Kalkan Turkey Forum - EnjoyKalkan.com
Kalkan Discussion => Holiday Reports and Reviews => Topic started by: Babs on October 12, 2014, 05:53:07 AM
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Warning.....this is a holiday report!
Well we made it! Smooth trip, simple but nice apartment, however bedroom faces Kalamar Road so the traffic noise (and dare I say it, barking dogs, will take some getting used to!! ??? Quick stroll into town last night avoiding the puddles for a glass of wine.
Have woken this morning to blue skies and yes, as described in the apartment write up a tantalising glimpse of the sea!
It's nice to be 'home'! :laugh:
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Glad you arrived safe and sound Babs. I was thinking of you yesterday in all that rain! Look forward to hearing all about your stay. While we were there in April, we stayed at the yelken and that was close to the road but we didn't lose any sleep, however I appreciate it was quieter then. Mr and Mrs onelove were above us and I know they had some disturbed night's 're the dogs but we slept like logs. We are either deep sleepers or were in alcoholic stupor' s!
Have a fab holiday and tell us all about it! :) 8)
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Yeah Babs your there safe and sound, hope you have a fantastic holiday, the webcam looks like the weather has cleared up this morning, so hopefully you'll be donning those beach shoes and going for a nice swim at the town beach :D :D Looking forward to reading your reports very soon.
Jx
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Ha ha, loved the warning alert.
Really looking forward to hearing all about your stay and here's hoping you get more sun than rain during your stay. Enjoy :)
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Have a lovely time Babs we certainly did.
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Well what a very civilised and chilled day that was! The promised showers didn't appear just a few fluffy clouds over the mountains! Spent the day on the town beach generally doing nothing....bliss. Off to the Korsan Meze tonight as tradition says it is our first night out restaurant....to have Meze......strangely enough! Lizilu.......I'll take your comment as advice to make sure we sleep well tonight! :laugh:
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Ha! ........proof that forum members like to know the minute details of others holidays......as a test I wrote the most boring post and so no one replied! :laugh:
So on to today.....well what a strange one!
Started off exactly the same as yesterday.....breakfast in Fener, beach and lunch at Kleo. As the ran clouds gathered over the mountains the beach stayed packed, all studiously ignoring the increasingly loud rumbles of thunder! As very large raindrops started to fall even the most hardy of us made a dash for Kleo.......where there was a Dunkirk spirit. To everyone's amazement and amusement torrential rain fell for about an hour while all the time the sun shone brightly! Kalkan never fails to amaze me! Not quite sure what's going on now as still cloudy over the mountains and very humid. Glad we have booked Mussakka for this evening so we can be under cover if necessary!
Things seem to be closing down earlier than usual here.....as someone mentioned Seaport is all closed up and We watched from the beach today as all the sun beds at Palm Bech club were packed away.....seems a bit short sighted with half term still to come?
On the other hand we have never seen the Korsan Meze as busy as last night. It always surprises me that it never seems to get mentioned on here. As ever the food was great and the waiters as friendly and efficient as ever.
So looking forward to another lovely evening tonight......a bit of early shopping research.....bags (there, I've said it!) amongst other things......but probably not quite as much to drink as last night! :laugh:
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Glad you are having a lovely time Babs :). We arrived home yesterday to howling winds and rain, but unfortunately no sunshine! I love all the Korsan restaurants, great location, great food and not as noisey as some of the harbour front restaurants. Have a lovely evening!
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I wasnt sure if your previous post was a comment on another post - too short to be a holiday report, I thought. Ha, you were just toying with us Babs :)
The weather sounds entertaining but at least you are getting some sunshine. I think Palm tends to close mid-October but when we've been there late season its certainly still been open at least until 17/18th. Maybe they've looked at the weather forecast and thought they may not get the business for those last few days - who knows. We've never been to any of the Korsan restaurants - I've no idea why but they tend to be off our radar - although Kapan's a little further along from them is. Maybe we'll give them a try next year.
Enjoy Musakka tonight - one of our favourites!
Thanks for posting, Babs. I prefer these longer reports though...just sayin.
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Ha Ha ;D - you are such a tease Babs!! I see you followed my 'advice' - but did it work ???
