It was certainly a sign that Captain Caveman was over in Dalyan, as I would ordinarily have been budgeting for a trip to the weekly market on Saturday 14th June. However, as it was the weekend and Captain Caveman had 2 days off work to get to enjoy the delights of Dalyan, we were about to splash out as if we were on holiday. I was also doing a little less work this weekend so that Captain Caveman and I could have some time together. I’d already planned all my blog posts, social media posts and book promo stuff in advance so that I was available. I’d also planned for us to go to Captain Caveman’s favourite breakfast place, Saklı Bahçe, at 8.30am when they opened. We had the Turkish breakfast with extra water and it was really good – this time I didn’t even get a dodgy stomach from the pastries/bread. We did have to take some cheese, olives and bread home, though, as the portion sizes were big. We paid 1070 lira (£20.18) for 2 breakfasts and 2 waters which I thought was good value for money. We were done by 10am and had a wander in to town so that Captain Caveman could get ready to do what he loves best on his day off.
He and Sezgin were driving over to Köyceğiz to play Bridge. So, I had a free afternoon to get some washing done, tidy up and then do some more work to get ahead for next week. I got showered and changed ready to meet Captain Caveman after his Bridge as we had arranged to go for a meal in town, with Sezgin and Nur. Captain Caveman told me to bring a bottle of the fizz to share with Nur and to be ready for 6.30pm. We went to Eylül where we took the bottle of fizz and Sezgin brought a bottle of Rakı which the 3 of them shared. Leaving me to drink a whole bottle of prosecco to myself, with my meal. I ordered a chicken shish and all 3 of my fellow diners ordered Adana kebabs and we shared 2 lavaş (balloon bread) between the 4 of us. The meal out was a lot cheaper because we had taken our own booze and we paid 2,000 lira (£37.74) for the whole meal – less than a tenner each! Captain Caveman and Sezgin were both feeling a bit unwell after the Bridge where the heat had been unbearable so I was shocked when they wanted to carry on drinking. Sezgin and Nur invited us back to their house where I had a bit more wine and they all carried on with the rakı. I didn’t want a late night as we had a really nice day planned for tomorrow. We said goodbye before midnight and walked past Jamie’s on the way home. As we got to his we could hear that he was in the pool and he was talking to someone. We decided to call in, Jamie was in the pool with a drink and had been talking to Edna, who had been laid to rest in a big plant pot, with plants and a few items to remember her with. It was the first time we had seen Jamie since Edna’s death so we all had a good chat and a bit of reminiscing. Captain Caveman joined Jamie with a G&T while I drank a pint of water. Norman, the older dog, was fast asleep but had been doing well and was making the most of getting extra treats and more cuddles than usual.
Gratitude List 1. Breakfast at Saklı Bahçe with Captain Caveman 2. Dinner at Eylül with Sezgin and Nur 3. Getting to see Jamie and give him a hug.
At 1am on Friday 13th June, I got a message from Jamie to say that he wanted to tell me in person, but couldn’t speak right now because he was absolutely heartbroken. Edna, his youngest dog, had passed away! I called Jamie straight back, both of us trying to stop the tears, and he let me know what had happened; he had been at the vets with her when he rang me but the signal had been rubbish. He’d had to drive to the Köyceğiz vet as the local one was closed, they had given Edna medicine for her existing heart murmur but, unfortunately, she died in his arms shortly afterwards. Luckily It had been quick, very sudden in fact, but pain free – I was also in bits. Captain Caveman came back down from bed to console me, he was also upset. I messaged Drew, who had flown back to the UK that morning, and of course he was heartbroken too. Edna was such a great dog and we all loved her, in fact I know a lot of people who read my blog will be upset too. We went to bed, knowing that we would all miss Edna, a lot, but with the comfort that she would now be reunited with Graeme, her Big Daddy.
After not much sleep, I had to get up and go on a Birthday boat trip, which I was no longer in the mood for, if I’m honest. We were about to have a full-on day aboard Captain Fuat’s Adıl boat at £30 (or 1,560 lira) for the trip. We set sail and were off out to sea so I had taken a travel sickness tablet, Avimone, which makes me really drowsy but works.
While Captain Caveman worked from home for the day, it meant that I was without a working phone, as I’d left home the hot spot. Vanessa had invited Captain Caveman on the Friday Bar crawl and she was going to message him with where they were so he could join them at 7pm (5pm UK time), when he finished work. The first stop of the boat trip was to the caves on the way to Ekincik where you can swim through the cave, around and back to the boat. It’s quite challenging for a general swimmer and is very often on the choppy side. I’ve swam it a couple of times but I’ve also seen people get in to difficulties there. Today, was particularly choppy and the few other boats that were there, had already gone by the time some of our group had got in. Only the brave had swam through the caves and the others had gone out in to the open sea. I stayed on the boat which was swaying a lot and I had to stare at the horizon to not be sick. Some people did find it rather arduous swimming back to the boat against the current. Captain Fuat had to help get some people back in and I was glad I’d decided to not go in. Our next stop was decided with a slight change to the route – back towards hole island where it was calmer. I had a little swim but I was still feeling a bit seasick – one of the ladies onboard gave a couple of us a ginger sweet, which worked. We had a lovely BBQ lunch in a secluded bay and another swim stop later, where people didn’t really get off for a swim. I had a pomegranate juice which was so lovely. Mark & Kate got dropped off at the jetty to their house saying they weren’t going back out, and I went back in to town to walk home so I could get WiFi again.
When I got in, Captain Caveman was still working but he had not heard from Vanessa or any other bar crawl participants yet. We decided to meet back up with my friend to celebrate it being her birthday. Captain Caveman and I walked to Caria Hotel for 7.30pm. It’s the new place which has replaced the Tezcan hotel, where they have a lovely riverside bar. We ordered a bottle of Turkish rosé wine for 900 lira (£17). Turgay our waiter, brought us a cheese and fruit plate over, which was really lovely, great views and the menu had a good choice. I paid the bill and then we got a message from Vanessa saying they were in Ozzy’s. Our friend went home and Captain Caveman and I went to join the bar crawl, or who was left of it. When we got there, Vanessa and Matt (who had been out since 2pm but had forgot to message until now) were on their last drink and were leaving as we arrived. Kate had already left Mark who was there with Tracey and Vinnie so we joined them for a drink. We only stayed out for a couple as Mark, Vinnie and Tracey were being sensible and going home before they got too drunk. We had a group photo with Ozzy and one of the bar men before walking home to get our dinner.
