Dalyan – 5th May

I had a busy day in my office on Tuesday 5th May and there was quite a lot of building noise coming from outside. I took a break just before noon and went to the shop. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira:

Migros Supermarket
2 milk 28.50
Peanuts 35.00
Olives 61.50
Chickpeas 87.95
Cashew nuts 95.00
2 Quark 119.90
Total spent 427.85 lira (£7.13)

BIM Supermarket
Pasta 19.50
2 Basmati rice 159.00
Frozen berries 199.00
Total spent 377.50 lira (£6.29)

Parlak Bakery
Sourdough loaf 75.00 lira (£1.25)

It was a bit of an extravagant spend but I needed to stock up on some healthy treats to prevent me from being tempted to eat cheaper less healthy snacks. I was also out of rice and chickpeas so those were essential.
I found out the noise was due to the road being dug up to put cables in, apparently for internet use, but they were making a real mess. When they dig roads up here they often botch backfill them which results in uneven roads and trip hazards.
Our pool and garden was ready for summer now and the gardeners had even put in a rosemary plant. I was pleased about this as we used to have one but the previous company killed it off.
In the evening Nanny Kay and I had been invited to Jamie and Drew’s for dinner with them and there was a bit of a surprise in store. I arrived 5 minutes late due to having to walk the long way round because of the roads being dug up. I wasn’t planning on drinking with it being Fat Club weigh in tomorrow, but I did. Jamie and Drew made Nanny Kay and I walk away from the house and I thought we were meant to be looking at a bush or some decorating. We were both chuntering away when they said to turn round and look up towards the front balcony. There we saw Nick and Mark waving at us and they had been waiting in the bedroom to surprise us. It was a really great surprise, especially to cheer up Nanny Kay who had suffered a family loss recently. We had cottage pie and plenty of wine and laughs. I got the micky took out of me when I shared my intentions to do a 3 week trip with just an under seat bag. All 4 of the fellas are big packers who don’t travel light so they thought it was impossible and hilarious. It was quite funny to have the banter even though I would not be taking a suitcase to drag around Europe. Drew wasn’t feeling well so he went to bed earlier than us and Jamie had a disaster when he ran out of ice. He ended up putting frozen peas in Nick’s gin and tonic which was not pleasant. Norman, the dog, loved having everyone round and got to have treats, leftovers and cuddles. It was a lovely evening and I knew the scales would not be kind tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. A lunch time shop
2. A surprise appearance from Nick & Mark
3. Dinner, drinks and lots of laughter with friends.

Dalyan – 3rd & 4th May

I had a fairly easy going working day on Sunday 3rd May. I should’ve been hungover as I had a total of 6 white wines and at least a couple of Blow Jobs throughout yesterday, but all was well. I was up at 8am with a cup of tea and had decided to work today instead of yesterday. I was meant to be going to the beach with a friend but she was having a bit of a to do because the power went off, she needed to find somewhere to work and decided to go to Ortaca. I had already charged devices and had popped on my noise cancelling headphones to do a few courses I had embarked on. I had also signed up for a notebook making course with Claire Clarke and decided to get ideas for that started too. Inbetween all that, I did Resort Experts stuff too and got on with content for my next travel tips book.
It actually felt quite good knowing that Dalyan was without power so I couldn’t be disturbed and I got a lot done. I ate cold leftover pizza from Friday night as I only have electric and mine was off still at lunch.
It was a zero spend day but I was already at £69 spent for the week with another trip out tomorrow. Vanessa had asked me to join her for a last goodbye on the yellow boat trip to Köyceğiz market, seeing as I had missed the Dalyan Saturday market I decided it was a good idea.
I had a quesadilla type dinner with more left overs and a video call with Captain Caveman to finish off my weekend. This time next month I would be heading over to see him in Sheffield and was looking forward to it after not seeing him for 3 months!

Gratitude List
1. Still being able to function with a pretty long power cut
2. A zero spend day
3. Planning to see Captain Caveman again next month.

