Dalyan – 25th December

Monday 25th December was obviously Christmas day for a lot of people, we’d decided to opt out of celebrating it specifically, but we had chosen to spend the day and evening doing something nice with Josh, Martha and my parents. Most of the expats who I’m friends with in Dalyan were doing an English style Christmas here in Turkey, either with friends in their home or going to a restaurant serving English style Christmas dinner, like Lukka or Heybe.
I think my parents would have enjoyed it but they had said they wanted to do something with us and I was pleased. I think a lot of Christmas is a waste of money and an absolute over indulgence, instead of being a time to really enjoy a day spent with people you care about most.
The 6 of us had decided to book on to the yellow boat, owned by Hakkan and Nilüfer. Every Monday they put on a boat trip to Köyceğiz for market day at a cost of 200 lira  (£5.38) per person. I’d seen a post on Facebook about a book shop/cafe that had opened in Köyceğiz and I wanted to visit there as a surprise, and maybe buy books. None of us were doing Christmas presents but a personally selected book would have been a nice treat for anyone who wanted one.
It was a lovely sunny day, hot beverages and biscuits were served as we headed over to the stunning Köyceğiz lake. Josh and Captain Caveman had been to Ela’s Kitchen to pick up breakfast sandwiches for the 4 of us so I resisted the turtle biscuits which were a cute touch. We may have been the only English guests on the boat which was quite nice. Nilüfer was the perfect host, making sure the çay was topped up and chatting to everyone on board. We chatted to the others a little, all were friendly and we particularly liked Bruno who was very energetic and amusing.

Once in Köyceğiz, we found Lutra Lutra, the book shop cafe, but it was closed. Captain Caveman went rogue by motoring through to the fruit and veg market on a mission with his shopping list. It was not leisurely and my parents couldn’t keep up, I got annoyed with him and told him off in front of everyone. We then had to have a meeting point by the cheese counters to reconvene as he went off with the bag in search of apples. In Köyceğiz the prices are cheaper than Dalyan but less stall holders speak English, I usually enjoy a browse and a chat but that was not on the agenda for today.
We bought potatoes, onions, pumpkin, leeks, red peppers, apples and 2 lots of cheese from the man who lets you taste as much as you like. I have no idea of the prices of the market purchases except for the cheese being about £6 in total.
We bought 2 bottles of prosecco from Carrefour supermarket at 479.80 lira (£12.90) in readiness for New Year’s Eve then headed for lunch at one of my favourite lakeside eateries.

While people in the UK were probably checking the progress of their Christmas dinner or opening gifts on Christmas Day, the 6 of us had arrived at Avangart restaurant in Köyceğiz. Here’s what we had with the prices in lira;

1 mixed toastie 125
3 Sprites 150
1 chicken wrap 225
3 lentil soup 240
5 Fanta orange 250
1 King prawns 395
4 Tuborg beers 540
Total 1,925 lira (£51.75)

It was less than £9 each on average for a lunch and drinks with a gorgeous view, but it’s certainly not the cheapest place to choose. I really enjoyed the lentil soup I had which came with loads of bread. We left there to get back to the yellow boat for the 2.30pm departure. Nilüfer had prepared some fruit platters with nuts for the journey back and it was such a lovely trip. I really enjoyed the fruit and meant I was doing my best to be healthier, even today. My camera phone really didn’t do the stunning scenery justice but I took a few photos on the way back to Dalyan.
We arrived back in Dalyan around 4pm, we popped the shopping away and had a bit of a rest before the evening’s outing.

While most of our Dalyan Dwelling friends were merry and fully in to their Christmas Day celebrations, the 6 of us had opted for a ‘normal’ meal out. It was, sadly, Josh and Martha’s last day of their holiday too so we wanted to have a nice evening. Bistro Blue is one of our favourite restaurants where the service and food has always been consistently good so we had booked there for 7pm. Vanessa and Brad were disappointed that we weren’t joining them at Mark and Kate’s and said they would come to find us after their Christmas Day celebrations as they wanted to wish us Merry Christmas. We got seated at Bistro Blue, Dad and Josh ordered a beer while the rest of us chose wine. The waiter was Bakı who we know from various places but he had worked in Bistro Blue some years ago.  Selahı, the owner, looked very presentable and he greeted us all. Josh tried to get a group selfie but it’s often difficult to get Dad to face the camera, this time he was blowing his nose. Dad wanted a glass for wine, as well as his beer, but it caused some confusion and he didn’t get it straight away. I had to ask Bakı for the wine glass before Dad got too mardy. We ordered food, Dad didn’t want a starter but the rest of us did – well it was Christmas. Captain Caveman was in good spirits and we shared 2 starters between us. More wine was had and the mains were served. I thought the food was amazing and I couldn’t eat all of my pepper steak as, even the smaller weight, was more than sufficient for me.
Vanessa and Brad arrived just as we were finishing our mains and said that their Christmas dinner had gone really well and they had all had a great Christmas day. Matt had gone home as he’d had enough of the celebrations. We had thought of going on for a drink somewhere else but a lot of bars were closed on Mondays. Captain Caveman and I paid 1,950 lira (£52.42) for starters of stuffed mushrooms and liver & onions, a bottle of house red, pepper steak and Spaghetti Bolognese mains which I thought was reasonable for the quality of it. I took the rest of my steak home and we said goodbye to Vanessa and Brad. Back home, we had one last drink to round off the night and say bye to Josh and Martha. It had been a really great way to have a none Christmassy Christmas.