Gratitude List 1. An entertaining birthday boat trip with Captain Fuat on Adıl Boat 2. Drinks at the new Caria Hotel 3. Joining the tail end of the bar crawl with Captain Caveman.
I had a busy day planned on Thursday 12th June; I had agreed to an impromptu doggy day care for a cute little puppy. I’d met Sassy before but I’d not looked after her. I left Captain Caveman working from home, in possession of our hot spot phone and walked over to Mel’s, not really knowing which was her house. After walking round the house a few times and waiting outside, I ventured up some stairs and found the right place. Sassy was very cute and a little bit cheeky. Mel had the AC on and fans so the house was nice and cool. She made me a cup of tea and we ran through the requirements for the doggy day care. My first meeting of the day was a free mini course on Visibility with Lisa Johnson (a first of 3 parts for just 30 minutes). It was really interesting and I got a lot out of it. I was meant to have lunch at 12 noon, but I was too busy trying to make sure the puppy was not getting in to any bother. After giving attention to Sassy for a while I got back on to the laptop and dialled in to our Resort Experts Team Meeting. The meeting went well, and we followed it with another meeting of just me, Dagne (Majorca) and Helen (Italy) to talk about more work related plans and to help each other. I finally ate the salad I brought at about 3.45pm and little Sassy was keen to get a piece of chicken out of me, which of course she did. I finished work around 5pm and took the dog for a walk. She was hilarious and wanted to be petted by everyone she saw. We also got as far as the Little Migros roundabout when she decided she had walked far enough and sat down. I walked her back home and then she was done for – even snoring a little. I checked the house for wees to clean up. Mel had informed me she would go on the puppy pads. The only guaranteed dry bits were the puppy pads and she had done a big poo in Mel’s office. Sassy watched as I picked it up and put it down the toilet, then cleaned the floor. Around 8pm, I left her, as Mel was due back – she had been a bit cheeky but so cute and she loved playing fetch with Mel’s slippers.
I walked back along the river as the sun was setting and went home to see if Captain Caveman had finished his working day. We decided to go for a drink at Retro Bar, where Captain Caveman had an Efes Malt and I had a red wine. It was 90 lira (£1.70) per drink and I paid 200 lira (£3.77) with a tip – a bargain!
We decided to eat out, as I’d not had time today to prepare anything. As Captain Caveman is rarely in Dalyan in the summer, it was his choice of where to go. He’d never been to Firat’s before and wanted to try it, as lots of us rate it as one of our favourites. We decided to have a bottle of Angora red wine, a large water, courgette fritters, beetroot, green beans in tomato sauce, garlic yoghurt, a chicken shish with rice, salad and chips plus complimentary lavaş (balloon bread). We shared it all, it was delicious and we both really enjoyed it. The bill came to 2,140 lira (£40.38) of which 800 lira (£15) was for the wine. We also left a 200 lira (£3.77) tip which they were very happy with. Captain Caveman was thrilled at how we were both stuffed and had shared a bottle of wine for less than £45 for the 2 of us – he would struggle to find that back home. Firat’s was also now on his favourite restaurants, in Dalyan, list. We were getting ready to leave when I got a call from Jamie. I answered it but there was no one there. I assumed he had called me by mistake as it was quite late and almost 11pm. I tried to call back but couldn’t get through. I sent a message but no reply, so we walked over to Ozzy’s bar for a night cap.
Captain Caveman went on to beer and I had red wine, we chatted to Ozzy and admired his new beer mats. Our drinks with tip came to 300 lira (£5.66) which was still reasonable. It was midnight by the time we got home, having had a lovely evening. I was still worried about Jamie, though, and was not prepared for what I would hear when I did get to speak to him.
Gratitude List 1. Looking after a puppy who was super cute 2. Great Resort Experts colleagues and meetings 3. Having a wonderful evening out with Captain Caveman.
It was 17°C at 7am on Sunday 18th May when I got up and had a cup of Yorkshire tea and some wholemeal toast. By 8am I was at Sezgin’s house as we had decided to do a Sunday Walk to the Günlüklü restaurant and back. Due to the hot weather of previous weeks, Debbie had hung up her walking shoes for the summer so it was just me, Sezgin and Zen. We set off full of enthusiasm and Sezgin knew a shortcut through a farmer’s field which ended up not having a way out and we had to backtrack. The farmer came to help us and we climbed over a gate to get out and decided to turn back. We had drunk any water we had, but the farmer thought we looked thirsty and went off to pick us each an orange. All of us were grateful for this kind gesture and recognised it was a good idea to turn back as the sun was out and there was very little shade. We’d done 6.5km (4 miles) by 9.10am and it was due to get up to over 25°C with very little breeze. Sezgin was quite sweaty, I was doing ok considering I rarely leave the apartment, but then I got invited to breakfast. Nur got a phone call and was able to whip up quite a feast at the last minute. Her food was delicious and I ate so much before going home for a shower. I did some work on my laptop on the balcony before getting back to work. In the evening I was preparing a roast chicken dinner, while watching something on Netflix. I ate a portion then saved the leftovers for the fridge and the freezer. I had just 2 days left in Dalyan and was surprised to see that our swimming pool had lights in it that worked again.
Gratitude List 1. Walking with Sezgin and Zen, and a free orange 2. Turkish Breakfast by Nur 3. Chicken dinner.