It wasn’t a bank holiday in Türkiye, like it was in the UK, on Monday 4th May and I was in 2 minds if I should be going on a boat trip to Köyceğiz. I was up and about before 7am having been bit on my eyelid by a mosquito during the night and it was itchy and swollen. I also had a dodgy stomach, probably on account of too much sugar and alcohol over the weekend. It was cold and incredibly windy as I went to the pharmacy as soon as they opened to buy seasickness medication for 142.40 lira (£2.37). I took antihistamines but not the seasickness pills and decided to not go on the boat trip. I called Vanessa and apologised but said I would meet them when they returned so I could say bye. After working hard in the morning, I had a chicken wrap for lunch then got a bit tired so ended up going to bed for a nap. I still felt run down and had a dodgy tummy so when I arrived at Ren Garden to join Vanessa, her family and some of their friends, including my parents, I just ordered soda water. I managed to resist the very tempting cake and cookies this time. When Vanessa and family left, I also left the rest of the friends drinking and chatting in the garden room. It was a lovely sunset on the way home and I ate a chicken and spinach curry for dinner.

Gratitude List
1. Getting some seasickness tablets
2. Homemade food
3. Meeting Vanessa and her family for their send off.

Dalyan – 2nd May

On Saturday 2nd May, Vanessa was celebrating her 60th birthday, a few months early with a boat trip and I had been invited to join her, her family and friends. I was also invited to Irenea’s 79th birthday dinner at River House later. I had took the day off and was ready for celebration number 1 on the yellow boat at 10.30am.
In the news the decision to hike up the residency permit fees in Turkey had been revoked so everyone was happy again, it looked like there had been so many complaints. This was good news and it was one less thing to worry about. My next renewal would put me in a position to be able to apply for long term residency too, if I wanted it.
I had brought Vanessa a bottle of Kahlua as she’s quite partial to a cocktail which her daughter was bringing the other spirit to match. Onboard the party boat were; Vanessa & Matt, Alicia, Lucy, Damo, Liv, Ma & Pa, Julie & Gareth, Adam & Kath, Kate & Mark, Hakan (the Captain), Nilüfer (2nd mate) and me.
The boat trip was absolutely fantastic and the best yellow boat trip I’d been on so far. There was lots of delicious food (including steak that melted in the mouth) and lots of swimming for those brave enough to get in the cold water (not me). Some of the guests took the kayaks out and brought back some logs which were impressive. It was also great to see Vanessa surrounded by her friends and being spoiled – this was just the start of her celebrations for her being 60! The booze flowed and there was cake and Vanessa’s favourite shots, Blow Jobs. They started out as Baby Guinness but then we used the cream from the cake to make Blow Jobs. I poured them out and, looking back, it’s probably a bit wrong to ask Dad if he’d like another Blow Job but he didn’t say no. Luckily, we are a family with a good sense of humour which dips it’s row in the gutter every now and then!
There was a lot of laughter and later some dancing and singing – we almost purchased a karaoke machine right then when a Baileys-fuelled Kate got on to Trendyol to find one we could all have shares in! Matt had very kindly paid for the impressive boat trip for everyone so I only had to pay for my 4 white wines which I paid 800 lira (£13.33) for.

We didn’t get back until it was almost dark and I had to rush home to get to my next party while the rest sacked off a wedding in favour of more drinks at Ozzy’s bar.
I got in, got some warmer layers on, picked up more teabags for Ian and hurried to River House where everyone but me was already seated with a drink.
I sat next to Debbie (Darling) who had saved me a seat and while she had a lovely looking prawn cocktail, I ordered a mushroom risotto which was excellent.
After a couple more wines and more birthday singing and cake, I had well and truly done it! I paid 1,350 lira (£25.83) for my food, drinks and a tip and thought the River House meal was very good. I walked Sue to her taxi while some of the party animals continued to Sofra Bar for more celebrations. I was getting old and couldn’t keep up!
Back home I tried to drink 3 pints of water before bed, conscious that I had agreed to go to the beach in the morning and was working all afternoon tomorrow to make up for the day off today. I put all my devices and battery pack on charge as there had been a warning of a planned powercut tomorrow and I didn’t want to get caught out. My road was not on the list I read, but there’s always a chance it could still affect my area.

