30 DAYS, 30 DISHES – DAY 2: MIDYE DOLMA (Stuffed Mussels)

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Midye Dolma, or stuffed mussels, are a popular street food in Turkey, sold by vendors from carts along the streets and beaches in lots of cities and towns!

The mussels are cooked and stuffed with rice and herbs. You gently pull the top shell off, squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the mussel and rice mixture, and use the top shell like spoon to scoop it out. I’ll be honest, I’ve never tried them as the thought of mussels just puts me off – but it does look good with all the rice stuffed inside.

They’re cheap, around 50 kurus – 1tl each depending on size, so it’s definitely worth a try. Berkay always goes to the same seller, just across the bridge by the water taxi’s in Calis.

Berkay absolutely loves them, I’m just not brave enough to try!

30 Days, 30 Dishes – Day 1: Pide

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Three months ago I done a photo series on my blog, writing a little mini-blog about a different photo every day throughout August. It was quite popular so I’ve decided to do a similar thing for the next 30 days – 30 photos of 30 different Turkish foods!

So, 30 Days, 30 Dishes – Today, it’s Pide! 

Pide is basically a dough base in a stretched out oval shape with a topping and folded over edges. It’s similar to a pizza, but it doesn’t have the usual tomato puree on top. Toppings can vary, but my favourite is kıymalı (mince & onion) but I also like the lamb, or spinach and cheese. They usually ask if I want egg on top, which is a weird concept to me, egg on pizza? I tried it once and it wasn’t bad – as long as it’s cooked well and not runny!

Berkay’s brother is actually a pide chef, so over the years I’ve had a few made by him, which are particularly delicious! Other than from him, my favourite place to get them from are the lokanta’s in and around Fethiye. Pide is usually served with some fresh salad. So cheap and so delicious too!

A Boncuk update …

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It’s been a long time since I last did an update on Boncuk on my blog, and since it was 5 years ago last week that we found her, I thought now would be the perfect time!

As you know, Boncuk now lives with Berkay’s family on their farm in the village. We went to spend a few days with them in April, and again in September, so I’ve seen her twice this year. Although we don’t get to see her very often, she definitely has not forgotten us and still greets us with an excited waggy tail every time she sees us. The few days we spent with her in April she was very clingy to me and would sit outside the gate waiting for a glimpse of us when we were inside the house. She followed me everywhere when I was walking around the farm, it was so cute. She wouldn’t even let us drive off in the car without trying to jump in.. and one day we gave in and let her come for a little trip up one of the mountains – she laid on my lap, head on my arm, face looking out of the window, ears flapping in the wind. Then when we got out of the car and went for a walk it was just like old times, when we used to take her on lots of walks around Fethiye and Calis. Bless her. Leaving her in April broke my heart, I bawled my eyes out knowing she’d wonder where we’d gone again. I hope she doesn’t think we abandon her over and over again. Someone told me dogs have no sense of time and I hope that’s true, I hate to think of her waiting for us and wondering when we’ll be back.
 
 
In September we went to visit again for a couple of days and she was her usual, cute self. Greeting us with a waggy tail and big smiley face.  I was also really amazed that she still knows the ‘tricks’ we taught her –  ‘sit’, ‘lay’  & ‘paw’! One night I was searching for her for ages, calling her name, trying to find her around the farm, under the cars, in the hay shed, but she was nowhere to be seen. After a while, Berkay found her asleep, curled up in a ball under the sofa on the terrace. So sneaky!

She really is the sweetest dog I’ve ever known. I was worried when we first took her to the village that maybe she’d lose her loving, soft temperament since she’d have less human interaction. Turkish people don’t really look at pets the same way we do, no baby talk to the dogs, minimal fussing and stroking and definitely no cuddles on laps like she used to have with us… they have their own dog who is chained up all day and is very much a guard dog, who wouldn’t think twice about chewing your arm off! Boncuk has kept her loving personality though, she’s still timid and never growls at anyone, all she’d do is lick you to death! She’s a bit of a wimp to be honest! Although she’s not allowed indoors, apparently whenever it’s thunder and lightning she runs in and jumps on the sofa if she spots the front door open!
 
It’s so hard leaving her but I know she’s well looked after in the village. Berkay’s brother loves her and she likes her life there. She loves to roam free around the farm and plays with the lambs and lets the little chicks run all over her. She plays with their other dog and follows Berkay’s step-mum around on her farm duties! Sometimes I feel really bad for her, wondering if she misses the old days, when we’d take her for walks along Calis beach, playing fetch in fields and up on the hills overlooking the sea.. she used to love playing fetch with her ball and now she doesn’t even have any toys… but I hope she doesn’t miss it.
 