I had Yorkshire tea and cereal for breakfast on Monday 19th May before heading out to meet Jamie. We’d arranged a Resort Experts meeting to talk about how things were going and share ideas. It was a lovely day so Jamie brought Norman and Edna who were really excited to see me. I just had a Turkish tea, Jamie ordered coffee and a mixed toastie. Edna was talking to me to say she needed a bit of the toast and Norman stood waiting for a morsel too. We walked the dogs before it got too hot and said goodbye when we got to the turn off to mine. Back home, I decided to have an early lunch of pho (chicken noodle soup) and some strawberries. It was all very nice and I had an impromptu call from Captain Caveman. He was up north and was working hard but seemed to be doing well. I did some social media posts and then got a bit peckish so had a bacon sandwich with brown sauce – it needed eating up. After work, I popped over to Vanessa & Matt’s, with a delivery of Captain Fuat’s fantastic homemade olive oil soap. I wanted to borrow a case for my hand luggage and we could check in online for our flights. Matt checked me in so that I could sit next to Vanessa on our Sun Express flight – it did cost an extra £10 to pick my seat and we had some issues getting the boarding pass with a barcode on and my card wouldn’t work on the Sun Express website so Matt paid and I owed him £10. I had a cup of tea and a biscuit then needed to get home to pack. Matt was giving us a lift to the airport on Wednesday morning so they invited me to stay over on Tuesday night so that it was easier. I worked until 9pm and then had a chicken tikka with steamed rice. I was already on 190 syns for the week so it wasn’t looking good for weight loss. I would also be missing Fat Club for the next 2 weeks while I was in England.
Gratitude List 1. Tea Gardens with Jamie, Norman and Edna 2. Good food 3. Getting prepared for my trip to England.
Often in Dalyan, I don’t get invited to anything for ages and then 2 things crop up at the same time. On Tuesday 13th May I was booked on to a friend’s private boat trip for the day. I’d also been invited to a Ladies Night boat trip but couldn’t go to both. The Villa Duran boat is owned by Captain Ünal and his wife Sioned, my Turkish teacher. On board for the day were Julia, her parents, Jamie, Nanny Kay and her 3 friends, so a lovely small group of us. We left at 10am and were tucking in to the home made Welsh cakes by five past. It was my first boat trip of the season, we went to Ekincik Bay so I made sure I took a sea sickness pill as I’m prone to getting sick out at sea.
One of the things I noticed about the boat was the extra wide steps which were good for anyone who might have just had knee surgery (my Dad) on their next visit. Our BBQ lunch was served about 1.30pm and I had chicken, köfte, chips and some salad with a couple of glasses of red wine.
Close up of the steps
Video of me testing out the steps
It was all very lovely and I really enjoyed the day out. We got to swim in a few spots, saw a turtle, ate delicious ginger cake and got dropped off at Julia’s jetty to see the dogs and have another drink. The boat trip worked out at £40 each, which I had paid by bank transfer before the start of the trip, and we paid for our own drinks at the end. Drink prices were not dissimilar to prices in the bars and the wine was a really nice. Here’s a video of the boat, on Facebook, which is definitely one of the biggest and is super comfy and immaculate. Captain Unal is super professional and a good chef too.
I walked from Julia’s with Jamie, Norman and Edna and having really enjoyed the day out, a private boat trip is one of my favourite things to do in Dalyan! Back home, I had a shower and a lay down but didn’t set an alarm. I woke up at almost midnight thinking it was the next day!
Gratitude List 1. Being lucky enough to be on my first private boat trip of 2025 2. Swimming in the sea 3. Spending the day in great company.
Photo credit – some photos by Jamie and other guests on the boat
I had arranged to do a Sunday walk with some friends on Sunday 11th May. It was sunny and getting warmer in a morning earlier now. We met at 9am and walked around the Dalyan roads, with Debbie having planned a route we’d done a few times before, but this time in reverse. There were some lovely flowers to look at along the way, I spotted a snake in the road but it was dead, plus we all saw the storks flying. Unfortunately, we also saw a dead bird hung out as a kind of scarecrow and a dead fox. We decided that it would be nice to have a hot beverage and, as Kingfisher restaurant was on route, we would go there. By this time it was 11am on a Sunday morning so it was very busy with customers enjoying Turkish breakfasts. We went out to a decked area in the garden and ordered teas or coffees, I joked that it would probably be expensive here and not to expect the tea garden prices. While drinking our hot drinks and water, it was mentioned that it was probably too hot now to be doing the Sunday walks and that it would be good to think about doing something else instead. I suggested boat trips, breakfasts, meeting for tea/coffee. When I came to pay for my cup of Turkish black tea, it was 100 lira (£1.94). Granted, it was 5 times the price of the one in the tea gardens but the Kingfisher is a lovely spot where you can watch the terrapins. It also had excellent toilets that are spotless so I was happy to pay it.
On the way back, Nur had come to pick up Sezgin and Zen as it was too hot to walk home. Debbie jumped in the back of the car for a lift as they live nearby. It was gone midday and I needed to get to my next appointment. I showered quickly, messaged Penny to say I would be late and ate 2 bananas as I walked over in the now very hot sun. Lady C was not in the least bit pleased to see me as she had decided she liked the neighbours house and had gone round there. I had to coax her back home with some chicken which the lovely neighbour gave me and then I set up my office in the new sun room which was so lovely. I worked on a few enquiries for Vietnam and was checking out Ha Long bay cruises for most of the afternoon. Caramel slept most of the time and was super relaxed and easy to look after the rest of the time. When Penny got back she invited me to join her and Phil for a drink (or 2) at Tez bar and we had a lovely evening. I spent 600 lira (£11.63) on white wines on my night out and didn’t get in until 9.45pm. I was hungry, having only had chance for a couple of bananas all day, that I warmed up left over curry for dinner and then was still hungry and had some leftover sausage casserole too.
Gratitude List 1. A beautiful Sunday walk in the sunshine 2. Doggy day care 3. Impromptu drinks with friends.
Monday 12th May was a quiet day as I worked through my to do list and dealt with a few Vietnam enquiries. It was also great to see that the number of visitors to Vietnam in the first 4 months of 2025 were higher than previous years. I had strawberries and quark for breakfast with a Yorkshire tea. My lunch was a late one of a chicken salad wrap and the afternoon flew by as I priced up luxury hotel stays in Hanoi. I turned my laptop off at 6pm and decided I fancied beans on toast for dinner, which I thoroughly enjoyed! I spoke to Captain Caveman who was somewhere up North, he had good weather and was looking forward to seeing me again soon. Tomorrow I was taking the day off as I had an exciting adventure planned!
