Tag: Fethiye

Dalyan – 18th & 19th November

Dalyan – 18th & 19th November

I had a bad hangover on Thursday 18th November so decided to go back to bed after my breakfast of buttered toast. On my phone was a photo of the growing bougainvillea bush at Fire Opal, taken at 2.22am, I’d obviously come in a bit drunk and decided to take a photo of the growth (as you do)! In my handbag was a rather large can of fly spray which I had put in there for Debbie (Darling) and forgotten to give it her back. Captain Caveman had sent me a photo of Eric the Bee, who was still visiting him at Elements in Phong Nha, he’s a lovely bee. In the Vietnam news there was a report of one positive case at the Hanoi football stadium but a more concerning article caught my eye. Also in Hanoi, some babies had been vaccinated with Pfizer by mistake, here it is:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20211117/mistakenly-injected-with-covid19-vaccine-18-hanoi-infants-in-good-health-2-weeks-on/64202.html
In Dalyan there were more Facebook posts and photos of the road being ripped up and how much of a mess they were making was getting people’s goat. I thought of going to the Spice Garden for their curry buffet night later, and was going to see if anyone else fancied joining, but it was no longer on and they were now doing a winter menu which was available every day, plus it was available for delivery too. I shelved that idea and started reading Mike Tyson’s autobiography which I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time. For lunch I just had sandwiches, earl grey tea and some Turkish delight. That night I was tempted to order a takeaway but I decided to use the wraps I bought and make some ‘healthier’ pizzas – it turned out really well. I watched Netflix and started on the Winter Tea that I’d bought in Fethiye – it was a really good recommendation from Vanessa.

As expected my weekly weigh-in on Friday 19th November went well, but it wasn’t the miracle I could have done with. I lost 0.5kg which was good to see I hadn’t put anything on and it was probably as a result of staying in more now that my parents had been gone for a week already. Although I missed them, I was definitely making the most of having time to myself again and the first half of my day was pretty healthy; cornflakes for breakfast and a chicken, onion, and red pepper wrap (homemade so no fatty or mystery sauces) for my lunch, but it wouldn’t finish that way. In the news it was announced that from the 1st December in the UK there would be no need for fully vaccinated people to isolate for 10 days if they came in to contact with a Corona positive person, but I wasn’t sure how comfortable I was about that – it did mean I wouldn’t have to isolate in London if it happened to me on the weekend of my arrival, though. I’d advertised a rug on Facebook and I was expecting a woman to come and look at it, she said she would call me after her return from a boat trip, Debbie (Darling) and Sarah had invited me to join them at Sofra bar to try out their new upstairs, winterproof restaurant but, as I was waiting for the rug buyer, I missed out on eating dinner with them. When I got there they were with Sue and they had almost finished their spag bol. I joined their table and had a red wine, the place looked really cosy and nice so Sarah and I decided it would be a great place to ‘work from home’ on a Friday afternoon. By the time that I had got outside with Sarah and Sue, Debbie (Darling) had already left for Lukka bar with Sarah’s dogs. Sue was doing her best to insist on a taxi to go less than a kilometer but I helped carry her bags and got her to walk to Lukka where the music bingo was about to start. We all had a rather random evening, I still had not had dinner so I ordered a BBQ chicken pizza which was amazing and I had leftovers to take home too, the bingo song choices for me were great, but this is the only place I’ve ever been out where I’m considered to be young, some of the older clientele objected to the 90s songs which they didn’t know – not that it matters as Mehmet gives the answer after 30 seconds of playing the song, anyway! Due to some of our contingent being rather too drunk, it was an interesting night ending in Sue accidentally throwing her gin and tonic about. While Debbie (Darling) kindly made sure Sue got a taxi home, I got persuaded to have another glass of wine in Jazz Bar with Sarah. I really don’t like to frequent the Jazz Bar on account of me living nearby and me rarely getting any sleep on a weekend due to their music being so loud – I swear it sounds louder in our apartment than it does when I’m in the actual bar! I managed one glass of wine but then it was time for me to go home to bed, I really struggle to make it past midnight these days and the music had surprisingly finished by midnight!

Fethiye and Dalyan – 9th November

Fethiye and Dalyan – 9th November

I was finally going to get tested for food allergies on Tuesday 9th November. I had arranged for Sonuç to accompany Vanessa and I to get the blood tests at the Esnaf hospital in Fethiye. My parents were also coming along and we intended on making it a bit of a day trip, with it being about 1 hour away. We left mine at 9.30am, with Sonuç and Engin our driver, in the comfort of the 6 seater. I was confident that I had eaten enough of the gluten and dairy, which I thought I was intolerant to, for the test to pick those out – I’d only eaten pizza so that I could put it to the test. I also had a dodgy stomach that morning as well as on arrival at the hospital. Sonuç was great as when we got to the international department area there was a big queue so we went to the locals section and got sorted there. I was surprised to see that the hospital was not only big but very busy for a Tuesday morning and I was slightly nervous. Even on the way there and before, Vanessa and I had been trying to predict what the results would say. I’m a fainter so obviously I was worried I might faint but they don’t mess about in the blood taking room. Vanessa was in less than a minute and went first as they shouted her first, then I went in. I shouldn’t have looked at one of the other ‘customers’ because then I saw the needle in him and nearly couldn’t stand up. Sonuç and Vanessa were great and got me out of a side exit before I could faint and then we had to come back at 5pm for the results. The cost of the blood test was 550 lira (about £40 at the time) and we weren’t sure exactly what foods they were testing for. I was still feeling woozy when we got dropped off in the town centre of Fethiye and so we went straight to a cafe for a Turkish tea for me and Vanessa, coffees for my parents.