People often ask why we don’t bring her to England and I would love to, the money isn’t an issue I would happily pay it, but she wouldn’t like it here. We both work all day 5 days a week, so she’d be on her own in our flat (with no garden) for 9 hours a day and that’s just not nice for her. She’s never been an indoor dog, she only knows life outside, so she’d hate being cooped up indoors alone all day, it wouldn’t be fair on her.

We’re lucky she can stay with Berkay’s family and we can still go and visit her – it certainly makes visiting the village more bearable for me. When I get too stressed or overwhelmed with village life I just take myself off outside, call for Boncuk and sit having a little chat with her.

I can’t believe it was 5 years ago we found her as a teeny tiny puppy!
❤

 

Turkish village baggy pants..

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Every time we visit Turkey, I come back with at least one new pair of baggy pants! Last month was no exception.

Shortly after we arrived in the village to surprise Berkay’s family, his step mum suggested we go to the weekly market and go and buy some material. The market place in Beyağaç is actually where we had our village wedding last year so walking back through the undercover area bought back some memories!

A few stalls down, past the usual fruit, vegetable and shoe stalls, we came across a table full of rolls of material. All different colours and patterns, most flowery and quite obnoxious. “Choose one”, Berkay said, and I rummaged through the rolls, trying to find a pattern I didn’t already have! I eventually chose a black pair with white, pink and purple flowers on. The man selling the material asked how much we wanted but of course we didn’t really know, so he just looked at me, got his meter ruler out and guessed, cut it and gave it to us for 25tl. Usually, you’d take the material to a seamstress to turn it into a pair of baggy pants – luckily for us Berkay’s aunt is really good at making them so we left the material with her and picked it up a few hours later once she’d worked her magic!

Baggy village pants are my FAVOURITE thing. For years I never wore them, but then I bought one pair one winter while living in Calis and fell in love – so comfy! I never used to wear them outside of the house, apart from when in the village, but now I wear them all the time here in England. I use them as pajamas, something comfortable to put on when I get home from work, I even wear them to the shops (it’s just one step away from wearing pajamas to Tesco..right?)

They come in every different colour and design, I think each region must have slightly different styles because when we were in Dalaman airport once, one of the security men asked if we were from Denizli – ‘yea, how do you know?’ said Berkay, the man pointed to my baggy trousers and said he could tell by them! They are worn all over the country though, I think it might just have been a lucky guess!
 
 
If you want to get some baggy pants for yourself, they sell them in Fethiye market, or markets anywhere really, but also in little back street shops, or you can just get the material from fabric shops. If you want some a bit less in-your-face with not so many brightly coloured flowers on, you can usually find plain black harem pants on the internet somewhere, but I prefer the more traditional, crazy look! When everyone else is wearing them, you blend in strangely well. The women in Berkay’s village usually pair their multicoloured baggy pants with a long sleeved top of a completely different colour, and a knitted, sleeveless waistcoat, in yet another mismatching colour.

Berkay’s friends and family all think it really funny how much I love my baggy pants! I have around 25-30 pairs now, even my old ones with holes in that have shrunk in the wash I still love and wear.

They might be the least flattering thing ever, but they’re definitely the most comfortable!!

 

Flying with Turkish Airlines again!

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I flew with Turkish Airlines for the first time last year, and wrote a post about it on here (click HERE to read). We flew with them again last month and it was a little different, so I thought I’d do an updated post.

Going out, we flew from Gatwick to Dalaman via Sabiha Gökçen airport in Istanbul, which I’d never been to before. The previous 4 times I flew with them, the cabin crew came around with a small piece of Turkish delight and a menu, just after take off, but this time they didn’t – I think they must have stopped doing this now! The menu was handy as it told you the meal options in advance, rather than just waiting for them to come around with the trolley and having to make an on-the-spot decision!  When they did come around, about 45 minutes into the flight, we got given the option of a meat dish or a pasta dish – I chose the meat. We had chicken, vegetables, mash, salad with feta cheese, tomato and cucumber and a bread roll with butter. Dessert was some kind of mousse, I think it was mango or something similar with chocolate flakes on top! We also had a little carton of water, and a drink of whatever we wanted, including alcohol! I love that you get a little sachet of olive oil for the salad, we all know how Turks love their olive oil, and salt, pepper and ‘real’ metal cutlery too – nothing worse than trying to cut meat with a plastic fork!