Gratitude List 1. Healthy and tasty food 2. Doing a job I love 3. Video call with Captain Caveman.
On Saturday 10th May I’d arranged to go to the weekly market with Vanessa. I took her suitcase back to her which Captain Caveman had used to bring all the English products over in, last month. I had my shopping list at the ready and I had popped 700 lira (£14) in to my pocket, assuming that would be enough. I actually spent a little bit over but I did buy strawberries, bananas and olives which added to the cost more than I had planned. Here’s what I bought with the prices per stall in lira;
Stall 3 2 punnets of Strawberries 300 lira (£5.81)
Stall 4 Olives 100 lira (£1.94)
Stall 5 Banana and apples 190 lira (£3.68)
Total spent 735 lira (£14.24)
I was still pleased with what I had purchased for the price but I definitely was noticing the costs of things rising a little bit more. Apples seemed to be more than usual this week.
I didn’t get home until 1pm and hadn’t done any work today yet so I had a bacon sandwich for lunch and caught up on my messages, before it was time to meet another friend and Vanessa at Kefal tea gardens. I’d quickly managed to shove in the ingredients for a sausage casserole in to the slow cooker to have for dinner which wouldn’t be ready until late. After teas and chitchat with the ladies, we all paid and here’s what I had with prices in lira;
Kefal Tea Gardens 1 sage tea 15 1 double cay 20 Total 35 lira + 5 extra tip as I had no change 40 lira spent (77p)
I love the tea gardens for bargain teas, the lovely views and polite no-nonsense approach. Dinner was a really lovely sausage casserole with roast potatoes and carrots and I had some left for the fridge/freezer.
Captain Caveman arrived at the Kerman hotel on Saturday 26th April almost 5 hours after he had landed in Izmir. Both Sezgin and I spotted him at the same time as he walked in to the entrance and was absolutely fine. Unfortunately, on arrival at the airport there had been an issue with picking up the hire car. The company had gone bust just a day before and so there was a delay in the provider finding an alternative. Captain Caveman had no working phone so was unable to call me to let me know he would be late. Once he got on the road he could see no reason to stop to call us and didn’t think we would worry. In the morning, all 6 of us met for breakfast at the Kerman hotel, which was really lovely. Of course, I have to be careful with Turkish breakfasts when travelling so I just had a bit of cheese, some olives and a piece of bread. Today we would drive back towards İzmir and check out some small towns. Sezgin, Nur, Debbie and Mike would now be in the first car and I would join Captain Caveman in the hire car. There was no itinerary given to Captain Caveman, other than for him to follow Sezgin’s white car and try to keep up. Sezgin had the plan and was about to take us on quite a tour of the area. Our first stop was just a few metres up the hill from the hotel so that we could admire the beautiful view of Çeşme. On our morning’s adventure we stopped to admire and have a short walk in Ilacı and Ildır. We met a fat street dog on the way, in a park, and it was hotting up so I took it on a little walk to the shady area. It was artichoke season so the others bought 2 lots of it but I wasn’t skilled enough in the kitchen to cook it and wasn’t overly keen on it. Captain Caveman and I stopped for petrol and I paid the man 461.30 lira (£9).
We had a lovely sightseeing morning before driving to Balıklıova for lunch. Sezgin and Nur had decided to take us to their favourite fish restaurant to enjoy fresh fish. Ozal’ın Yeri Lokantası was set right on the water’s edge and the owner was very pleased to see our Turkish friends. It was a beautiful setting and we had got there before anyone else. Debbie and Captain Caveman were in their element as they love fish, Mike and I don’t eat fish so we ordered a pide, haydari, fava bean paste and olives. The others really enjoyed their fish and I could see how proud Sezgin and Nur were of this local restaurant. The pide, mezes and salad were very good and I enjoyed my lunch, although I worried for my onward travel as we needed to keep up in the car convoy and I may need a loo. When the bill came, Sezgin did his usual trick of asking for discount and quite a bit of bartering went on. Us Brits weren’t used to that and it was a bit uncomfortable but the Turks seemed to be fine with it and we ended up with a discount which I was glad about. I paid our share of the bill which came to 1,900 lira (£37.11) which wan’t bad considering the fresh fish and the location.
In the afternoon, still keeping up with being a 2 car convoy, we visited the amazing market in Alaçatı. The market there was pretty big and very cheap, but we were all conscious of the boot space in the car. Captain Caveman bought a pair of crocs for 100 lira (£1.95). I was tempted to get some but they didn’t have my size in the colour I wanted. As we got to the food market stalls, my stomach started to react to my lunch and I needed the loo quite desperately. I hastily found a cafe/bar and Captain Caveman sat down to order a drink while I found the toilet. In my panic I had not realised that Mahalle Alaçatı was on the pricey side, but by then the others had joined us and ordered drinks without seeing the menu. Here’s what we paid for our soft drinks, prices in lira;
Mahalle Alaçatı 1 small water 70 1 Coca Cola 125 3 Soda Waters 330 Total spent 525 lira (£10.25)
In the place’s defense, it was very nice and the food coming out to customers looked really good. We had a really lovely walk around the town of Alaçatı which looked like a wonderful place to live if you had money. There were some lovely buildings and it felt very European. Captain Caveman was messing with his ears which I had kept saying he needed to see a doctor about but he wouldn’t listen (no pun intended). He had made them sore from scratching so we popped off to get some Aloe Vera cream from the Watson’s pharmacy. We paid just 35.95 lira (70p) and he insisted on putting it on in the street. By this time, we had lost the others so Captain Caveman got me to stand next to a mussel cart while he went off to look for them. I was feeling queasy just looking at the mussels, when Sezgin appeared from the opposite direction. We all gathered back together and walked back to the cars, having had quite enough excitement for the day – or had we!?
