you had adventurous first day with that dog in the pool! 
Hope you found something interesting to do in the rain today?
Have a great time whatever you do. xxx

[Joeyloveskalkan]

Great to hear what is happening in Kalkan again.  Glad you enjoyed your meal at Sade; it is one of favourites.  From the forecast that is about it for the rain so enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Jo

[michelle from newcastle]

What a lovely report keep them coming as its getting me in the mood. Loved the story of the pool and the dog and also the boys and the water pistols.  Even reminded me of me with the kerb incident I do that all the time . Can you tell me what sort of prices you paid in safe as sounds lovely and just wondering what to budget for food x

[alisonh]

Great to read an early holiday report, thanks Lizilu.  Look forward to reading the next instalment if you get chance. Hope you have a fabulous holiday 

[amber]

A very wet day in Kalkan yesterday plus 3 power cuts and some people had no water - another day in "paradise"!!! All that and we still love it!

[Lizilu20]

Thank you for all your kind comments  Michelle, I can definitely recommend Sade for a birthday meal, but then I could probably recommend most of the restaurants here as the quality of food, whether traditional or more Mediterranean style, is really so good. We paid 228 TL for the meal which consisted of no starters, but complimentary mezze of puffy bread, olives, dipping oil and a spicy tomato salsa. Main courses were my sea bass, mixed grill and 2 lamb shanks and our girls had desserts of chocolate brownies, which looked like a work of art! We also had 2 glasses of wine, 2 efes, 2 diet cokes and 1 large bottle of water. We had complimentary Turkish delight and almond liqueur to finish off a superb meal. In England, at our favourite restaurant a couple of weeks ago we paid £240.00 for 4 of us when we went out with friends and had the same standard of food!!! So we figure that to eat at somewhere like Sade, or a harbour side restaurant every night would make quite a dent in our holiday spends, but compared to a top class meal at a good restaurant where we live, the price is very reasonable.

Like Amber said, yesterday was a complete washout, weather wise  so we had a mooching day. We set off in the car and went to chillies for brunch, 3 English breakfasts and a lahmacun later (66TL), we were ready for action. We had a little drive up and along the Akbel road, to Suss out the villa we are staying in when we return in August and the views of the stormy sky meeting the sea and black clouds hovering over mouse and snake island were tremendous, we felt like we were on top of the world and are sure of a marvellous view from our villa.
We then zipped into town and had a walk along the harbour bumping into our lovely restaurant friends and involved lots of hugs and kisses. It's amazing at how warmly you are welcomed back by such genuinely friendly people and the amount of times we are told by waiters, "this is your home, treat it as such" is unbelievable. Turkish hospitality is I'm sure, the best in the world. The roads were very slippery underfoot and on the roads and quite a few cars were unable to climb the hills, one in particular, slid back cardiac hill, just like me in the heat of the summer!! We were behind an articulated lorry at the traffic lights up by the petrol station when it alarmingly started sliding backwards towards us and OH had to do a swift manoeuvre round him to avoid us getting squashed!!
We decided that this was enough thrill for one day so back we went to the lovely apartment and had a very chilled out afternoon. Not a lot of dent in the factor 20 but quite a bit in the Bombay sapphire by the time we left for dinner!!!

We ate at lovely Kaya restaurant last evening, mixed grill for OH and our youngest, special chicken in a brandy and cream sauce for me and chicken spaghetti for our elder daughter. Again, no starters but complimentary bread and olives and guess what?? Chocolate brownies and ice cream for the girls. Drinks similar to the previous night and this worked out at 182 TL. OH swears that kaya mixed grill is the best in Kalkan. Might not look as fancy as in some places but he said the taste and portion size is amazing. We then went for an eventful drink at parc Kalkan. Unfortunately a fight broke out which was a bit frightening for our girls, but Cenk immediately stepped in and it was sorted out very quickly. I'm really unsure of all the in's and out's of it but apparently, a random unknown turkish guy inappropriately touched someone's daughter and naturally, her father was extremely unhappy about this. In all the time we have been coming here, that was the very first sign of unpleasantness we have witnessed. If one of our daughters was in the same situation, I know that my OH would have reacted in exactly the same way. Kalkan is a wonderful place and I'm sure that incidents like this are quite isolated, after all, Kalkan can in no way, shape or form, be compared to resorts like Marmaris or Kavos, where I'm sure things like this are a common occurrence.

Well on a lighter note, the sun is shining brightly today, with a breeze to blow off the cobwebs and the smell of contraband bacon is wafting from the kitchen as OH does his Jamie Oliver bit for team Lizilu!! I think I'd better go and supervise!!!

[Babs]

It's lovely to get regular holiday reports.....what an eventful couple of days you have had Lizilu! Dogs in pools, dangerous lorries and fights in bars.......careful someone will come along and remind us all that Kalkan is not paradise!! 
Somehow rainy days in Kalkan don't seem as awful as here do they......I have to admit that I quite enjoyed the excuse to sit and do nothing when it rained on the one visit we have had out of season.....of course it helped that I was sitting in Kleo with a nice glass or two of lal!
Hope you all have a brilliant time......keep the reports coming when you get a chance......brightens up my dreary day as still captive at home with my broken foot!