When we came in to land at Istanbul, the view of the city from the plane window was really interesting, the airport is so close to so many buildings, and there are some really fancy tower blocks too. All you can see when taking off/landing at Gatwick is fields, so it made a nice change! We had an hour and 25 minutes between flights, but our first one was delayed by around 30 minutes, so it was a bit tight! We walked down the steps off the plane and onto a waiting bus to take us to the terminal. There was a MASSIVE queue for passport control and we panicked a little as we only had an hour to get through, go to the international terminal, find the gate and board the plane. Luckily, there were airport staff directing people with domestic connecting flights to go through a fast track passport control desk and straight into the international terminal, without having to re-enter through security so that saved us a lot of time. After a quick wee, we checked the board, found our gate number, walked down to it and breathed a sigh of relief as we sat down in the seating area. We must have been sat down for less than 60 seconds when they announced that it was time for us all to go towards the desk and have our boarding passes checked, then taken onto another bus on the tarmac ready to take us to the plane!

We got to walk up the steps to the plane which I always love doing, so much more fun than walking through the tunnel to board! This particular plane was different to any others I’d been on and had little footrests under the seats which I loved – really comfortable. By the time we sat down, the sun was just beginning to set outside, which made it feel like a really long day of travelling as we had left our house at 7.15 am that morning!

The flight from Istanbul to Dalaman is really quick, less than an hour, and almost straight after take off the cabin crew came around with some snacks. On the domestic flights you don’t get a full meal, just a snack, and no alcoholic drinks, just soft drinks or tea/coffee. The last time I flew the food was given in a little paper tray and had a sandwich, pot of salad and dessert, but they have changed this, now it’s only a toastie or something similar. We had cheese, tomato and olive toasties. Berkay, being the growing man that he is, asked for two, and they gave them to him, he was very thrilled about this as you can tell!

The domestic terminal at Dalaman is currently under construction so when we landed we were taken to a corner of the International airport through a door to collect our luggage from the carousel, then it was straight outside, down the ramp and into our transfer car to Calis!

Fast forward two weeks and the inevitable journey back home again began. Of course the flights out to Turkey are always much more exciting than the flights back home again, right? We had been awake since 5am for our 8.30am flight, and although the excitement of going on holiday keeps you wide awake on the way out, when you’re tired on the flight home and facing the reality of going back to work the next day it’s not quite as fun! With one last glance down at Dalaman, the plane soared up to 30,000 ft and we waited for our in-flight breakfast snack – a cheese and tomato panini!

As soon as we had finished that, it was time to land in Istanbul again, this time at Atatürk Airport. We had longer between flights this time – almost 4 hours to wait, so we actually left the airport for an hour and hopped in a taxi to a local shopping mall. On our return to the airport, we went through security, passport control, one more security with full body scanners, then through to Duty Free. When we checked the departure boards, our gate number was already up so we found that and had our boarding passes and passports checked not one, not two, but three times, and Berkay had his hand luggage thoroughly searched in a spot-check too! The security there is really good, but I suppose it’s expected. We didn’t have to wait too long before boarding once again, and Berkay had his last sniff of Turkish air before stepping on the plane.

The meal on the flight home was again a choice of a meat or pasta dish. We had kofte (meatballs), rice, vegetables, cacik (yogurt with cucumber), a bread roll and a chocolate mousse for dessert.
 
Other than the food, my favourite things about Turkish Airlines are the personal entertainment touch screens on the back of all the seats. They have lots of games, music and films on them, including some films not even released on DVD yet! The ones on the plane home even had USB ports so you could charge your phone through them, really handy! I’m a big kid and can’t travel without a a bear, I always get him out on the plane as you can see! By the time I had watched a film and had a sleep, making the most of the empty seat one side of me, the Captain announced it was time to descend into Gatwick, right back to down to earth with a bump, literally!

Overall I love flying with Turkish Airlines, and this time they were actually cheaper than Easy Jet, Thomas Cook etc with the added bonus of 23kg hold luggage included, 8kg hand luggage and the free food and drinks. The only downside is the waiting time between flights but I think it’s well worth it!

A Surprise Visit & Post Holiday Blues?

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If you’ve been following my Facebook page or Instagram, you’ll have seen that we were in Turkey for 2 weeks in September! We flew out on Thursday 14th with Turkish Airlines, via Istanbul, stayed in Calis for a night and then drove to Beyagac, Denizli, to surprise Berkay’s family. When we booked flights back in July I suggested we keep it a secret and surprise them but I wasn’t sure we’d be able to pull it off. When we arrived there on Friday morning and pulled up in the car outside the family business they were very pleasantly surprised and had to do a double take to check it was us.