It was getting on by the time we got back from an epic day out, calling at another view point and a quick trip to another Dalyan on the way back. It was great hearing Sezgin’s stories of where they had lived and we saw far more than we would’ve if we’d gone alone. The roadtrip had been a good excuse for a wine and cheese trip but I’d yet to have or see either, so maybe tomorrow as we would be moving to another destination. We parked back up at the Kerman hotel and there was talk of a book shop or seeing some history. I was quite happy with a book shop and taking it easy but before I realised what was going on, Sezgin and Nur sent the rest of us off to see Çeşme Castle/Museum. It was priced at just 6 Euros each, I paid in Turkish so cost 522.72 lira (£10.10) for the 2 of us and I thought it was worth it. We spent an hour exploring and I found it really interesting, the views were fantastic, especially at sunset. If you aren’t good with steps or particularly mobile then I wouldn’t recommend it as it is a bit steep in parts.
By 8pm we were back at our new favourite Çeşme restaurant, Friendly Corner. I decided to order a red wine and when it came it was a massive glass of Rituel for 100 lira (£1.93) – an absolute bargain! We had lots of laughs as we shared experiences from both cars at how well Sezgin and Captain Caveman kept up with each other. I could see even more why they made such great Bridge partners now, as there was a hint of telepathy going on, I’m sure. For dinner, I decided to order boldly, having had the large wine and ordered another. I chose a casserole which I hoped wouldn’t be too greasy for my stomach. It came with chips and rice and was absolutely delicious. I was quite merry by the time we got the bill and, of course, Sezgin once again flexed his haggling skills with the owner, our new best friend. I paid just 1300 lira (£25.15) for the 2 of us and that included quite a bit of wine. The day had been fantastic and made even better by getting to spend more time with Captain Caveman. He was very tired from the driving so we went back to the hotel, intending to get some rest, ready for a rather full-on day again tomorrow. We decided to have a night cap, this time in Debbie and Mike’s room, they even went to the shop to get some more wine!
Gratitude List 1. Great places to see, especially Alaçatı market and town 2. Çeşme Castle and museum 3. Another wonderful evening with friends at Friendly Corner.
Photo credit – some photos by Captain Caveman, Debbie, Mike, Sezgin and Nur
I was up and out by 7.30am on Friday 25th April, having had a Yorkshire tea, a slice of buttered toast and a travel sickness tablet. I was the first to arrive at Sezgin and Nur’s house, ready to meet Debbie and Mike for a weekend road trip. We had arranged for the 5 of us, driven by Sezgin, to have a trip around the İzmir area of Turkey. Captain Caveman would meet us in Çeşme, at the Kerman hotel after picking up a hire car from İzmir airport upon landing, later tonight. We left around 8am with me sitting in the middle of the back seat to start with. After a couple of hours on the road, we stopped next to a reservoir/picnic stop so that Sezgin and Nur to eat whatever breakfast we had brought. I avoided any gluten or stodge by having a banana for my snack while the others shared their food. Sezgin pointed out places of interest along the way and we stopped for comfort breaks, our next one being in a lovely fishing village called Urla. Sezgin and Nur had previously lived in İzmir so it was good to get first-hand local knowledge about the surrounding areas and see where they had lived before Dalyan. Sezgin told us a funny story about him, his friend and a famous singer in the Dokuz Pub, as we walked past it. There were all types of fish available, which could be browsed in the stalls outside.
I took a turn in the front passenger seat in the afternoon as I’d been fighting the affects of the travel sickness pill which I realised was one of the stronger drowsy ones. We visited a beach and I ate quite a few sweets, trying to stay awake. We stopped at the Altın Yunus (Golden Dolphin) hotel, where everyone had took the mickey out of me for not realising a joke about the wind turbines being there to cool us down when it got too warm. Debbie and I had a Turkish tea while enjoying the lovely sunshine and views of the marina below us.
The last leg of the journey took us on a detour to a very unusual house which had live fish and octopi, plus a random eel, in the walls of the garden. It didn’t look like the creatures had a great existence, although I was assured the owner loved and cared for them! It was definitely one of the weirdest houses I had ever seen. From that point we could see our hotel across the bay.
It was just 3.20pm, when we checked in to our sea view rooms at the Kerman Hotel in Çeşme. Sezgin had negotiated some discount so we paid 3,500 lira (£68.36) for a 2 night stay in a double room, for 2 of us including breakfast. We had originally looked at staying at the The Ilıca hotel which was a bit more swish but to keep the costs down I think everyone was happy to choose the cheaper alternative. I was happy with the Kerman as the rooms were clean, comfortable and basic with a small balcony and an amazing sea view which was definitely worth paying the extra for that room type. Captain Caveman’s flight wasn’t due to land until 8.10pm so we took a walk around the town of Çeşme. I really liked it and had a chuckle to myself on how the Cheap Chasers in Dalyan would react to the prices of alcoholic beverages at some of the bars. We didn’t even drink in our own hotel because they kept changing their minds about the cost of beers in the bar downstairs. It was empty, yet they raised the price to almost 300 lira (£5.86) for an Efes stating that it was to pay for the live music which was on later. The cheapest I saw advertised on a board, was 175 lira (£3.42) for an Efes. The town was a mix of old and new and it felt very calm, I didn’t notice any English people and most of the bars along the water front were empty.
We came across an eatery which had the perfect name; Friendly Corner Steak House. It was ran by a friendly Turkish guy who had lived in the UK for a while and the restaurant was located on a sunny corner. They also sold steak but we had beers first then some delicious hot chips. I’m always a bit boring and go for the steady option to placate my iffy stomach and to ensure the restaurant is unlikely to serve me a rubbish meal. I plumped for a chicken shish which was served with rice, chips and a fair amount of salad. Sezgin ordered the chicken schnitzel and Nur the chicken strips – I tried the schnitzel and it was very good. Debbie took me by surprise a little by ordering sardines which Sezgin checked if they were fresh with the staff, they were frozen but Debbie was fine with that. There was about 8 sardines and some salad. Mike ordered a pizza which wasn’t great but he managed about half of it. To give an idea of costs, I paid 1,000 lira (£19.53) for my share of the meal and drinks (including discount and tip). I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner and was actually thinking I should have been a bit more adventurous with my choice.
