Dalyan – 24th December

I was fast asleep on Sunday 24th December when Captain Caveman woke me up. It was 4.30am and he could smell something; his observation was that ‘the baking of the cake smelled less like cake and more like biscuit’. He deduced that the fruit cake was done and that I should get up and go and check it. I did, using a wooden skewer and found that it was indeed cooking much faster than the 7 hours on low, as specified!
I gave it another 30 minutes then turned it off and let it cool for a bit on a wire rack (the grill shelf from the oven as I’m no baker). It smelled amazing but it was rather well done on one edge.
I went back to bed but by 7am I was back in the kitchen working out how best to cut up fruit cake while eating one of Jamie’s spare mince pies from last night – well it was Christmas Eve!  
Captain Caveman, Josh and Martha had decided they were going to do the Sunday walk where the route would end at the beach, ready for the beach party. Each year, Dalyan Dwellers take food and drink to Iztuzu beach to share with each other and celebrate Christmas Eve. Many English-Turkish families join and bring the whole family and it’s always busy and a good cheap way to have a great afternoon.  I had decided not to do the walk and was going to take the fruit cake, cheese, red wine, beers, tupperware, corkscrew and cups. I also decided to just get the normal bus and my parents had decided to join me. The fare is cheaper and there is less fuss involved. It left Dalyan bus station at 12 noon and returned at 4.30pm which was enough time for me to enjoy celebrating Christmas Eve. I always find it hard to eat much because of not knowing the ingredients of things and potentially getting a bad reaction/being allergic. Captain Caveman makes up for me by snaffling absolutely everything he can get his hands on.

When my parents and I first arrived, Captain Caveman and our guests were at the turtle sanctuary as it was Martha’s first trip and it’s a must see. It was already fairly crowded so I suggested to Ma and Pa that we have a quick walk to the sea and get a Christmas Eve photo to send to my sister.
Back at the tables, there were loads of people setting up and already drinking. Captain Caveman, Josh and Martha joined us next to Bill and Jaxx. I had one of Bill’s special cocktails and I had another nice walk down to the sea with Jaxx, Captain Caveman and Brad. Captain Caveman went in the sea, as did Michele and everyone commented that it was too cold but it seemed pretty warm today. Brad and Daisy had a paddle, Josh and Martha had swims and a beer – it was certainly lovely weather. I popped my Christmas cake and cheese out near Bill and Jaxx and quite a few people gave it a try. I got a lot of compliments and one of Captain Caveman’s friends said it was the best he’d had yet.

I managed to eat a delicious pasty from Bill, a spring roll made from Christmas dinner from Carol and Ian (surprising but not bad) and rather tasty sausage rolls from Cath. Even though I was sat with my parents, Mark, Kate, Vanessa, Matt, Andrea and John for a while I didn’t even see what food they had on offer so I missed trying their’s. I gave out Christmas cake with cheese to Ma, Pa, Matt, Mark, Brad, John, Andrea and Martha and poured myself a small red wine. Adam and Kath gave me some food but I suspected it had chillies in so I gave it Captain Caveman. I chatted to Jamie, who had brought Norman & Edna in their Christmas outfits, Nanny Kay, Katrina, Debbie (Darling), Mel and Roy plus a few familiar faces before coming back to where we had stationed ourselves. I’d had a cheeky piece of Mel’s Cadbury’s rocky road which was fab too!
At 3pm there was a large amount of people leaving the beach to get their pre-booked buses back. Kate mentioned that they should be getting on a bus but had said it would wait for them until they were ready to leave and hoped to stay for sunset. Vanessa was absolutely pissed as a fart and becoming a bit loud and wobbly. I took her with me to say hello to Jackie, a friend with her leg in a cast, sat propped up near the path and toilets. Vanessa was hilarious, nearly knocking Jackie over with a hug and calling her mom by a different name, repeatedly.
We came back and packed up for the 4.30pm bus, which was busy and some passengers had to stand. We left a few people on the beach saying they would make the buses wait until they were ready or get a taxi back. We were home by 5pm, dropped stuff off, grabbed warmer layers and headed back out to the pub.
My parents decided to go to Tez bar to meet Vanessa, Matt, Brad, John, Andrea, Adam, Kath, Mark, Kate and Daisy whereas I had already said wed see Bill, Jaxx and Fat Club Carol at Sofra.

Jamie had been home quite a bit earlier than us so he was ready for a quick drink in Waterfall and we popped in as Sofra was closed already. It was cosy in there, not at all smokey and quite busy, mainly with Dutch people. We sat/stood at the bar at first where a cute pooch was actually laid on the bar. We had meant to pop to Ozzy’s bar but once we were comfy we were quite happy, especially once we’d moved over to comfy seats. I thought my parents might come over but they were happier at Tez bar with our friends, who’d eventually managed to get back from the beach after the buses had left.
After a couple of drinks we got peckish and decided to walk to the river for food. At River House Josh, Martha, Jamie, Captain Caveman and I were the only ones in the restaurant and they built a fire to keep us warm. We were given dips and plenty of bread for free and we ordered a carafe of wine which was good. Captain Caveman and I shared garlic mushrooms for starter, he had İskender kebab for main while I chose the Singapore noodles without chilli. Martha tried baklava for dessert but when it came, we hid it while she was in the loo and pretended we had eaten it. She sussed us out quite quickly, though, and we all returned the pieces we had moved from her nicely presented plate. The food was excellent and when we came to pay, Josh and Martha paid for ours as a thank you. That was so kind and it made me a bit emotional – what a lovely end to a wonderful day and Christmas Eve.