Hope you slept soundly and built up enough energy for all that bag shopping later. We've often condisered coming at half term - it's only the purse strings that have stopped us, so what a pity everything is winding down early, when the sun (apart from the shower's)and the sea are still warm and it certainly sounds busy enough, from what we've been reading here.
Enjoy your evening and look forward to the rest of your tales.
Irene - where's your report ;) ???
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Yes ha ha Babs, your post has just made me laugh too!
Sorry that you have had rain clouds and thunder, but the thought of Fener for breakfast, then the beach and lunch at Kleo, well I could put up with that! :D :D
We too haven't been to Korsan Meze for dinner and really don't know why because we did check out the menu this year, and it sounded delicious. We did go there for lunch on our first ever day trip to Kalkan and remember having sizzling prawns with garlic bread and it was delicious.
Have a lovely time at Moussaka tonight, another one we haven't been to, but will one day I am sure. Good luck with the bag shopping, if you want a nice little bag for everyday use, I purchase a small Longchamp bag this year in BSG and it's been everywhere with me since returning home to the UK! They do them in all colours, will definitely be getting another one next year.
Jayne
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Hi Lizilu - I have been found out! - promise to do one next year! ;D
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We will def hold you to that Irene!!
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I think you might be there before me! - no pressure of course :)
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Mussakka lovely as ever......preliminary bag research......will buy numerous Longchamps bags in BSG, already planned as Christmas presents and have my eye on a nice little Mulberry ostrich (?) evening clutch bag......too much unnecessary detail. Off to hire a car for a couple of days as showers forecast but it's jolly hot on our little balcony at the moment! Who knows where the next couple of days will take us?!
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Just to show that sometimes we do comment on miniscule reports...sounds like an episode of Paddy and Max - 'don't know where we're goin', got no way of knowin', drivin' on the road to nowhere'!!!! I often sing that as we set off on our jolly jaunts around Kalkan. Have fun!!! :) 8) :)
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Doesn't matter how miniscule they are, we still love reading them and writing them, don't we girls? Enjoy exploring in the car Babs, don't forget to report back! ;D ;D
J
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Quality ;D
Can't wait to read all about your trip out in the car - let us know how you get on :)
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WARNING.....full holiday report style post coming, please look away now if not interested! :laugh:
Well today has been all about spontaneity (have I really spelt that right?) did the necessary in the Brave tours office first thing and they had a car ready for us once we had finished breakfast....mind you that took a while! We went to Ada Patisserie, had been there when it was were Asian Garry is now so decided to give it another go. I had a "Quick Breakfast", could do them under trades description as there was no way anyone could eat the chewy but delicious bagel that you dipped in honey quickly! OH had Turkish breakfast, as usual, kept him quiet for a long while.....it was enormous! All the usual ingredients plus, fruit, nuts, honey, yogurt........
Off we went in our bargain hire car, £15 a day, we were waiting for extras to be added but no! Decided to spend some time on Patara Bech while it was beautifully sunny and amazingly while the clouds gathered over the distant mountains the beach stayed sunny all day. Had a lovely walk along the beach and broke with tradition, turned left as well as right! For habitual planners even we were surprised at our spontaneous decision :D ;D
Late afternoon, deciding we were looking a little pink, to quote OH " it's dangerous here!" We set off for the ruins....having never been in 10 visits. Nice stroll along "Main Street" I just love ancient stones with carved writing, I find myself tracing the shapes of the letters!
Called into the lovely new bakers near Yali for some baklava, delicious!
Now going to get ready for this evenings exploits, Fish Terrace, a firm favourite and strong contender for a repeat visit on our last night which will be our 35th anniversary! Bag shopping will commence in earnest and have spotted some nice earrings for our oldest.....nothing like a bit of early Christmas shopping in Kalkan?! :laugh:
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We hired from Brave Tours too, picked it up at the airport, £102 for the week all in, amazing price. I always pre record some cd's to listen to & leave them in the car for next hirers to enjoy ;D. Hope you never traced the engraving on the entrance to the last house on "Main Street" or OH would've been shocked.