The first few days were spent in the village, where we did the least ‘touristy’ things possible – picking fruit and vegetables from the garden, sitting on a tractor, crashing a village wedding, squashing in the front of a pick up truck and sitting in the middle of a corn field at midnight, with a bonfire to keep a look out for wild boar, and of course lots of Boncuk dog licks and cuddles. Then we spent a few hours in Kale, where we visited a family member’s tobacco farm, then off to Denizli city centre where we spent one day and night. Then after a long drive and detour through Mugla, we arrived back in Calis and spent 6 days in my new favourite place, ever, Jiva Beach Resort. (After a few days in the village, covered up in 36oc heat, sweating from every possible body part, I was SO ready to get into the 5* luxury and jump into a pool!)

Fast forward 2 weeks and it was time to board the flight back home to London, and we were both very sad! I always say that going back to visit Turkey isn’t like having a holiday to me, it feels like going home and after a day or two it feels like we’ve been there forever. Calis and Fethiye are full of memories for us, at every turn. When we walk down the streets we remember walking there with Boncuk, or walking through the market where we used to buy all our fruit and veg, the shops, the beach, going past our old houses… and then suddenly it feels like we never left at all, which makes it all the harder to leave again!

Then comes the inevitable, moping around the house for days once you’re home, facing the reality of going back to work to a million and one emails, washing all the holiday clothes and shoving the shorts, bikini’s and flip flops back in the cupboard, never to see the light of day again until next year. I think everyone gets post-holiday blues, but for us it goes a bit deeper, our minds go into overdrive wondering if actually we done the right thing by choosing to live in England over Turkey.

The problem is, it’s so easy to look back and romanticise Turkey and life there, especially after coming back from a lovely holiday, but living there was not one big holiday at all, it was very lonely. Berkay worked 12-15 hour days or worked all night, slept all day, no days off in summer, rarely a day off in Winter. Sometimes in the winters he worked all month and didn’t get paid a penny, so changed jobs often. Living in Turkey wasn’t all swimming pools, fancy food and nice accomodation. It was spending all summer swealtering with no aircon and all winter freezing with no insulation or heating, it was having to heat up water in a saucepan to have a ‘shower’ in winter when the solar panels didn’t get enough day light. Ask me 4 years ago and I would have said the opposite, I was living in Turkey and the thought of moving back to England would bring me to tears! But now with my more sensible head on, I’m certain we’re better off here in England (although Berkay wouldn’t agree…) We wouldn’t be able to have what we do here, out there. We partly own our own flat, both work and have some savings, and we wouldn’t have that in Turkey. We certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford a holiday in Jiva Hotel in Calis either, one night would cost almost as much as a month’s rent there which we’d never be able to justify or afford.

Of course it’s not just about the material things, but when weighing up the pros and cons, money is a big part. I’m sure maybe one day we’ll end up living back in Turkey, maybe when we’re old and retired, but for now we’ll just have to make do with holidays and when I’m sat at my desk in Canary Wharf,  head in hands, grey skies outside, I’ll just have to fight off the ‘grass is greener on the other side’ thoughts!

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AUGUST PHOTO SERIES – DAY 31 – SITTING IN THE SUNSET

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I can’t believe the whole month of August is over and this is the final day of the photo series! I’ve saved my best photo til last, it’s without a doubt my most favourite photo I’ve ever taken. I hope you don’t mind that I’ve shared it a million times before, I just LOVE it. This is Boncuk as a puppy, we’d had her 4 months and were just taking a late afternoon stroll one day in February, along Calis beach. I was trying to get some good sunset photos and she just sat down and posed – pure luck, it’s not easy getting a puppy to sit still! I love her little smiley face, tongue out, ears flapped over, sitting up straight. The sunset in the background, the waves rolling in and Boncuk’s little doggy paw prints in the sand. She was the cutest puppy!

I’ve enjoyed looking back over my old photos this past month and sharing them, showing you all the beauty of Turkey in it’s many forms! I think this photo sums up everything I love most about Turkey personally, Calis beach, sunsets, the sea and our beautiful Boncuk dog.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the photo posts too, thanks to everyone for liking, sharing and commenting over the last month!

❤

What is Kurban Bayram?

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Kurban Bayram will be celebrated tomorrow, but what does this mean, and how will it affect your holiday to Turkey?