Corona risk maps of Dalyan and Fethiye

We had a bit of impromptu shopping in the Turkish delight and tea shop where we all got a bit of something. Next we had a wander down the umbrella precinct area and found it to be almost empty everywhere so decided to go down by the harbour area for a drink. I didn’t fancy wine so I had a beer and, of course, I had a bad stomach so when we decided on having lunch at nearby Address I chose a safe option. Everyone else had pides which looked fantastic but I stuck to a chicken shish because I knew I still had to travel back again after we got the results. After lunch we had wine at a bar, Mom nipped in to Migros for some provisions and then we all walked back to the harbour to meet Sonuç and Engin for a short trip back to the hospital for the results. Vanessa and I were nervous but looking forward to finding out exactly what foods we would have to give up, we even joked about how bad it might be.

While we were enjoying our day in Fethiye our blood was being tested for food allergies. Below is a list of all the things that they tested us for (in Turkish and English) so you can do what Vanessa and I were doing – guessing which ones would be the likely culprits!

Yumurta akı – egg white
Yumurta sarısı – egg yolk
İnek sütü – cow’s milk
İnek sütü UHT – UHT milk
Kazein – casein (protein in dairy)
Buğday unu – wheat flour
Gluten – gluten
Pirinç – rice
Soya fasulyesi – soya bean
Susam – sesame
Yer fıstığı – peanut
Fındık – hazlenut
Antep fıstığı – pistachio
Ayçekirdegi – sunflower seed
Kabak çekirdeği – pumpkin seed
Kakao – cocoa
Portakal – orange
Çilek – strawberry
Elma – apple
Muz – banana
Kivi – kiwi
Dut – mulberry
İncir – fig
Domates – tomatoes
Havuç – carrot
Patates – potatoes
Soğan – onion
Şeftali – peach
Kiraz – cherries
Zeytin – olive
Yeşil fasülye – green beans
Balık karışımı – fish (mixed)
Deniz kabukluları – shellfish
Et karışımı – meat (mixed)
Tavuk eti – chicken

I thought it would be eggs, dairy, wheat, gluten and perhaps onion, tomatoes or banana that I was intolerant or allergic to. Captain Caveman thought I was allergic to gluten, dairy/lactose, sulphites, eggs and possibly banana. Vanessa knew there were certain fruits and vegetables that set her off, in addition to custard.


While we were still in Fethiye I got a call to tell me that my residency card was in Dalyan, so that was quicker than expected – I was happy with that as the official timeframe was 8 weeks, the Muğla immigration officer said 4 weeks and it had been 2 weeks and 3 days.
When we arrived back at the Esnaf hospital in Fethiye to collect the results of our food allergy tests it was about 5pm but when Sonuç went in, there was a delay of 10 minutes. Vanessa and I were really nervous but I knew whatever it was that my body was intolerant to, I would have to give it/them up. I was ready to do that (as long as it wasn’t all alcohol) because I was fed up of never knowing when I was going to be ill and I liked going on day trips to places other than a tour of the lavatories. Ever the joker, when Sonuç came out with our results he pretended to give us news that we were allergic to everything on the list, plus a few more besides! But the real results were shocking; as we sat in the back of the taxi, Vanessa’s were revealed first – she was not allergic or intolerant to any of the foods tested! We were taken aback but could understand that due to Vanessa’s recent health issues that perhaps her stomach problems were caused because of her surgery so it could be possible. She also knew she was allergic to apple and had not eaten one for more than 6 weeks so, again, would account for why apple was rated a ‘0’ on the ‘0-5’ scale. I was next and thought I’d at least get a ‘1’ or ‘2’ rating on some things, however we were all flabbergasted to find I had ‘0’ for every single thing on the list, the same as Vanessa. I was so relieved to find I have no food allergies but, of course, this didn’t detract from the fact that there is something wrong with me – or was I just imagining it!?
The ride back to Dalyan was easy going and when we got back to mine Vanessa went home but my parents and I decided to ‘celebrate’ in Lukka bar. I had a red wine, they had beers, Mom was too full to eat but Dad and I decided to order food. As I have no allergies to food, I ordered something I have not had in years; Mac & Cheese, Dad chose a garlic pizza bread. My food didn’t look like a classic Mac & Cheese but it tasted very good, after half of it I was stuffed and so took leftovers home and put it in the freezer.
I was very pleased to say I had no immediate or short term reaction to the food I’d eaten and so I went to bed thinking I could probably eat whatever I wanted from now on. That would be amazing!!! I messaged Captain Caveman to let him know as he’d not asked how I was getting on (he rarely thinks to ask me) but I got no reply, despite not hearing from him since Sunday. I also messaged my sister, who is Coeliac, she didn’t want to worry me but reminded me that it took her years to get an accurate diagnosis. I had been tested a few years ago and wasn’t Coeliac and I could at least rule that out. So, tomorrow I would be back to the drawing board – writing down every food and every reaction to find out what could be wrong.