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That was short enough, thank you Babs!! (lol).
Well, I didn't know you could go left on Patara and I can imagine just how fabulous it must have been there, at this time of year and the weather you describe...
Reminding me of our sunset there.. Thank You, Babs and enoy!
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Glad to see you are up to date with the renaming of the restaurants! This week has been such a dreadful week weather wise that i am pleased to see you are getting good weather....
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Forgot to mention.....there were no embarrassing swimwear incidents resulting in permanent mental scarring for young boys at Patara.......if you've been when it is rough you'll know what I mean! ;D ;D
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Despite all my best intentions I have decided jot to let the curmudgeons get me down. I love reading your holiday reports and I really enjoyed doing my blog. So in ignore mood to all the spoilsports. Thank you for your lovely reports.
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Left at Patara brings you to a rocky outcrop...worth the climb for the view but it will play havoc with your Flippen Floppen sit up there for an hour you will get as brown as a berry!!..ever noticed when you go well out of the way so you can have privacy, even though there is miles of beach when you wake up you are surrounded by people? ::)
Glad you ignored the miseries on here Joycie!..Kalkan time spent with people like you guys would be far more enjoyable than those that look down there hooters ;)
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yes its great to read all the lovely reports and hopefully to look forward to next years hols. We've had a few unfortunate things happen since we've been back including a family bereavement and life is far too short to dwell on the negatives so loving the lovely reports on my most favourite place in the whole wide world.
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that's the spirit joycie....dont be put off posting on here. those of us who have been around a while know the forum has its ups and downs but its ultimately what we make it. There's more people on here who love Kalkan than moan about it. Glad your self-imposed exile was short.
How's the weather today, Babs?
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Well, speaking of weather, last night was interesting! It was a bit cloudy over the mountains when we set off for a bit of pre dinner shopping.....yes this going going to be a report! :laugh: by the time we got up the stairs to the Fish Terrace we could hear rumbles of thunder and there was some amazing lightning over the bay! We were told to order quickly before the rain! People who had finished eating cleared off pretty quickly and the waiters started to look a bit edgy! At the first big drops of rain one of the waiters climbed on to the roof and brought down huge umbrellas and within a couple of minutes the few table left were costly squished together under the umbrellas so we were able to enjoy a lovely meal and amazing lightning show!
So today was day 2 of spontaneity! Set off in our little car for Kas. Every time we went round a bend our tyres squealed on the road surface mind shiny by a hot summer I imagine. Despite OH driving like an old lady we sounded like extras in a car chase in an episode of Starsky and Crutch!
Have visited Kas a few times and never quite managed to find the old bit of the town, but we did today. I imagine if we hadn't found Kalkan all those years ago we would have loved it. Although it is certainly less "British" than Kalkan and had some lovely shops we found it more expensive and the people don't seem so warm and friendly.
Spent a lovely afternoon at Kaputas beach.....haven't been there since it's been "developed" Found it amusing that the beach is divided into apparently opposing sides, one having a few sun beds and the other lots of mattresses. Found ourselves on the mattress side, much more comfy than a towel on the sand/pebbles! Each side had a little pancake making area so had a delicious lunch.
Screeched our way back to Kalkan watching the sun getting lower over the sea.....just beautiful. Promised ourselves sunset drinks at Kleo tomorrow night.
So Sade tonight.....to be continued.........
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Ps....good to have you back joycie, sorry to hear things have been tough for you lately
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Thanks Babs glad you're having a great holiday. I envy you.
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Yes, so good to have you back Joycie and hope things get better for you soon :D
Babs, we sat for ages on Kapatus beach this summer watching the ladies make those pancakes in the searing heat! they certainly were busy when we were there. Enjoy Sade this evening and look forward to hearing all about it.
J
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Thanks for the update, Babs! Lovin' it! Whatever you do...
Here, I can't hear the TV right now, for the rain on the Orangery roof (OK, it's a conservatory, lol!).
Keep going...
All the best!
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So Sade.......lovely meal, lovely waiters, great all round. OH surprised me by deciding he'd rather go back there than Mussakka for his birthday tomorrow, so we've booked in.
