Well we are back in sunny England, yes sunny, can you believe!? However we a very sad, suffering the holiday blues and missing Kalkan already.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin...
Sunday 26th May
This morning we woke up to beautiful warm sunshine, having decided that there are too many nice things in the shops here in Kalkan to leave here, so we are going to cook and eat in a few nights and lunches. We have been super super lucky as the owner of the apartment we are staying in has left us a pretty much fully stocked fridge.
We basked in the sunshine this morning and nipped down to Cafe Vita for lunch...well we are in holiday I'm not cooking ALL the time
Sam has struck up quite a friendship with Mustapha so we spent most of the afternoon there just chatting and relaxing and enjoying the warm welcome that you're always given there! Cheeseburger for Sam and tuna salad for me with two large Efes - 42.50 TL. We were even given two complimentary gin & tonics to help us while the afternoon away! Such a lovely guy! We staggered back to the apartment and basked some more in the sun avec more gin & tonics (there really is a theme here). Later I stumbled into the kitchen and rustled up some pasta with chicken topped with toasted pine nuts followed by some chocolate pudding...quite nice for a rustle in the cupboards!
We then watched the sun go down from the patio and sunk some more Pimms and Gin, a quiet but romantic evening.
Monday 27th May
More beautiful sunshine and heat today! The weather is truly brilliant, as is the view. Sam can't quite get over the view, it really is just as breathtaking and unique as I remember.
We had a lovely relaxing day by the pool and as we were sunbathing the lovely owners of the top floor apartments in our block came back from their morning shopping with a bag of tomatoes, chillies and onions for us. We really have been very lucky with both our owners and neighbours! I do think this is part of the charm of Kalkan though. For lunch I made a lovely salad of tomatoes, red onion, turkish cheese, olives, pine nuts, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar...delicious even if I don't say so myself.
Lunch was accompanied with Efes which started an afternoon of gin & Pimms yet again...ah well it is holiday after all!
Later on we popped into Cafe Vita for our regular two large Efes and had a great natter with Mustpaha. We then walked into Kalkan and had dinner at Chillies, which was absolutely gorgeous and a total utter bargain! We shared a lamb pide and chicken skewers, I had a Lal rose and Sam had an Efes - 45.90 TL with complimentary turkish bread with garlic butter, olives and turkish cheese. Fabulous views, fabulous food and fabulous price! Really recommend this place.
We then walked around town and made a reservation for TanZore Indian Restaurant for Friday night.
Tuesday 28th May
Today was very similar to yesterday minus the afternoon's drinking...there were two very sore heads in Kalamar this morning! The plan was to go into Kalkan for dinner so we got ready and popped in for essential hydration at Vita on the way (its a tough walk in the heat...) Mustapaha produced his new camera, we helped him put it together and had a play around with it (another theme here too ;-)). We ended up staying for dinner and shared a gorgeous mixed mezze which blew the famous Small House out the water I'm afraid to say (sorry to put the cat amongst the pigeons). We then shared a very tasty Mexican pizza and a large portion of 'grandmas chips'. This meal was yet again tasty, fabulous and served with warmth. The previous with 4 large Efes - 67 TL. Another bargain!! Can really recommend Vita too - perfect really!
Wednesday 29th May
We woke up this morning to quite violent winds (not us)!!
everything has been flying around the pool and patio, one of the sunbed mattresses has flown over the wall before we could secure it, our umbrella blew completely over so we decided to tuck it next to the house. We have two umbrellas so we thought we would secure the other one by putting that one down too, only for it to be blown right across the patio flying into next doors furniture, knocking it all flying and ripped. Quite scary!
We decided that the best option was to stay indoors while it died down. Whilst watching films a helicopter in the bay caught my eye, then I noticed there were two. Dipping down into the water collecting huge buckets of water and flying into the little bay just passed Kalamar...there was no sign of smoke and we still don't know why this was happening?
Around 3pm we had a knock at the door, we were pleasantly surprised and shocked when we were given an orange box with 'this is for you from Annette' (the owner of the apartment). We opened it up to reveal a beautiful chocolate cake decorated wishing us a 'happy pre-wedding holiday'!! We were a bit overwelmed at the kindness and thoughtfulness of this gesture!
