I had a bit of a sleep in on Saturday 7th October and did a bit of work in the afternoon from Steve and Michelle’s. They were working for some of the weekend too but had some people to see in Afandou. I got dropped off at a bar where I caught up on some blog editing while drinking peach iced tea and eating a bacon sandwich – I couldn’t remember when I last had one!
That evening we went to Lindos to meet a friend of Steve and Michelle’s and they introduced me to one of their favourite eateries, Mario’s. They were so enthusiastic about the Thai style curry sauce that all 3 of them ordered it with their pork or chicken. Being a bit fussy with my food, I couldn’t bring myself round to ordering the two together so I settled for just a pork chop with chips and salad. When the food came I had a dip of the sauce and it was incredible. I then had to order an extra portion of curry sauce as it was just so good.
Back in Lardos, to say it got a bit messy was probably an understatement. We ended up meeting Mark, Maria, Lu, Az, Hannah and some other friends of their’s. We drank in the bars around Lardos square and Steve decided it would be a good idea to drink shots (it wasn’t). We spent a small fortune that night and it got a bit out of hand, Steve borrowed a pineapple off the bar and we didn’t get home until around 4.45am.
As you can probably imagine, Sunday 8th October was pretty uneventful for me! I spent most of the day feeling very ‘tired’ while Steve and Michelle went visiting friends and work contacts. I was happy for a day off and was looking forward to seeing Captain Caveman and my parents tomorrow night. Captain Caveman had booked us 2 rooms at Kahlua Apartments in Rhodes Town and he sent me screen shots so I could work out how to get there from the bus station. Michelle had offered to drive me, after work, but it seemed easier to get the bus as I’d done it before. I fed the animals while Steve and Michelle were out but had gone to bed before they returned home. Meanwhile, my parents were getting ready to fly from Manchester to Rhodes and Captain Caveman was enjoying his last night in Naples.
I was awoken on Friday 6th October by my phone. It was 5.50am and it was Fikri calling to say he was outside. He had also seen me last night, several times, as guests booked him to go home. He knew I was one of the last to leave and was concerned I might overlay. How kind is that! He got me to Ortaca bus station early enough for me to buy a bottle of water at the small shop before getting on the first bus to Fethiye. I was surprised to see it so busy and hoped I would get to the ferry port in time, which was a good 10 minutes drive from the bus station after this bus journey. The taxi from Dalyan to Fethiye was too expensive for me so I chanced the bus and it paid off. It was a bit of a rush really, especially with my wheelie case and the extra taxi to the port. I got on the ferry without taking my seasick pills and was feeling somewhat fragile as I joined Rachel, her mom and 2 little kids. They were off for a short break in Haraki, Rhodes, and I know Rachel from my Turkish classes. I could have done without having to be sociable and even a Turkish tea didn’t sort me out but having friends to chat to kept my mind off feeling rather fragile. By 1pm I was sat waiting in the Rhodes Town MacDonald’s for Steve and Michelle. They were coming to pick me up to go back to Lardos, where I was staying with them for the weekend. I had a cheeseburger and a coke which cost €5.20 (£4.46) so it wasn’t cheap but seemed to be a good enough hangover cure. When we arrived, I logged on to the internet on Matt’s laptop and said hello to Bob, the cat, and Xena, the dog. It looked to be quite a lively weekend as tonight we were off to Flyer’s, in Pefkos, for one of their Greek Nights.
Having been before with Captain Caveman, I was ready to do it all again and this time we were taking it steady as I was still flagging from last night’s shenanigans. I had Milokleftis cider and we tucked it to a delicious feast of pitta, tsatziki, feta salad, lamb, pork, chicken and french fries. There was live music, singing and the Rhodian ballet with dancing, which we were encouraged to join in on.
Michelle and I took to the floor for a bit of dancing, as you do, but the real stars of the show were the male volunteers. It was a fantastic night and we really enjoyed one of the last Greek Nights of the season. Back in Lardos, we called for a nightcap in Cuckoo’s Nest where we bumped in to Bob, the cat! I’d survived until midnight but I really was begging for mercy and needed my bed.
Rhodian Ballet The audience participation was great
Captain Caveman and I had both been invited to a wedding on Thursday 5th October. Of course, Captain Caveman was in Italy and couldn’t make it, but he’d also got shingles and wouldn’t have been there anyway. I had accepted the invite and needed to take it steady as I had a ferry to catch to Rhodes early the next day. Our initial plan for my parents and I to meet Captain Caveman in Naples had been scrapped, not just because of the shingles. Dad was waiting for an eye appointment and didn’t want to be in Italy when it came. Instead, we had agreed to meet in Rhodes Town on Monday (9th), where we would all spend 6 nights in Rhodes together. I worked for a couple of hours in the morning, packed for my Rhodes trip and then had some leftover food with rice.
The wedding of Bill and Jaxx took place on a boat so we met at Paradise Hotel to get on the boats, where there were some familiar friendly faces. When Bill arrived he was having the 2 dogs, Big Boy and Lucy, with him for the ceremony. He’d also supplied some punch for us to have on the journey to pick up his beautiful bride.
Jaxx looked like a beautiful little doll in her wedding dress and the 2 boats sailed together to a spot for the ceremony. I had a couple of the punch drinks which I was convinced was made from cherry and vodka but my fellow guests said they didn’t think it was alcoholic and had quite a few. There was a female celebrant who did a rather unique service and speech which everyone enjoyed.