Up early as usual this morning so went for a wander down Kalamar Road, stopped and had breakfast at a little cafe/bar called Jonny's, not the best breakfast but came with a lovely view over the bay and a nice breeze.
Got ourselves set up for a day on the beach but it became quite hazy so decided to have a trip to the market.....haven't been for a few years. Nothing changes much apart from the stall holders latest English phrases! Had lovely pancakes there, bizarrely served by a very smart British couple, I imagine ex-pats?
Then back to the beach for a lovely sunny afternoon ending in mojitos at sunset at Kleo.....just bliss, have discovered their mango mojitos......highly recommended!
Not sure where tonight will take us......seem to have got the hang of the being spontaneous nonsense! :laugh:
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Sade is one place we havent been to....although its not from lack of trying. since Mussakka moved out...is that 3 seasons ago, we have always tried to get in there to no avail. Sometimes its full and sometmes no greeter...assume this also = full. Note to self: must try harder. Sounds like you're having a lovely time, Babs. Thanks for keeping us posted :)
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Sade sort of do two sittings, 7.30 and 9.00, 9.00 suits us fine......it's definitely worth waiting for!
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Where is Sade, Babs? I arrive on Saturday and would love to try it. It looks like the weather has been much better than you expected and the forecast for the next few days looks pretty good.
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Sade is down from the Moonlight bar towards Merkez left hand side above the ATM the stairs are off the side street.
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We had some friends just return from Kalkan, first timers, and they had made lots of notes from our conversations last winter. They were in Kalkan for just one week, but ate out all the time - as well as having Chefs At Home for their day of arrival. They were so impressed with SADE, it was the only restaurant they went to twice, and being a big party of family (across 3 generations) on the odd occasion they split up and did their own thing, one group would go to SADE.
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Thank you, I know where you mean......not too far from all my favourite jewellery shops ;)
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Sade is excellent. We were lucky enough to go twice when we were there in August having been on our 2 previous visits and it really didn't disappoint, it serves consistently great food and also provides great service.
I love reading all these holiday reports and wish i'd been more organised this year and written one when we were there - I feel a retrospective report may be in order!
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all holiday reports, retrospective or otherwise are most welcome :) They give you ideas of things to do whether you are a first timer or multi trip seasoned visitor.
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Sad to say our experiences with Sade have not been so good.
Our first visit we were bumped out onto the balcony - "very romantic" - only to be largely ignored, with the curtain on the door occasionally being pulled back to ensure we hadn't thrown ourselves off, or died. Trying to get a fresh drink was a nightmare. This was compounded by Lamb Chops which were so awful, the lambs must have been born just before Gallipoli.
Our second visit, on the terrace, was better, from an ambience point of view - the Sea Bass fillets being 'nice', with nice vegetables; the chicken special, was however, dry, hard and unpleasant - not to be recommended, and made one wishing something else had been chosen.
Our third visit (we like to give these places a fair chance) was odd from the start. We arrived on the terrace to see a couple we keep bumping into this year. We stood there chatting for a few minutes, being pretty obvious we knew each other, so they put us at a table - not the empty one next to them, but the next one along! We therefore spent the evening talking across the bemused couple in between us (who were compelled to join in)! Once again the lamb chops were dire. So much so that they become less of the dish of choice to avoid at all costs for the rest of the holiday (unfairly to other restaurants). A complaint on this resulted in a free ice-cream (for one). The other choice was the lamb shank, which although cooked nicely had an insipid sauce that was beyond description and really spoilt the lamb's flavour.
Shame really, because Sade was great when it opened, but I wonder if they are a victim of their own success - personally we'd rather go to Erhan's(?) brother's place (Alternatif), where Mustafa has never failed us.
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That poor couple, Chris_s, having you talk across them all evening. Maybe the lamb chops were deliberately bad to stop you visiting ever again and ruining the ambience of the restaurant for other diners?!
Surprised you gave it a third chance if it was as awful as you say on your second visit.