This evening we went to the BBQ night at Vita which is really really recommended! 30 TL each for mixed mezze starters that you can go back up for as many times as you like (if you can manage more than once)! Lovely barbecued meats - lamb, chicken, kofte all served with rice and barbecued chillies, onions and tomatoes. And fruit and cakes for afters. Another bargain for the quality and amount you get! We had a fantastic night chatting with fellow holiday makers, taking in the atmosphere, listening to the fab live entertainment - very talented gent and lady on violin, guitar and vocals. Just right. Our bill for this evening was 120 TL...I blame the gin(s) and Raki (why oh why I thought this was a wise idea I will never know)! Brilliant night! Be sure to book in advance if you fancy it.
Thursday 30th May
Today is market day in Kalkan, so we walked into town having a lovely cappuccino on the way at vita x 2 - 9 TL. Sam and Mustapha had a conversation about Islamlar and visiting a trout farm so arranged that we'd go later this afternoon.
The market was buzzing with a hive of activity and we enjoyed taking it all in, it was quite hot under the tarpaulins and can imagine its sweltering in the summer? Some purchases were made; a lovely necklace, turkish eyes in different varieties and styles, a few plates etc. We had a giggle at the market vendors tag lines 'buy one get me free' for example!
The afternoon saw us relax by the pool with a gin & tonic in hand before meeting Mustapha at 4pm and heading up into the mountains. The drive up and out of Kalkan is truly breathtaking as is taking in the village life on the way up. We finally arrived at Bodamya Tepe which is beautiful. We wound our way down the pathway lined with rose bushes and foliage. To our right was the stream itself along with hammocks hung from trees and eat areas suspended over the stream and pond.
We had some beautiful food - we shared a village salad, grilled goats cheese, stuffed vine leaves and home cooked chips followed by grilled trout for me, chicken shish for Sam and trout baked in butter for Mustapaha. The view is so spectacular up there, I'm also glad we went at 5pm as, as an amateur photographer, the evening haze hadn't descended so the photos are beautiful and clear! The food, service and most of all the views are just brilliant. The bill for three with three large Efes was 100 TL. Another hugely recommended experience!
Friday 31st May
We woke up to more beautiful weather and sat eating our beautiful chocolate cake and coffee for breakfast on the patio...a little sad that this morning is the last of the cake! So gorgeous...shame I'm not sure where it was from!
We decided to take ourselves off to Kaputas beach. On the walk up to the bus station we saw the mayor in a convoy of cars with a truck complete with drummers. There was much honking and hooting, we both remembered a post we read on here and wondered if it was a circumcision party?!
Anyway we got on the dolmus - 6TL return for 2 people to Kaputas! Bargain, again! The view on the way to the beach was truly stunning and like something off a film set rolling by! We spent a fabulous day at the beach, swimming, sunbathing and being a true camera geek! Got some fabulous shots of the beach and a fabulous gulet boat sitting on the sea!
Later on we got a taxi into town and enjoyed a Lal and Efes at the Merkez and watched the world go by, enjoyed people watching! 13 TL for the both. We then headed back down the hill to TanZore for dinner. I had a white wine, Sam had a Corona - which he was very impressed about! He then had a chicken shish (he's not keen on Indian) and I had a chicken Tikka Pathia. This was one of the best Pathia's I've ever eaten and our local Indian is pretty special (gets visited by Tom Cruise when the open golf is on)! So I was very impressed! We really enjoyed our meal here and Esra and Billy are fantastic, lovely welcoming hosts!! They made us feel really welcome. The bill came to 84 TL and for the quality of the food and service and the view it's a bargain! Would really recommend here!
An evening of shopping then ensued! We bought some lovely watches at Images, a lovely ring from Just Silver and the a fair few purchases at BSG! We then sat and had a lovely chat with Ertan and Maria over wine, cherries and strawberries. We had a really insightful chat with Ertan who is a really genuine guy. So Fly Swat Ninja all is forgiven after tonight's purchases!
Saturday & Sunday
Were both spent packing in as much time in the sun as possible! Drinking as much Efes as was physically possible and trying to put the imminent end of the holiday out of our mind!
In summary:
We had an amazing time, met some fantastic people! I can't quite get my head around the Small House hype as having eaten elsewhere we found it overpriced and not as tasty. Far better places in my opinion...sorry if I offend anyone here. We are missing Kalkan already! We are thinking of coming for New Year - any opinions/advice re where's open, where to go, weather etc would be greatly received.