[Skunk]

Gosh quite a busy day then Lizilu. I laughed out loud at the Bombay Sapphire afternoon, sounds very decadent! Glad your view from Akbel will be good - I thought the photos looked absolutely stunning when you sent me the blurb. Hope the girls have recovered from the fight in Parc Kalkan - horrible to witness isn't it? And you never know how it could turn out. Well sounds like you could be having a better day today weather wise - is it nearly Patara weather?  But watch those currents. 

[kalkan4eva]

Hey Lizilu, thanks for taking the time to let us know how your stay is going.
I have a new hero...Death Wish Dog...I hope he comes back for more pool adventures - it will save you from demolishing the gin, if nothing else
Here's hoping the weather improves for the rest of your stay and looking forward to more reports.

[onelove]

Fab reports Lizliu, keep them coming. 

[Bob & Jayne]

Yes Lizilu definitely keep your fab reports coming if you have the time. Sounds like your having a wonderful holiday and so glad you are getting some sun bathing in today. Still cold and wet here. Roll on the summer when we can have fun in kalkan too!

Jayne

[Lizilu20]

Thanks so much Babs, Skunk, Onelove, K4E and B&J. Just had a pampering shower and enjoying a sundowner before venturing into town. It's been a lovely day today. X

[Pompeyalbie]

I love coming on here each day and reading the latest messages, certainly sounds eventful out there at the moment. We're counting down the days until the beginning of May. Haven't tried Kaya so might give it a go. The thought of driving up cardiac hill in the wet is scary, I have enough problems in the dry. Do keep the reports coming I love them.

[michelle from newcastle]

I must admit I love coming on here every day now too and everyone is so helpful and friendly too. Lazily I really do love your stories you are definitely having an eventful time. The food for the quality sounds very reasonable to me sounds so lovely too. Kalkan4eva love the name "death wish dog" bet we all look out for him now. Oh I must also say I'm surprised how many people seem to be in kalkan at the moment. I didn't expect there to be that many people there yet 

[Lizilu20]

Pompeyalbie, you must try kaya and Michelle, you're going to love Kalkan!

Right, where do I start!!! Well we've had unbroken sunshine since Tuesday, so we decided to stay around the pool all day, after our cooked breakfast. K4E, just loved your comment re death wish dog, who along with stalker cat has become our protector. We also have a demented rooster to keep us company! I think demented rooster has Alzheimer's as he decides to cock a doodle at any time, day or night. He cock a doodles well but cannot doo!! He sounds like how I imagine a goat would sound being strangled!! A kind of deep guttural elongated rasp, and loves to show this off every 5 mins or so!

We had a sundowner on the balcony afterwards and headed into town. Shock horror, no moonlight bar!!! It's there but not open for the season yet  first time we have never been able to have a drink there, so we opted for the Yali bar instead. We then went to eat at Mussaka which didn't disappoint, food as delicious as ever.

Wednesday took us to Kas, where we ate at a harbour side restaurant for lunch. It was very nice, eating chicken sish and watching the boats going back in the water. It was a hive of activity there and some of the captains were offering boat trips already, but I don't think I'd like to brave the deep blue sea just yet!
We had a nostalgic run around the peninsular, where we stayed in 2010 and took lots of photos. We then drove back along the stunning coastal road which hugs the shoreline and stopped off at Kaputas beach for an hour. Kaputas is beautiful at any time of year, but looked absolutely fantastic on Wednesday. The colours of aquamarine, turquoise and navy blue really stood out and the contrast with the pure white of the waves, crashing onto the beach was mind blowing. We stopped off at Adems for a drink or two on the way home and had a lovely catch up with him.
We ate at the Marina Wednesday night and had such a good laugh with George and the guys. The food was as ever very good. We went to bed very happy, what a fab, fab day.

Yesterday was market day, so we walked down early doors, flanked on one side by death wish dog and stalker cat on the other! We stocked up on spices then spent another lazy day by the pool, after eating our body weight in bacon, eggs and fried tomatoes!
We were joined by death wish dog looking longingly at us from the gate and stalker cat, who was curled up under our youngests sunbed!

I shall have to go now as the Internet is dodgy, but will continue later.

[Skunk]

Sounds like you are having a ball Lizilu.  Death wish dog, stalker cat and demented chicken are sure a good laugh! Fancy the moonlight bar being closed! Can't imagine that. Are the boats back in the wter in Kalkan yet? Keep em coming, I missed the reports while the site was offline. 

[kalkan4eva]

I think Gyrol opened Moonlight slightly earlier than usual last year as Easter was quite late on, but the norm for them is the beginning of May

[clara 50]

Great reports, we always have similar experiences with adoptive animals. Last year the two dogs living at Cafe Ev took a shine to my hubby they followed him everywhere. They used to sit patiently and wait outside the supermarket for him when he went to stock up on the Efes and one night I felt like a night in so they accompanied him on a night out, they stalked him around town and sat waiting for him outside every bar he visited, which knowing him were quite a few. Other customers commented on how faithful and well behaved his dogs were lol! They then procceded to accompany him home and slept outside the gate so they were ready to greet him first thing when he always went for his early morning snorkel. It was quite touching really and needless to say the old softy had quite a few tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat when he gave them their last stroke goodbye