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Loving the reports Babs. I've had an odd chuckle at your antics. ;D
We have only ever been to Sade once a couple of years ago and it was so good that I took a photo of my food as it was so beautifully presented. After we had all finished, we were chatting and OH asked to have a look at my photo. I was enthusing how good it had been and pretended to lick my phone screen, saying "yum yum" - like an idiot - and there was an awkward silence - then splutters of laughter from my family as I hadn't realised that the waiter was behind me, about to clear my plate and witnessed my numpty moment. I'm not sure who was most embarrassed. Needless to say that's another place I have to hang my head in shame and look the other way as we pass! Maybe they've forgotton by now and it's time to go back. Our food was awesome, shame you've had bad experinces Chris_S.
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It's a shame you had not one but three bad experiences Chris_s.......I've already decided that this is where I will celebrate my birthday next year.......assuming tonight's experience is as good as a couple of nights ago. We sat on one of the little balconies last year and I'm not sure they mean to ignore you I think they think they will give you some privacy as it's "romantic" personally I'm at an age where I prefer the terrace! :laugh:
So last night we returned to an old favourite....Belgins Kitchen.....we have to pop in there while we can still manage to eat sitting on cushions. Although the food is very simple we've always enjoyed it.
OH's birthday today and we were alarmed to wake up to grey skies as we had a boat trip booked. Breakfast at Ada.....our confirmed favourite breakfast and soon the breeze blew the clouds away. We've had a lovely day on Moby Dick....always lovely to see Denis and Kamal.....Kamal is such an interesting man.....he was showing us photos of the amazing wooden model boats he makes in the winter and the incredible wooden chests that he carves. The usual mix of ex pats, habitual holiday makers and first timers made it a great day. The stiff breeze kept up throughout the day and as I forgot to take anything to keep my hair in check I have arrived back looking....interesting!! ;D I also managed to fall over twice on the boat......I'm not at all embarrassing to be with!!
When we got back to the apartment the lovely korsan cleaners here have put a little vase of flowers alongside the collection of birthday cards.....very sweet.
Lovely evening of drinks at Botanik followed by Sade planned.
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What a lovely birthday OH has had Babs, we've never been to Sade or on Moby Dick, but have heard good reports before on both, so on our list for next year now. Botanik really is the place to go this year isn't it, we loved it there in the summer.
Jx
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It all sounds lovely, Babs. so glad the clouds blew away to reveal the sun for your boat trip. Haha...Kalkan Boat Hair :) :) The salt air, wind, sea, sun and mud combo does not make a good hairstyle - particularly if you hair isnt long enough to stick it all up out of the way. I share your pain :laugh:
So pleased for Botanik's owners who found themselves ousted from the bar they had started the year before - Fountain Bar. They deserve to do well and have created a vibrant bar in a space that others had tried to make work but hadn't succeeded - its a bit off the beaten track. Have to say it had only just opened when we were there in June but we absolutely loved it. Good luck to them.
Hope you had a fantastic evening!
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Well we had a lovely evening for OHs birthday and I have decided that I'd like to celebrate my birthday in just the same way next May.....have decided to officially move the date by a couple of days! :laugh:
Have spent the day a Mahal beach club today. Haven't been there since we used to go for the odd day's escape from kids when we used to have to go to Kalkan in August. It is undoubtably in a beautiful position and the facilities are spotless however we found the staff to be bordering on disinterested and if the food we had for lunch is the same as in the swish hotel section then I would question the extortionate prices......it was expensive and without a doubt the worst food I have eaten in Kalkan!
Back to Kleo for a happy hour Mojito and the world, well Kalkan, is our cockle for this evening! ;D
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Antler - Well it wasn't non -stop conversation all night - we're not that rude! They did join in a bit, but Erhan wasn't around that much that evening, so perhaps it was a lack of attention by the staff?
As for the third visit - we do try, and don't write off a place on one visit - we know that things can go wrong, and will always give them another chance, and if we do whinge, we try to do it discreetly and constructively, that way we try to help avoid things going wrong again. Most times it's (apparently) appreciated. We never, ever never go back unless it's obvious the place it irretrievable, or they are so rude you wouldn't want to go back - fortunately we've only come across one place like that in Kalkan.