We had a post dinner stroll while watching a lovely sunset over the harbour. We got as far as a mermaid sculpture when Captain Caveman’s plane landed. I didn’t expect he would call or text me so we had been tracking the flight, which landed just 10 minutes late. Captain Caveman had booked a hire car from İzmir airport and we worked out he would be due to the hotel by 10pm. Our hotel now had a rather loud, and not that great, live band on so we didn’t fancy the hotel bar. Many of the bars were telling us they didn’t sell Efes in the area, which we knew they did so we avoided them. We called at the shop where we bought some beer (Efes) and wine and took it to my room to wait for Captain Caveman’s arrival. He didn’t have a Turkish phone and his English phone probably wouldn’t work so I just had to hope he arrived. By 11pm we had all retired to bed having got no answer when I called any of his numbers. Sezgin went outside to walk about and keep a look out for him and I was a bit concerned he was this late. By midnight, Captain Caveman was still not in Çeşme and we had no word from him. I reassured myself that he’s extremely well travelled and would be fine. I would go to bed and hope he arrived or contacted one of us soon.
Gratitude List 1. A lovely drive to Çeşme, taking in some fantastic sights 2. Kerman Hotel sea view 3. A wonderful evening with friends at Friendly Corner.
Photo credit – some photos taken by my fellow travellers.
It was my first time at the Oxford and Cambridge boat race on Sunday 13th April. As Captain Caveman had grown up in Barnes, he had often been a keen observer so I was looking forward to the experience. We even had free tickets to the Bull’s Head where live band, The Brockalites, were playing later on. But first we had a breakfast of champions; beans on toast with bacon and potatoes for me, a full on fry up with uncle Paul’s eggs and some extra black pudding for Captain Caveman. I was glad of it and the 2 cups of tea, as I was a bit woolly headed from the drinks yesterday! Captain Caveman was annoyingly sprightly and even booked my flight back to Turkey for in 10 days time. This meant I was staying longer than I thought I would be but it was going so fast and I still had plenty to keep me occupied in the UK. After being apart for 3 months it was good to spend time together even if it was just for 3 weeks and we were both working.
After making sure all my quotes and social media posts were done we headed out to the River Thames to watch the race. It was quite exciting and I should have put money on Cambridge winning as it was a clean sweep in all the races. We got chatting with some other spectators, had a beer (£6 each) from the Bull’s Head, which I couldn’t finish and gave it to Captain Caveman.
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Captain Caveman’s video
Captain Caveman’s video
After the race it started to rain, the first time it had rained in my 13 days of being in England so we walked quickly to the next nearest pub. At the Sun Inn we met up with an old friend and Aviva colleague, Jacky, who I’d not seen in ages. Jacky was still exactly the same funny guy and he introduced us to his partner, Michael, who was great fun too. We had a fantastic and hilarious afternoon, sheltering from the rain in the pub. I spent £68.70 on a couple of rounds of drinks, Jacky and Michael also got a few rounds in so it was an expensive and fairly merry Sunday but I absolutely loved it. We met a funny local guy and his Australian lady. We nicknamed him Pissy Steve on account of the amount of toilet visits he had. He accused me of being too funny and that I was making him laugh too much – I came to the conclusion he either had a bladder the size of a peanut or a recreational drug habbit. At the bar I bumped in to a young man we had seen at the boat race and he was from Manchester so we got chatting – us northerners always find each other in a London pub! He was only the new brand manager from a well known biscuit company and we discussed the product in-depth! The day was a really lovely one full of more laughter – something I had missed a lot recently. At just after 7pm, as the rain stopped, we all said our goodbyes and we headed to Sainsbury’s for some vegetables. We bought 500g of carrots for a bargain of 60p and splashed out on 120g of green beans for £1.10. I saw that they had Jammy Dodgers on the shelves and sent a photo to Hugo as proof they were available in Barnes. While Captain Caveman rustled us up some potatoes with the ham hock and veg, for dinner, I tried not to eat too many Mini Cheddars (which I had no idea where they had come from)! We were in bed so early as we both had a busy week ahead.
Gratitude List 1. Breakfast of champions 2. The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race 3. Having such a laugh with the fellas in the Sun Inn.
Both Captain Caveman and I continued to have a busy working day on Friday 4th April. The difference being that I’d got used to working the evenings and weekends so I wasn’t used to logging off at 5pm on a Friday night. Captain Caveman had plans for us and we had also toyed with the idea of catching up with friends in London. I had 2 friends cancel so we decided we would have a night in Barnes rather than heading in to the Big Smoke. My friend and Resort Experts colleague in Majorca, Dagne, had finished my book and sent me a review which I was really pleased with. While Captain Caveman was in his morning meeting, I had my breakfast of beans on wholemeal toast, which I loved! At lunch we both ate at the table together and had sandwiches; mine was cheese and rocket (pickled onions on the side!), his was peanut butter and marmite. We both had meetings or training sessions in the afternoon and I was making progress on my Planner Ideation course.
After work, we walked along the river again and I got a text from one of my old school friends, Joanne, who had bought my book and I was so happy to hear from her. She sent me a fab selfie with the book and it made my day. Captain Caveman took us for a drink in a pub which could have been the White Hart, where he had beer and I had cider for £15. Our next pub was a visit to the really lovely Brown Dog. It was easily my favourite on account of it having several dogs in. I also ended up having a pint of rather strong rhubarb flavoured beer and being a bit tipsy on the walk home. It was £16.50 for 2 pints in there and a bag of crisps were £1.50!! We walked home and, while Captain Caveman made us a chicken pasta dinner, I went back out to the shop to buy bread and wine. It all got a bit complicated at the self scanner when the assistant had to put in a code for me buying alcohol and then didn’t give me the wine back. He had taken the anti-stealing device off but left the wine by the door. I had to check with the Sainsbury’s security guard if it was my wine, he didn’t know, but said to take it. I paid £1.39 for a loaf and £9.50 for the wine. Our dinner was really tasty and we tried to watch Celebrity Big Brother. Unfortunately, even after googling the contestants we only knew a couple of them and thought it was a bit boring.
Gratitude List 1. More great feedback for my book 2. English food 3. Going down the pub on a Friday night.
