The Secret Kalkan Diary of Lizilu20...The 'Golden Birthday Tour'

[RosiB]

Oh, no!!! Did the bag survive?

[Lizilu20]

Which one? Me or the mulberry     

[BarbH]

Of course she meant you Lizzie, you can always buy another Mulberry

[Skunk]

Oh my God I would have been furious!  >:(You poor thing. still the free wine must have been worth it in the end, hangover excluded! just seen today's photos on Facebook and it looks like a hair of the dog may have done you good! That road trip sounds really scary - there would have been loads of squeaks if it was me. 
Great blogs Lizzie, lovely to hear all the news. Hope OH feels better after his head bang. Xxx

[Babs]

Never a dull moment!? Of course that wouldn't have happened if you weren't wearing white jeans! Poor you........did the bag recover? 

[RosiB]

Would I call you a bag??!!!! Never!

[Bob & Jayne]

Lizzie you definitely should write a book! sat here catching up and reliving our holiday, hasn't it just been fab? 

[Lizilu20]

Saturday 29th August.

Where's my coffee Shirl? 

Yes, this holiday has well and truly been fun in the sun and fantastic staying above Bob and Jayne. We still have tomorrow left but now I'm starting to think about running the apartment fridge down and the dreaded packing. We are trying to cram as much as possible into every waking minute now.

Yesterday automan and I prepared breakfast for the family. I had a Turkish breakfast and he and the girls had bacon, eggs and beans. We haven't done much cooking really this holiday but we needed use the last of our contraband bacon up and it was delicious.
We spent the day sunning ourselves at the asfiya again. We love it down there and the staff are so accommodating. Unfortunately our youngest had a little accident. She was getting out of the pool and somehow managed to graze her knee. Although it was only a graze, it bled profusely and as soon as the staff noticed, it was all systems go. I asked one of the waiters if they had any plasters, he sent another to stay with us, while he went off in search, then came back with the reception guy and another member of staff who was presumably the first aider, who deftly applied a fantastic waterproof dressing to our daughters knee while the crowd of staff around us made encouraging noises. I felt like giving them a round of applause afterwards.  Overseeing all this was a guy who was casually dressed but looked like he had a lot of clout as the other staff actually bowed to him. After the drama was over, he announced that she could now go back into the pool and there were high fives all round. 
After all that, it was time for cocktail of the day which yesterday was a frozen watermelon margarita and very good it was too. We lolled about all afternoon and returned home about 5pm, just about to launch ourselves in the apartment pool when we saw a greeny/yellowy slimy looking snake slither past us on the courtyard wall and into the nook area. One look at each other and we did a quick U turn and bombed up the apartment steps, quick as a flash! No words needed other than screams!
After such trauma there was only one thing to do, get up on the roof terrace with a frozen gummy bear woo woo and watch the sun gently drop from the sky with chilled background music accompaniment from the beatspill which we bought last year from the market and is still going strong.  Aw it was lovely, and so were the woo woo's. 

We didn't see the gang yesterday as they were on a boat trip and shattered upon their return so we spent the evening as a family, first stopping at the mini bar for an aperitif, then into infinity for my rings cleaning and re dipping, as usual, no charge, just tip the bloke that does it. How kind is that? So we tipped well.

We dined at Smyrna last night at it was really delicious. We didn't order starters as the freebie nibbles were amazing - garlic bread and mezze all on the house! I had sea bass stuffed with garlic prawns, the others had lamb shank, slow roasted lamb and a penne arrabiata. 2. rounds of drinks, one free special Ramis coffee and 2 free almond liqueurs, all for less than 200 TL!!!! Amazing value for money, yummy food and such a lovely atmosphere. We had a message from Bob to say they were at black and gold but when we got there, they had just left unfortunately. It was really strange not seeing them yesterday. I felt like a part of me was missing without my Shirl. Goodness knows what I'm going to do without her for another year 

Anyway, today has dawned as beautiful as ever, the sun is already beating down and I'm just about to get cracking for another day of fun in the sun, oh and my brew has just arrived behind the front door. Thanks Shirl 
 

[Bob & Jayne]

Aww Lizzie, we are so going to miss you guys too, that mid way meet up in the UK is definitely going happen! Fab post, and we'll definitely be having fun in the sun with you guys tonight! 

Sx

[keith]

Really enjoyed reading all about your holiday escapades Lizzie. Tracey and I have been nowhere near as adventurous but are thoroughly enjoying our lazy days by the pool.

