Author Topic: Kalkan: I don't like it - no, I love it! (Read 66797 times)

Babs · « **Reply #160 on:** July 06, 2015, 09:47:44 PM »

Early mornings won't be the same.......I'll have to find a new excuse for being
late to work!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful holiday with us

Joanna · « **Reply #161 on:** July 07, 2015, 06:59:30 AM »

I also enjoyed reading your blog. Hope to meet you again next year.
Joanna.

tortoise lady · « **Reply #162 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:15:11 AM »

Like so many others I will be missing your blogs Antler, giving us all a taste of Kalkan each morning. Glad you had a safe journey home - and will be back with your dog, always good to return to beloved pets.

Hope your first commutes are not to horrendous and that you enjoy the remainder of the summer, certainly still quite warm here in London although not as hot as it will be in Kalkan!

We now await other bloggers to keep us in touch with Kalkan. Anyone going out soon who is poised to take up the baton? I have to wait until September for my next Kalkan fix.

antler · « **Reply #163 on:** July 07, 2015, 04:46:57 PM »

Day 17/17:
Hardly time for breakfast up on The Roof, so it was last tuna for the kittens over at The Shack and then away. There was a lot of tomato juice in The Roof fridge, so the plan was to have a Virgin Bloody Mary. Then, common sense kicked-in and I kicked out the virgin version.

Full of tabasco, Worcester Sauce and more than a hint of Smirnoff Red, it made the parting easier and was the anaesthetic for a sleep most of the way to Dalaman.

I’ve never been through Dalaman Airport quite so quickly and soon we were boarding our Monarch A320 flight back to Leeds, with Captain Smith and his crew promising to peddle as quickly as possible to get us ahead of schedule. I like Monarch; always have done and I hope their re-financing package keeps them around for a while. Sadly, my reason for liking them was probably the general feeling of space due to less seats, which, no doubt, will have helped trigger their downfall.

Dinner was a mixture of Indian & Chinese takeaway, with Monty home from the kennels and still a physical wreck from the recent thunder storms, poor thing.

So, THE holiday question was raised over our dinner, “marks out of ten for that one?”

And the response was somewhere between 10/10 and 200/10. A result!

So, if we were in Departures right now, heading for Kalkan, based on our experiences this holiday, what would be on our essential “To Do” list?

Here goes, in no particular order:

•   We would be at sea on a day trip out of Kalkan on 3, if not 4 times during our 17 day holiday. The respite from the heat and mozzies, let alone the extreme value for money makes this a Kalkan must.

•   Also, we would like to do a 2-day trip out of Kalkan, to Kekova, possibly with Osman and talked this through with him briefly while we were there

•   A trip up to Ishlamlar at Musar’s restaurant, followed by the rest of the afternoon and sunset at Patara would be a must (with or without the draft Woo Woo!)

•   We like the idea of a one night stop-over in KAS, just to decide for ourselves, and meet up with “15” and his family for a laugh or 6.

•   Of course, we would enjoy a few lunches at Adem’s and take in the solitude, their hospitality and that marvellous view.

•   Closer to home, lunch would also be at Yelkin Bistro & Café Vita, with dinner at Paprika, Coriander & Yelkin Bistro
•   Cocktails in Flamingo and probably even more so, in The Fountain

•   And I haven’t given up my love of buying some organic lamb or steak from Yussuf and preparing something very simple, yet so fresh and tasty, back at my Turkish home.

•   Or ask Kazim, our Chef at Home to do it for us.

•   A shave or 3 from Mehmet at Jasmine goes without saying

•   Home delivered Foto Special Hot Pizza when I can’t be bothered to do anything at all, would be the final bit of icing on my Kalkan Cake.

Final reflection:

It had been an ambition of mine since 2012 to stay in a lovingly restored, Turkish home, and our stay in Yellow Villa more than ticked that box. I could have spent my whole holiday up on that roof terrace with it’s relaxing facilities. It was beautiful.

It didn’t feel to me that Kalkan was changing – I felt I enjoyed it even more than before. Yes, it was very quiet and the mozzies annoyed me to hell at times. But the sun shone, the people smiled and welcomed us with extreme friendliness as always and we found new venues with new ideas to keep us fresh and feeling (if not looking) younger.

It was a fabulous holiday and hearing my family say what they thought in such a positive manner – and seeing their photo album on Facebook today – makes it all worthwhile. Mrs A and I are very lucky and proud parents.

Whatever you decide to do on YOUR “To Do” list, I hope you have a fabulous time and really Enjoy Kalkan!

Antler

Babs · « **Reply #164 on:** July 07, 2015, 06:00:25 PM »

What a lovely treat.......a "bonus" post!

antler · « **Reply #165 on:** July 07, 2015, 07:49:04 PM »

Indeed! I just had to do it, Babs! It's the OCD in me - 17/17!

Do you think the Kalkan Blues will go by the weekend???

Babs · « **Reply #166 on:** July 07, 2015, 08:42:59 PM »

I hate to say this but, no!

kalkan4eva · « **Reply #167 on:** July 08, 2015, 12:38:44 AM »

aaaahhh, what a lovely treat - just like a free after dinner liqueur to warm the cockles of your heart.
Perfect final post and all good advice for travellers old and new to our wonderful find. Sadly Kalkan blues does not go for me...not for a while anyway *sigh*
Hadn't appreciated Monarch are in a spot of bother, financially....might hold off on the flights for the time being. Unless the Kalkan blues overwhelms me..

antler · « **Reply #168 on:** July 08, 2015, 02:37:12 AM »

K4E, Monarch have re-packaged themselves and refocused on their best routes. Atol protected and all that. Their plane was full. Personally, I would book again with them without hesitation, much preferable to Jet2, and again, a very personal opinion, but I would not travel with TC. But then, I am weird!