Bayram literally means festival, or holiday, and is used to describe national and religious holidays in Turkey. There are two main religious (Islamic) holidays, one being Seker Bayram (celebrated after Ramadan), and the other being Kurban bayram, which is celebrated this week. In the UK this is known as Ed-al-Adha.

Kurban Bayram is the festival of the sacrifice, where millions of people sacrifice an animal to commemorate the Islamic prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. Animals such as cows, goats and most often, sheep, are sacrificed. Once sacrificed, the meat is shared out, some is given to the poor, some is kept for the family, and some is given to other relatives, friends and neighbours. Of course Kurban Bayram/Eid isn’t just celebrated in Turkey, it is celebrated by Muslims all over the world.

This year, preparation for Kurban Bayram begins on the eve of the festival, today August 31st. Kurban Bayram will run from and including 1st – 4th September and government offices, schools, post offices, banks, and some supermarkets will be closed throughout these days. Turkish people will be busy visiting family and friends, so roads, transport, hotels and restaurants will be very busy and full during the festivities.

What is my experience?
I lived in Turkey for a couple of bayram celebrations and the atmosphere during this time is very special, it’s even something an outsider who doesn’t celebrate can sense. The only thing I can compare it to is Christmas. All the family comes together and enjoys time off from work and school to celebrate.

When we were living there, our landlord invited us downstairs for Turkish tea and to see the animal they were sacrificing. We stood on our balcony and watched as he tied the sheep up, said a prayer and slit its throat. It was all over very quickly. After he had killed it, he cut it’s head off, hung it up and began to skin it, then he cut its feet off, finished skinning it and cut its organs out. The wool and skin was left out to dry and the blood all washed away. That was it. Normally the sacrifice is supposed to be carried out by a professional in designated areas. It is not supposed to be done publicly in parks or playgrounds nowadays.

The sacrifice was over very quickly and it was very humane, it could be very disturbing for some people to watch though. It upset me a little, but it’s good to be reminded where your food comes from. Meat is so readily available in supermarkets these days that we all take it for granted and don’t really stop to think about where it really comes from.

The meat is given out to poor people, friends and neighbours. We got given a whole leg, it was a bit weird seeing it in my freezer.

In the evening we all gathered around for a barbeque downstairs in the garden (we all know how Turks like their bbq’s, don’t we?!) and of course the only thing on the menu was the meat that had formed part of a fluffy white sheep in my garden only a few hours earlier.

I have seen comments from people in the past who say the process of sacrificing millions of sheep over a few days for a religious festival is barbaric and inhumane, however, the meaning behind the tradition and the process of giving meat to those less fortunate people is a good one in my opinion, it is not meaningless killing for the sake of it, it has a purpose. Some people do find this an outdated, old fashioned tradition and some modern families like to donate money to charity instead.

Those normal tourists on holiday are very unlikely to see anything going on, they will probably be blissfully unaware of the sacrificing going on, as I mentioned above, it is often only done in designated areas in main towns. In the days leading up to Kurban Bayram you may have seen truck loads of sheep and goats being taken to towns, villages and cities. You will know the fate of those livestock on board. You may notice restaurants and hotels more busy than normal so it’s a good idea to book in advance if you plan to visit or go out during the next few days. Remember banks will be closed and ATM’s may run out of cash. It is a nice idea to wish people happy holidays by saying ”Iyi Bayramlar”.

As we are in England this year, we won’t be doing anything to celebrate – we are both working Friday, but we are off all weekend so may buy some meat and have a BBQ on our balcony or something!

Iyi Bayramlar!

AUGUST PHOTO SERIES – DAY 30 – FETHIYE HARBOUR

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I think Fethiye is overlooked by a lot of tourists, with some people not straying further than the Tuesday market, but it has so much more to offer. The harbour area is so pretty, especially early in the morning when it’s quiet, the only people around are those getting the boats ready for a day trip around the islands or going out fishing. I love the green hills in the distance, the masts of the boats and the calm water the boats bob up and down on. If you’re lucky, you might even see a turtle or two popping his head up for food!
❤

AUGUST PHOTO SERIES – DAY 29 – RED SKY AT NIGHT…

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Today’s photo is another Calis Beach sunset, but a slightly different one, with a sky full of clouds creating a beautiful patterned, glowing sky! Cloudy sunsets are the best, they look more intense! Love the reflection on the sea too. I still maintain that Calis Beach is the best place to watch the sun go down!
❤