[Lizilu20]

Sunday 30th August ... Last full day    

So we go home tomorrow morning and like Shirl yesterday, I'm not feeling the love today. Automan and I have just drained the dregs from the cafetière of delicious freshly brewed coffee, left on our doorstep again this morning. I've already packed one case and will finish the others later, when I'm more in the mood, if I ever will be. The only thing that's consoling me is the thought of seeing our lovely family and crazy hound Charlie but I'm sure I could have managed at least another week without any further withdrawal symptoms 


We decided to spend yesterday at the beach - can't believe it was our first time there this holiday and we had a fabulous day. The sunbeds were a little more uncomfortable than last year due to no cushions but otherwise all was well. As it was Saturday, there were a lot of Turkish families on the beach and it was fab for people watching. On the sun bed next to us was a sun gnarled Turkish guy with a huge moustache, reminiscent of a walrus' tache and I couldn't help but steal a glance as he unwrapped his sandwich lunch from newspaper and think, what a blooming good life he has. Imagine spending Saturday's on the beach with your butties, instead of dashing round the supermarket, washing, ironing, cleaning etc.
Automan and I have made a vow to try and make weekends less manic and actually try to do some relaxing on a Saturday.
We ate lunch at the ridiculously cheap beach cafe, which was similar in quality to the beach shack at patara. My burger was really nice for 5TL and I have no complaints. The service was good - a lovely cheeky little boy, practising his English and we all cleared our plates. Just don't go expecting gourmet food and you won't be disappointed.
The sea was exceptionally bracing yesterday and literally took your breath away in the shallows but a few warm patches were to be found a little further out. While we were swimming and sunning ourselves, a mysterious looking black boat made an appearance and did a few circuits of the harbour. At one angle, it looked like there was nobody at the helm and it was quite creepy. 
Some extremely stupid young lads were swimming beyond the buoys to the other side of the harbour and dodging the beach club  boats. 

Oh no just had a message that the electricity is going off in 5 mins for 24 hours so I'll resume later.

[Haybo]

No leccy? Not a great end to your stay...hope there is a generator, or you will need the torches on your phones!   have a great last day x

[kalkan4eva]

Just catching up with your blog, Lizzie. You've had an eventful few days havent you...? I wouldn't have liked the road trip - I must admit..although it sounded fabulous in the end.
Kaputas is certainly busier since the beach facilities were upgraded...we only went when we had our boat (and I wouldnt repeat that experience again in a hurry) this year. It's still lovely, but I do miss how it used to be
I was horrified to hear of your Gourmet experience....Oh dear Lord what a nightmare. Red wine and white clothes are a terrible mix...and the new Mulberry??? I hope you were able to get the stains out of everything in the end?
I think when you were at Asifya Seaview the chap who seemed to be in charge was probably Aslan...he's in charge of Kalkan really So bowing would definitely be in order from his staff.
Cant believe you are at your last day...where has that time gone? You've certainly packed the days out and kept us entertained with your reports. 24 hrs without electricity is very harsh in that heat - must be something serious..? Does your place have a back-up generator? Hope so, if not its going to be a tough last day/night.
Thanks for taking the time to post 

[Skunk]

Hope there's a generator at the hotel otherwise you really will be stuck. Have a lovely last day and safe journey home. Thanks for the blogs sure has brightened up the gloom over here. 

[janeb]

Hope you had a great last day and are now home safe and sound and hopefully without any of the problems experienced by Haybo.

I've loved everyone of your posts. You certainly packed allot in, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your holiday with us, it's been such fun.

[Lizilu20]

Tuesday 1st September

Well, where was I...

I was mid sentence when alerted by a very reliable source that the electricity was to go off in 5 mins for the next 24 hours, following an unintelligible but official sounding message over the town tannoy from a muffled sounding Turkish lady who included the dialing tone as well. I quickly abandoned my blog and we peeled our daughters from their cocoon's, thinking that they would want to put their phone's on charge for a few minutes, I drained the washer of water as I was mid cycle and prepared for the worst. Guess what, the electricity didn't go off 
We then got another text from our reliable source AKA BOB!!!!! 'Ha ha, got you, just joking!!!!' 
Hmm some joke Bobby, especially when we did in fact lose our internet strength so I couldn't resume my blog, sorry all and don't worry, we made him pay  Bob you have been named and shamed and I'm sorry for any misinformation I gave to you all. 

So we enjoyed a lovely day on the beach, watching the idiots cross the shipping lanes to the other side of the harbour while barking like seals and I cringed every time they and the beach club boats were in the same vicinity.

We stayed on the beach for most of the day then got a taxi up cardiac hill as we  were far too hot and bothered to walk.
Saturday night was spent at the Marina for our final ' last supper gang dinner' and what a fab night we had. There was dancing, a bit of singing, and nearly another birthday celebration for me as Jayne tried to convince Mario and the guys that it was my birthday (again  ), however as most of the guys there are my facebook friends, they knew that it wasn't but we had such fun pretending 

Sunday was another Asfiya day with the gang (following Bob's little teaser), at least our girls were out of their pits in record time and we wandered down without Bob, as he had already sneaked off earlier, like a naughty school boy afraid of the flack he was going to have rained down on him. This made us laugh as usually we synchronised times to meet etc. I can tell you we made the most out of watching him squirm when we arrived.  Cocktail of the day was a blue Hawaii and didn't touch the sides.
We enjoyed a delicious last lunch together and lolled about all afternoon. Jayne and Katie went off for their pedicures and we took our final stroll up the hill and back to the apartment.

To be continued...

[Bob & Jayne]

Fab post Lizzie, going to be strange not posting on here for what now seems like an age doesn't it! Look forward to your final instalment.  xx

[Babs]

Hooray......more to come! 

[Skunk]

Oh yes look forward to that!

[Haybo]

Great to have met you Lizzie! I think we are down to just keith posting at the moment...then what? Times are tough....come on someone...pick up the baton!