The sun was shining and it was a beautiful wedding, followed by a dinner and party back at Bill and Jaxx’s lovely villa, with the bar and garden kitted out for the wedding party. We had a great time and my plans to not drink too much went out of the window as the champagne was poured. Dinner was served quite late so I was rather trollied as we enjoyed the steak dinner followed by some gorgeous cheese. One of the wedding party even shared her port with us and I, of course, made some new friends who were absolutely lovely. I vaguely recall getting in, after a lift in to town with my new mates, setting the alarm for 5.30am and hoping I didn’t sleep through it. Fikri’s taxi was booked to pick me up at 6am and take me to Ortaca so that I could get the first bus to Fethiye.
Sunday 1st October had some of my favourite things; dogs and curry! I had to wake the dogs up at 8.10am as I needed a wee. We went for a little walk and they shared water when they got back as both were thirsty. I had left over chicken tenders for breakfast and then had a bad stomach! By 11.20am I was feeling a bit better and had started catching up on my blogging; Edna was helping, while Norman snored away from his bed. Edna soon got bored as there was no juicy gossip and had a snooze. It was raining before 2pm and both dogs were snoring away as I typed. That afternoon I got some bad news from the computer repair man. My laptop was going to cost too much to fix and would be better to buy a new one. I took the dogs on a reluctant but short walk in the rain and then gave them their dinner – they love meal times. I couldn’t be bothered to cook and I’d not been to the market so I decided to order a curry from Spice Garden, as a treat. I decided to go for the chicken set menu which was 445 lira (£13.28) and included the following; Chicken Tikka starter, Chicken Masala main, Saag Aloo side. For a bit extra I also added in a garlic and cheese naan bread and then would split the whole lot over 2 meals. The food is obviously not prepared or cooked by Indian chefs but it’s as near as I was going to get in Turkey and it tasted great. At bed time Norman and Edna were the first to go to bed, not leaving me much room on the bed!
I had another day off on Monday 2nd October so that I could go back to the Fethiye office to complete my residency renewal by taking a copy of my water bill, in my name. I was still looking after Norman and Edna but Jamie had said they would be ok left after their morning walkies and breakfast, as he was due back around 1pm. I decided that it would be a bit irresponsible, should he get delayed for any reason and I’d be all the way in Fethiye on a bus so I arranged with Vanessa to get the 2pm bus. I also got a message from the computer repair man to say he had found me a potential new laptop; a Toshiba i5 cpu 8GB RAM 240GB SSD with an English keyboard. I know nothing about laptops so I sent it on to Captain Caveman to check out and see if it was worth the 7,500 lira (£220) it was priced at. At 3pm we were in the Fethiye office, where I saw the same lady. It turned out she spoke English and didn’t remember my application. I helped her find it on the pile, gave her my paperwork, which she copied. She then passed me the paper to say I had renewed residency for just under a year. My card would be posted within the next month and I’d been in there less than 3 minutes. I was so relieved but couldn’t help thinking that all this extra expense and stress could’ve been avoided! Just 14 minutes later, Vanessa and I were about to tuck in to a Big Mac meal each in MacDonald’s. By 4.15pm we had decided to walk it back to the bus station as it was glorious weather. It was great to have had Vanessa there with me and it made a nice afternoon. It was late by the time we got in to Ortaca, where we decided to have an ice-cream as we were peckish and thirsty. Michelle messaged to ask if I would buy her some vitamins which are expensive in Rhodes, but we had already left Fethiye by the time I got the info. We walked out of the bus station in Ortaca to find a Gratis pharmacy, and they had 3 bottles left. I bought 2 at 99 lira (£2.91) each and with discount. We were late getting back to Dalyan so I warmed up some curry for dinner about 9pm at home. I lit some candles and relaxed – my residency renewal was finally done and I could relax until August next year!
On Tuesday 3rd October I had 3 days left in Dalyan before I went back to Rhodes. The plans to join Captain Caveman in Italy had changed as it turned out his rash was shingles! Instead, he and my parents would meet me in Rhodes in 6 days time. I had fresh figs, peach and strawberries for breakfast then got on with work. For lunch I had cheese on toast, done in the Airfryer. It was a lovely, sunny day but I was indoors working, after being off yesterday. Steve sent me through my ferry ticket which was only €25 (£21.60), with discount. It did mean getting up at 5.30am on Friday morning though. For dinner I put the leftover chicken tikka starter in to the saag aloo and had that, very nice it was too. Fat Club was probably not going to see a loss from me tomorrow, but I had definitely drank less alcohol as I couldn’t afford to go out now!
It was weigh-in day on Wednesday 4th October and I wasn’t optimistic. I took my measurements to find I had put on 4cm on my bust but lost 4cm from my hips and 2cm from my waist. I worked for a couple of hours in the morning and I was quite enjoying the red keyboard of Matt’s laptop. At Fat Club, Carol’s scales showed that I had put on 0.3kg (0.7lb), which wasn’t ideal. I decided to make a stir-fry for dinner which I ate with steamed rice and it was delicious. I worked a few more hours later on then, around 9.30pm I spoke to Captain Caveman who was now in Turin but suffering with Shingles. I had an early night as tomorrow I had something exciting planned for my last day in Dalyan.
joloyolo 