Haybo · « **Reply #169 on:** July 08, 2015, 05:58:05 AM »

Can't you sleep Antler? Great to hear from you at such an early hour. Thanks for your wonderful posts. Some new ideas for us all.
I may be alone in this, cos I too am a bit weird, but I'm at that stage where we are 3 weeks away from going, and i suddenly decide I don't want to go......

The anticipation is so great for the holiday that i worry about weather, illness, horrible neighbours ( thats sorted though, i know who else is in Emir!,,) and worse if all, if I don't go, I miss out on the dreaded last day, the hideous moment the taxi arrives and the indignity of paying a fortune for a Subway at dalaman!

Told you.....bit weird!

Bob & Jayne · « **Reply #170 on:** July 08, 2015, 06:05:39 AM »

Yes what a lovely treat, reading your post Antler, and we totally agree, the boat trips are the best thing for us, we just love them, and the more the merrier, I think the most we packed in was 7 one year when we were in Kalkan for 6 weeks, and of course along with a little overnight trip somewhere, we have done, Dalyan, Fethiye, Antalya, and Fethiye is being repeated again this year

.

Totally agree also about Monarch, we have flown with them a few times now and they are really great, Turkish Airlines for us this year via Istanbul, so will wait and see what that is like, although only a short stopover there, shame!

Your not weird Haybo, but I bet this time in 3 weeks you will be so so excited, as we will be, can't wait to meet up.

Trying to rain here in Dorset, oh how I long for the sunshine

Sorry off topic!

J

Chris_S · « **Reply #171 on:** July 08, 2015, 10:26:24 AM »

Monarch were owned by the Mantegazza family (Swiss) from 1967, and the £45m injection was by the family in 2009.

In October 2014 it was sold to Greybull Capital, who have decided to change the focus to leisure scheduled operations and dropped charter and long-haul.

They are planning on changing all the fleet to Boeing 737MAX aircraft from Spring 2018.

We always preferred Monarch, as it flew from Luton, was better (by far) than QueasyJet and that Irish outfit, but this year the flights are few and at lousy times, so Gatwick and BA it is. This may well have something to do with the issues if others felt the same!

MartynE · « **Reply #172 on:** July 08, 2015, 10:55:42 AM »

Antler, some fabulous posts here and I feel for you, being back in the UK - as, indeed Fiona I will be this time tomorrow, sadly.

Thanks for all your time and effort... I just wish I had your stamina to keep up the daily blogs. I am a dismal failure in comparison.

The line about "lifting us out of the mire" was inspired, and very perceptive. That's exactly what this place, and its people, do so well.

Cheers, and hope you get over the Kalkan blues soon. Not sure I will...

Joeyloveskalkan · « **Reply #173 on:** July 08, 2015, 01:50:40 PM »

Still not over the Kalkan Blues and it has been 6½ weeks.

Christina · « **Reply #174 on:** July 08, 2015, 06:56:39 PM »

As a tribute to Antler, here is a little nugget of information for his disciples....
I was just in Pound World buying some flea and tick treatments to donate to Kapsa next week, when a wry smile came across my face as I noticed they were selling the cute lightweight plastic cocktail shakers - famously used by Antler - for half price, ie 50p! Although I already have a proper stainless steel one in my apartment, I felt compelled to buy one for when I am holidaying elsewhere.

antler · « **Reply #175 on:** July 11, 2015, 08:51:40 AM »

I have loaded up some photos. Please bear with me, trying to rotate the first one, after I have loaded it.....

tortoise lady · « **Reply #176 on:** July 11, 2015, 05:01:22 PM »

Hurray, more pictures for the gallery. Lots of different ones too. A real flavour of Kalkan.

Every now and then I appeal for more photos - can't manage the technology to put them on myself but love browsing through them. So thank you Antler and hope others will try as well.

antler · « **Reply #177 on:** July 11, 2015, 07:59:28 PM »

My pleasure! I am still in denial. It's raining on the conservatory roof and this time last week, we were fresh back from Kekova, and about to enjoy dinner at Yelkin Bistro. OMG.

One thing I forgot to mention, on our last evening, before dinner at Paprika, was the gifts we got from the little shop directly opposite the Paprika entrance. Loads of bits and bobs.

There is a great cook book, too, written by the guy in the shop (he said) called "Turkish Home Cooking" (from our mothers kitchen). It's more like a reflection back on your holiday. A great souvenir if you are a foodie geek, like me. About GBP6. Written by Cemal Tor. It's a real gem and I hope you enjoy it; it brings back so many memories of a fabulous holiday in Kalkan.

I rest my case!

Antler

pw · « **Reply #178 on:** July 11, 2015, 10:58:19 PM »

Quote from: antler on July 11, 2015, 07:59:28 PM

My pleasure! I am still in denial. It's raining on the conservatory roof and this time last week, we were fresh back from Kekova, and about to enjoy dinner at Yelkin Bistro. OMG.

One thing I forgot to mention, on our last evening, before dinner at Paprika, was the gifts we got from the little shop directly opposite the Paprika entrance. Loads of bits and bobs.

There is a great cook book, too, written by the guy in the shop (he said) called "Turkish Home Cooking" (from our mothers kitchen). It's more like a reflection back on your holiday. A great souvenir if you are a foodie geek, like me. About GBP6. Written by Cemal Tor. It's a real gem and I hope you enjoy it; it brings back so many memories of a fabulous holiday in Kalkan.

I rest my case!

Antler

Hi Antler,
Not sure if you've seen my pm. They don't always go through......
Cheers,
pw