Gratitude List
1. The residency permit fee increase being scrapped due to complaints
2. Vanessa’s 60th birthday boat trip on the Yellow boat
3. Irenea’s 79th birthday meal at River House.

Photo Credit – some photos by other party goers

Dalyan – 1st May

Friday 1st May started early as I had been fannying about with stuff yesterday which meant I was a bit behind on tasks for this week. I decided to set my May budget at £550, this would be an increase to £15 per day for the first 2 weeks, then an increase to £20 per day for the rest of the month. Now that my parents were here I hoped to invite them over and go out with them more this month so that’s why I increased it from today. I also was looking forward to doing more with the family once my sister and brother-in-law arrived, mid-May. I also still had the envelope of English money from Captain Caveman to cover the boat trips.
I had a chat with a friend who was getting ready for her family holiday away and finished off lots of half started chores before getting on with lots of work admin and phone calls.
Vanessa and Matt had organised a Dalyan pub crawl from 3pm with their daughter and her friends and had invited all the usual Dalyan Dwellers who often go. They had also organised a boat trip for tomorrow which most of us were going on and I was taking the day off, properly! This did mean that I couldn’t make the pub crawl this afternoon and still hadn’t spent the time with Vanessa and her family. Instead of going out, and because our last meeting on Wednesday got unexpectedly cut short, I messaged my parents to see if they were going on the pub crawl. They had decided not to, on account of not having too much to drink before tomorrow’s boat trip and I felt the same. I suggested they come round to mine and we could have a bottle of wine and order some food in or I could cook. They agreed and said they would be over at 7.30pm, plenty of time for me to get finished in the office.

At 6pm I nipped to the off licence to get wine as I no longer keep it in the house regularly. I bought a bottle of white, a bottle of red and a share pack of salt and vinegar crisps. The white was my usual brand Kilitbahir at 300 lira (£5) which I knew Mom would like as we’d had it before, but they had completely sold out of the red version. I decided to go with Tigris as it’s less harsh than some of the cheaper ones they had and would be good for Dad. It was a bit of a treat at 530 lira (£8.33) and the crisps were 60 lira (£1).

Ma & Pa were ready early so messaged to ask to come earlier and that was great because I was starting to get peckish. I only quickly had time to hoover and then I was ready. They arrived with a bottle of red and a bottle of white which was very kind. We all agreed we were taking it steady on the booze tonight, though, as we didn’t want to ruin a birthday boat trip tomorrow. We are all a bit fussy with food so I had decided not to cook and to treat us to a takeaway pizza from Heybe’s. I’d really enjoyed it last time and thought my parents might like to try it. We decided on a pizza each so we could all choose our own toppings; tuna and onion for Ma, a mixed one without pepperoni or mushrooms for Pa and a Hawaiian for me. It took some deciding as the pizza menu at Heybe has lots of choice, plus you can choose a create your own. They also have the 2 for 1 deal on all pizzas so it made sense to throw in a margherita for us to share. I paid just 900 lira (£15) including a small tip and the guy who delivered it was the man who served me in Yaman Büfe 2 earlier, which caught us both off guard a bit. The pizzas now come in a Heybe branded bag with a QR code on which gives you the menu and phone number – great idea.

When the pizzas came, I topped up the wine and got the scissors out. My parents thought I was a bit odd as they wondered why I was using scissors! The pizza wasn’t fully cut and if I used a knife the box would get cut and I didn’t own a pizza cutter wheelie utensil. I’ve used scissors on pizzas for a while now and it’s so much easier (does anyone else do this – tell me it’s not just me being weird?).

We had a lovely night and it wasn’t too late when my parents went home, taking some leftover pizza home – the rest went in my fridge.
Today I had gone over the new £15 per day budget by almost double but we had a very nice evening and I still had wine in, because of my parents bringing some which meant we had it for the next time.

Gratitude List

1. Looking forward to a busy month with some time spent with my family

2. Wine and pizza night with Ma & Pa

3. Leftover pizza and wine!!! (Gosh, it’s a thing!)