We had ideas on Saturday 5th April to either go to see a friend presenting at the Ideal Home Exhibition, do a trip to MI5, or spend some time at Richmond park. It was cold and I ended up doing some work, eating beans on toast again and then we didn’t go to any of our ideas. Instead, we decided to visit Marc Bolan’s memorial at the tree where he died in Putney. We decided to have a walk around the area and the sun did come out so it got warmer. We stopped at a cafe in a park for a hot beverage. Loo Loo’s cafe in Putney had homemade sausage rolls which we shared one of, with mint tea for me and a double espresso for Captain Caveman. It came to £10.50 and we sat outside the cafe looking at all the dogs that came in. So many more people in the UK seemed to have dogs than I remembered.
After the park, we walked towards Fulham football ground and, of course, my stomach had started to react badly to the sausage roll. We had to motor on until we found a pub so I could go to the toilet. The Crabtree in Fulham was the busiest pub I’d seen in a long time and there were 3 deep at the bar and queuing in the toilets. I almost shit myself outside a disabled toilet but I managed to make it to the normal toilet. When I got back, Captain Caveman was only just being served and when we found somewhere to sit we realised why it was so busy.
We watched the Grand National where Nick Rocket won and no horses died. We also did some banking while waiting to see if my sausage roll situation was over. It was, so we continued walking along the river and nearly got involved in learning how to argue better. I had a laugh at the Learn to Row poster which I’d pronounced as in arguement, as we didn’t need any help in that area. We saw Hammersmith bridge and then had another drink in the George & Devonshire in Chiswick. Compared to the last pub, it was so quiet but was a lovely pub with comfy seating. We decided to splash out for dinner tonight and get the Indian Dine in deal from Marks & Spencer where we got the following;
M&S Food Starter – Baji, pakora and samosa Chicken Tikka Masala Lamb Rogan Josh Pilau Rice £15 for the Indian meal deal Carton of mixed Crackers £2.90 Brie £2.10 Total spent £20.00
It was a bargain and tasted amazing. I’d not had Indian food for quite a while and I guessed it wouldn’t be my first while in the UK. Captain Caveman drank Guinness with his and I just had tap water. Tonight was our last night in Barnes as we were heading north tomorrow for just a few days.
Gratitude List 1. Having a day off with Captain Caveman 2. Going for a walk around the area 3. Curry for dinner.
Sunday 30th March was the day that Captain Caveman would be flying from Gatwick to Dalaman just to see me for a couple of days. When we initially booked the flight for £27, we had booked it without hold luggage. Since then, Captain Caveman had added on a case so that he could bring me some items that were cheaper or only available in the UK. He’d started buying the items before we decided that I would also fly back with him on Tuesday. I was up and about early as I was excited for his arrival, even though his flight didn’t leave London until 13:40 UK time. He was due to arrive in to Dalaman at 19:50 and our friend, Debbie, had volunteered to pick him up, taking me with her! The weather wasn’t fit for a Sunday stroll as it was raining and the skies were grey.
I’d arranged to meet my friends at Kefal tea garden at 10.30am as we wanted to discuss arrangements with Sezgin about our surprise BBQ (no longer a BBQ) tomorrow and our trip to İzmir at the end of next month. We were looking to do a cheese and wine trip for a couple of nights and Captain Caveman would fly directly to İzmir to join us. Tomorrow we had decided that Nur would cook a Turkish meal at their home and I just had to get Captain Caveman there as a surprise. Debbie and I agreed I would be at her house for 7.15pm tonight to go to the airport. No one had any breakfast at the tea gardens so I stuck to my 2 hot beverages. It’s still so cheap at the tea gardens, tea is often half the price of a tea elsewhere in Dalyan.
Kefal tea gardens 2 Turkish teas 40.00 lira (81p)
Back home, I ate overnight oats with berries for a late breakfast and decided to ask the AI tool, Chat GPT, about my book. It was hilariously inaccurate and read like it had made it up just from the title. I decided to reply to let ChatGPT know it had got ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ wrong but I didn’t expect an apology. I was impressed with that and decided to use it for marketing purposes in the future.
After doing a bit of work and making cheese pasties for lunch, I popped to the shops. I needed to buy booze to take tomorrow, as well as get some beer for Captain Caveman’s arrival tonight. I already had treats at the ready. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;
Yaman Büfe 2 2 Salt & Vinegar crisps 120.00 1 bottle of white wine 229.00 1 bottle of Rakı 1095.00 Total spent 1444.00 lira (£29.41)
About an hour after returning home, Captain Caveman messaged to say they hadn’t took off yet. They should have left at 3.40pm (Turkish time) and I was tracking the flight. It said it had taken off at 3.53pm (Turkish time) but would land earlier than scheduled so all was still good, according to the internet. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman reported back that an engineer was coming to fix something and it looked like it could be delayed an hour or 2. Interestingly, the flight tracker showed it had departed on time and was flying over Serbia as Captain Caveman told me they were all getting off the plane and on to a new one. We cancelled the lift to and from the airport as we didn’t know what time Captain Caveman would depart, if at all, and he was still not on a new plane by the time 3 hours had passed. This meant he would now get compensation but wouldn’t land until after midnight. I was more concerned about all the goodies that might be getting a bit warm in that suitcase! I thought about asking someone else or a taxi to pick him up but as it was Bayram that proved tricky. Captain Caveman said he would just get a taxi at the airport. They finally took off on the new plane just before 8pm, Turkish time, I decided to make more cheese pasties so that he had something to eat when he arrived. At 10pm I sat down with a glass of wine and watched something on Netflix while I waited for Captain Caveman to arrive, which would be around 1am!
Gratitude List 1. Having a Plan B for tomorrow’s cancelled BBQ 2. Slimming World style Cheese pasties 3. Knowing Captain Caveman was finally on his way but could claim £350 compensation for his flight delay.
I had planned to meet a friend for an outing to Dalaman on Saturday 22nd March. The plan was to meet up after the market and go off on a bit of an adventure, but I had to cancel. I had Resort Experts enquiries to deal with and I didn’t want to miss out on potential bookings. I had Yorkshire tea and wholemeal toast for breakfast then cracked on with work. In the afternoon I went to the market where I also treated myself to lunch. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;
Market
Stall 1 Potatoes 35
Stall 2 6 Eggs 42
Stall 3 Gözleme mushroom 125
Stall 4 Strawberries 130
Total Spent 332 lira (£6.78)
I didn’t buy much this week as I still had enough food in. Back home I ate the gözleme (Turkish pancake) which was amazing and not Slimming World friendly. I had strawberries after, as I washed and chopped them up – putting them in a glass jar so they last longer.
