Dalyan – 1st & 2nd July

On Monday 1st July I did some work first thing and then joined my parents, Adam, Kath & Kate on the yellow boat trip to Köyceğiz. Like an idiot, I forgot to take my phone so there were no photos of the day out. Kate and I headed to the market as soon as we got there while everyone else went for a drink. I bought what I would have got from the market in Dalyan on Saturday, if I’d not missed it; strawberries and a bit of veg. At Carrefour, I bought 2 bottles of Prosecco for 720.05 Lira (£17.35) ready for tonight as Jamie and the boys had invited me, and Nanny Kay, for dinner again. For lunch we all ate at Tuana where I had a chicken burger and some lemon soda as I didn’t fancy alcohol, for a change.
I nipped to the supermarket on my way back for some treats for the house and bought the following, prices in Turkish Lira;

Migros Supermarket
1 plastic bag 0.25
Tutku biscuits 30.00
Plain crisps 35.00
Blueberries 49.95
Chocolate brownies 65.00
Chocolate Dido bars 75.20
Frozen raspberries 107.95
Total spent 363.75 Lira (£8.77)

We had a lovely chilled out evening at Jamie and Drew’s, with lots of laughs and a very tasty chicken salad for dinner. Drew’s homemade croutons were definitely a hit, Nanny Kay’s chocolate brownie with jelly was so good and I really enjoyed the meal.

I woke up early on Tuesday 2nd July and had tea and toast for breakfast. Tomorrow was weigh day and I’d completely gone off track this week with the food and booze. Jamie and the boys were off on a trip for Mark’s birthday, just local, but I was going to spend the day with Norman and Edna. I did some washing and then got on with some work. Edna wanted to help send some emails and got on my knee to get nearer the laptop. By 9am I was in the newly kitted out köşk enjoying the fresh air while I worked. I saw an unusual critter on the table and the temperature shot up to 35°C in the shade.
In the afternoon, I attempted to arrange to meet up with our elusive pool and garden man but, unsurprisingly, he wasn’t forthcoming. Our tenants were arriving again in a few days and I was concerned that Captain Caveman’s apartment complex still looked a mess and it was getting very frustrating.
I worked some more in the afternoon and in the evening I was meeting my parents for our last meal in Dalyan. They were off to Göcek tomorrow with their friends so I needed to say bye to them tonight. They would fly back to England on Thursday morning but I would see them in Sheffield in July.

After feeding the dogs and watching Norman confidently patrol the property perimeter, I went to call for Ma & Pa. I still needed to see Sonuç to pay hım the £30 (or 1200 lira) that I owed him for the airport pick up when I arrived, so I popped over to his new office. It was very smart and looked good. Our next stop was for a cheeky drink in Cafe Ivy where they do a nice white wine at a reasonable price.
For dinner we decided to try Sea Breeze, as we know the owner, Suha, from when he was a waiter at Bistro Blue restaurant. It was the day of a football game that we wanted to avoid so it looked like a nice quiet place to eat. An older waiter took our order and we decided not to have starters. We ordered a bottle of house red wine which was 750 lira (£18) for the cheapest Buzbağ brand. We got a bottle of water to share for 80 lira (£1.93) and we all had a steak. My parents had onion steaks, I had a blue cheese steak and the price was 850 lira (£20.48) each. When it was served, it was presented on wooden boards which I really don’t like so I asked for a spare plate and transferred it over. It’s very common in Dalyan to serve meals on wooden boards but I find it not only looks bad, it’s unhygienic and impractical, especially if having a sauce. This was evidently not the cheapest place in town but the food quality and taste was excellent. We all really enjoyed our dinner but I felt a bit uneasy about the waiter and wondered if he regularly worked there. He asked us to put a review on Trip Advisor before we’d finished and, when he cleared the plates, he ate a leftover vegetable from Dad’s plate. This was the first time this had happened to me ever in any restaurant and it did take me by surprise. I usually do leave reviews but this then put me off doing one and I haven’t bothered. I paid the 3,380 lira (£81.45) on my credit card and Ma gave me cash so I could continue to add money to my Turkish account to keep up the residency requirements. I didn’t think £27 each for a decent meal was too bad and it did include a free appetiser of olives, warm bread and dips. I wanted to get back for Norman and Edna so I invited my parents over for a nightcap. We went to Yaman Büfe off licence on the way and bought a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine for just 590 lira (£14.22) – and we splashed out on Angora. Dad and I shared the red, Mom had some of the white while we had to pretend to give Edna red. I was giving her water from a glass behind my red wine but when she realised we were hoodwinking her, she wasn’t too happy.
It was gone 11.30pm when my parents left and we said goodbye – Norman had already fell asleep but Edna came to say farewell, unaware she wouldn’t see them again until September.