I’d took the liberty of booking appointments at BC Spa on Thursday 7th April. It’s always nice for the first day of the holiday to get a Turkish hamam where they scrub you down. I’d booked Louisa, Linda and Alex in for the Classic package while I had decided to book in for waxing. I’d opted for 10.30am as I thought that my friends might need a bit of a lay in on their first full day in Dalyan. I had been greeted by the kittens knocking off and smashing a small bowl as I came out of my bedroom this morning. I put it on the side and took a photo to show Kate in case it was important, or she wanted to fix or replace it. I cycled over to Captain Caveman’s apartment on Kate’s whizzy electric bicycle and parked it up inside the complex.
When we got to the spa the owner was pleased to see us and she even gave me a hug. We each got ready and she said to me that I would also have the classic package because it would be better for my skin for the waxing. Our first experience was the steam room, the sauna was not working so we spent quite a while in the steam room which was nice. There was just the 4 of us there and the hamam ladies came to get 2 of us. I offered to go with Alex so that Louisa and Linda could go together but it’s just as well that I didn’t. When it was my turn to go in with Louisa we realised it was a naked one. We did have a chuckle at that, as Alex and Linda didn’t mention that to us when they went first. It felt great but I really had to tell her to stop when she touched my sunburned belly. After steaming, scrubbing and a mud face mask we had a lovely back massage and I fell asleep. Next I had the thrilling experience of having a leg and bikini wax while wearing a rather tight, and still wet, swimming costume. The lady didn’t want me to remove it but I’d already got it half way down. Embarrassingly, she had to stand and wait while I had the awkward situation of trying to get back in to a wet swimsuit. I then had to endure a wedgie and pull my cozzie to the sides while stretching the skin on my thighs – it was thorough but rather more participation that I had imagined. When we came out of the changing rooms I noticed I had lost Mark and Kate’s house keys. I couldn’t think where I had left them but in the morning I had been to several places on my way to meet for the spa, all of which didn’t have my keys.
We decided on Okyanus for lunch, which is near to BC Spa and on the way back to mine. We had a nice sunny table by the river and ordered food and drinks as we were all hungry. Louisa and I left Linda and Alex to pop our bags back home, get a hoodie for when the sun went in and I could check for Mark and Kate’s house keys. The keys were still missing and I could now only hope that I had managed to leave them in their house when I left. I had a cherry juice and a chicken wrap for lunch but then decided I would cycle back to try to locate the keys.
This was my first ‘issue’ in the house sitting stint and they were due home tomorrow!
As I approached the door to Mark and Kate’s house, I really hoped that my keys would be there. Luckily, I had been able to get the emergency key so that I could still access the house. I was so relieved to see they were on the dining table, I’d obviously forgot them that morning when I was rushing to go out. I fed the cats early and went back to town again because I’d arranged to meet Louisa, Linda and Alex at the Rum Bar at 6pm for pre-dinner cocktails.
I was the first to arrive, surprisingly I was 5 minutes early, so I ordered a Pina Colada cocktail while I waited. I also found the yoga class timetable for Linda who had mentioned she might like to do some while she was here. Linda is more of a morning person than Louisa and likes to have something to do so I thought it might be a nice idea. My friends arrived a bit later, by which time I was ready for my second cocktail which was a Hurricane, Louisa had a Mermaid Water, Linda a G&T, and Alex a Strawberry Kiss (mocktail). For dinner that evening we had decided to go to Kebapçı Yusuf because I’d said that my mom loves the lamb there.
I ordered meatballs for my meal, but the lamb shish that the others wanted wasn’t available. Of course they were disappointed but instead, Linda had the lamb chops, Louisa a chicken shish and Alex just had Lahmacun as a main course. Lahmacun is a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat, minced vegetables, and herbs including onions, garlic, tomatoes, red peppers, and parsley, flavoured with spices such as chillies and paprika, then baked. The food was nice and we ended up having a dessert; I had künefe which is made with string pastry (shredded wheat or kadayıf) soaked in sweet sugar syrup and creamy, unsalted goat’s cheese inside. Mostly popular in the Arab world, the Turkish version hails from Hatay, a region that borders Syria. My friends shared a Katmer which is also known as ‘Groom Katmer,’ the groom’s father would send a helping of katmer to the house of the newlyweds and the bride’s father on the first morning of the wedding. Although it’s known to be prepared in a similar manner to a börek or baklava, this pastry is made via the lamination of the dough. It has that same flaky, buttery feel of a croissant but far sweeter and with a pistachio coat.
It was a good evening and I got my taxi back ‘home’ around 11pm. Tomorrow marked the end of my cat sitting 10 days as Mark and Kate were due back, as long as the flight still went ahead. Due to staff shortages lots of flights from the UK were being cancelled so I was already on standby to stay longer if needed. This was no problem for me as Captain Caveman had a friend staying at his apartment and it would be doing me a favour too.
joloyolo 