I worked all afternoon on quotes and social media posts and even ate a Dido with a sage tea in the afternoon. After work, I met my friend at the Kaunos tea garden where I had a large Turkish tea and a bottle of water for 50 lira (£1.02). I still rate the tea gardens as one of the best places to go and the views are so good. We decided to go to Cömert Lokantası for a cheap and quick dinner. I had a chicken stew which had potatoes in it but came with rice. The cost for my meal and a bottle of water was 110 lira (£2.24) and was rather tasty. I’d planned to host a Sunday dinner at mine tomorrow and wanted to get the Yorkshire puddings made today, that went by the way side as I ran out of time. I had a bit of a near miss when I went to Migros to buy the chicken for the Sunday dinner – there were none left. There were none left in A101 either and the ones in BIM were very small. Luckily, I found the last 2 in Şok and went home. I had a second visit to the shop when I realised I had run out of milk. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;
Şok Supermarket 2 x 1.8kg chickens 309.52 lira (£6.32)
I had to move my desk down to the kitchen to make a bigger table for tomorrow and was slightly concerned there wasn’t enough room. It had been a busy day and I was pleased to see my bed that night.
Gratitude List 1. Being busy with work 2. Market visit 3. Having a desk for a spare table.
Friday 7th March was a busy day for me, but also a really good day. I started the morning being stared at by the 2 cute dogs as I tried to enjoy my tea and toast. Edna had the Friday feeling, Norman wanted to go back to sleep and it was a lovely sunny day. I had an electrician popping in to fix up a light fitting that Jamie had given to Captain Caveman. I also had to meet Leanne to price up some work as well as meet a friend at the tea gardens, all around the same time. I had got a few messages about my book which was now live in a corrected version after getting some feedback from my Mom. Granted, my Mom isn’t the ideal customer for buying the book but she did buy the first copy and does have a keen critical eye for detail. I was lucky that she was able to put me straight on a couple of small corrections and the lay out and font size, which I had not seen yet. It still wasn’t perfect after the auto format situation but I had worked out that it was passable now. I even got the first photo of it and couldn’t work out why the back cover was black and the front cover was cream but with some of the black on the top and bottom of the front – it wasn’t meant to be like that but I guess at least it showed I wasn’t an intelligent robot! I worked out the maths and if I could sell 10 copies per day I would be able to just about pay for my residency this month. In my head that seemed like an achievable target! My friend came to mine while we waited for the electrician. I ended up only getting the go ahead for one light to be put up as the second one was missing a part or appeared to be broken and they didn’t think kit would go where I wanted it to. The main one was being put up by 2 electricians so I decided to go to the tea gardens with my friend after all. The Kefal tea gardens was sunny and beautiful, and we decided to grab a spot of lunch. I had a cheese and onion toastie and a couple of teas which came to about 150 lira (£3.19) – quite cheap to say it came with chips and olives too. I had to rush back as I had a webinar meeting to attend at 1pm so I did that while letting the dogs out. Edna was insisting I consider an early finish so that we could go to the pub but I had a lunch and learn still to do. I took the dogs out and went back to Fire Opal to check on the light situation and when we got back to Jamie’s, the dogs napped. At 5pm I attended the lunch and learn I had booked in (2pm in the UK so still lunchtime) and it was interesting. That evening, I had been invited over to friends for dinner and drinks. I took red wine and chocolate as my contribution. We had lots of red wine and a delicious chicken and potato dish. There were 2 desserts to choose from so, taking after my Dad, I had both. The food was so good and I left feeling very full and slightly merry after a great Friday night.
Gratitude List 1. Having tea and lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while 2. Good online meetings 3. Dinner with friends
If you aren’t in the UK you can also find my book on Amazon in USA, Australia, Spain, France and a few other countries by searching the title ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’.
There was no Sunday Walk, secret squirrel or otherwise, on Sunday 23rd February. It was just too cold so I had arranged to meet some friends at Kefal Tea Gardens (indoor area) for a bit of a send-off for Zen. He was going back to work so it would be the last time we saw him until mid-April. We decided on meeting at 11.30am and joining the big table there were 8 of us. I wrapped up warm as it looked so sunny but was very cold outside.
When I arrived, the waitress helped me to move the tables in to place, in a sunny corner of the indoor area. I ordered a large Turkish tea, there were no gözleme available today. Everyone arrived and we had a good chat and beverages before ordering food. I ordered the breakfast portion (without egg) and it was rather substantial for the price of 225.00 lira (£5). I even took some of it away as I couldn’t eat it all. The sun had been very warm where we were sitting so it was very nice to feel hot and I even had to take a few layers off. My total bill with 2 teas, plus another which came included with the breakfast, came to just 255.00 lira (£5.67). I really enjoyed my Sunday Turkish brunch with friends but we were all sad to say bye to Zen. I got back in time to have a chat with a friend, living in Hoi An, Vietnam, as we were looking at planning a trip to Easter Island and Peru for her. Unfortunately, she had an incident at work so the call was put on hold. Around 5pm, I popped to the shops and here is what I bought with prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket 2 tins of tomatoes 44.92 lira (£1)
I still hadn’t managed to find a notepad and I had an important call tomorrow that I needed one for. After eating a chicken dinner, I went to look for a notepad. None of the nearest supermarkets had one but I bumped in to Kaan who took me to the Şevikoğlu where I got one for 49.90 lira (£1.11) in the sale. I walked back and called in BIM where I bought a couple of Dido chocolate bars for 39.00 lira (87p). I spoke to Captain Caveman who was in the Yorkshire Dales, he would be back in Dalyan in 5 weeks. At 11pm I was on a live Facebook update with Lisa Johnson getting ready for tomorrow’s Race to Recurring Revenue, which I was really looking forward to.
Gratitude List 1. Breakfast at Kefal with friends 2. An enquiry for Peru 3. A new notepad finally purchased.
joloyolo 