It's even more painful as we've known Erhan since he was working at Alternatif (as a lad), and we have, like most of you, more good places and people than you can list - it would be like the credits at the end of a Bond film ;D
Then again, we've never experienced your undoubtable gastronomic skills either... :angel:
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Well, that was.....interesting! Waking up to strong winds, the weather variety, :laugh:, we assumed our planned boat trip would be cancelled. But no, Denis battened down the hatches and Moby Dick was one of the two boats that left the harbour today. After an exhilarating start we nestled into the first bay after Kalamar, Firnez? We styled there all day and it was lovely, more or less the same group of people we'd been out with on the boat on Friday. Sheltered from the wind it was beautiful. Then round about tea time the wind was really strong, there was a mini typhoon/water spout and Denis had to dive in to save a bean bag and a seat cushion that had flown out of the boat. So tea and chocolate biscuits eaten we set off back to the harbour and then sat on the beach until sunset.....bizarrely it was really sheltered on the beach!
No firm plans of where to eat tonight.....going to do the last bit of shopping and see where we end up!
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Glad your winds are of the weather variety, Babs! ;D ;D ;D ;D
So envious, we have the wind in Wetherby, too.... but the view just ain't the same!
Hope you enjoy every minute...
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So here we go....a final holiday report post! We arrived back in the early hours of Wednesday morning and jumped straight back on to the hamster wheel that is work :(
Our last couple of days were as lovely as the rest.....we spent our days on the town beach with not a cloud in the sky.....the beach is totally transformed for me this year by the addition of sun bed cushions! :laugh:
We decided to give Olive Garden a second try after a bad experience a few years ago and were pleasantly surprised......although it was nippy noodles up on the top terrace. Our last night, and 35th wedding anniversary was spent at the Fish Terrace, a perennial favourite of ours.....lovely as ever.
So final thoughts........another lovely relaxed holiday in a place that still feels very special. Great to see people we've known for years and to meet new people. The scenery is always beautiful, Kalkan was looking lovely and it's so sad to see the devastation caused by the rain today. We had some amazing food ranging from very simple pancakes on Kaputas beach and at the market to delicious meals at top end restaurants all at prices way below what we would pay here.
Now counting down the months and weeks till next May..............
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Glad you're back safely. It's been lovely to read your reports (sounds very formal) Kalkan seems a million miles away. Such a wonderful place it will always have a special place in my heart. Don't know whether we'll be back next year because of different things happening including a wedding in Colorado but as the Terminatorr somebody like that says WE'LL BE BACK!
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Thanks so much for posting Babs....although you've neglected to tell us how bag shopping went??? Interested to hear what you bought this year and where you went for your purchases. I think the town beach really comes into its own late season....the sea is warm, its not so packed and its just a perfect way to spend the day. Did you get to Palm Beach and take up occupation of "our" sunbed this year?
Get that countdown app going pronto for May...you will be back in Kalkan before us this year so I'll be relying on your reports.
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I must try nippy noodles on the Olive Garden top terrace .....they sound delicious ;D ;D
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Ha ha BL! :laugh: :laugh:
K4E......bag shopping was quite restrained......2 Longchamps over night bags and one smaller bag and 2 Mulberry clutch bags all from BSG, oh and a Mulberry purse!
We didn't get a chance to go to Palm Beach to lay on any sun bed as they closed on our second day.....very odd I thought as that was two weeks before the half term holiday and the date that most restaurants were working to! When we asked around places seemed to be aiming for 1 November......although I wonder if some may have closed earlier due to the rain at the end of this week?
The count down is going on in my head......I'm just packing away summer clothes thinking that next time I see them I'll be getting ready for Kalkan 2015! :laugh:
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Lovely reading your coming home post and all your holiday ones Babs, thank you. So glad you had a fabulous time, and as K4E says, definitely get that count down app going! We certainly have ours all set for next Easter :D Well done on your Longchamp purchases, I use my little Longchamp bag every day, and have 2 weekender Longchamps put away for Christmas for our daughters. :D
Jx
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Glad you arrived home safely Babs and a big thank you from me too. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all your posts and greedily lapped them up! :)
Good choice on the bag purchases. I'm already thinking of what next years purchase(s) will be!
You'll be back before you know it! :)