Football, Fethiyespor & icecream…

Posted on September 5, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

On Sunday we had a rare evening together and went to a football match – Fethiyespor v Menemen Bld.Spor. Berkay arranged to go into work 3 hours later than normal so after dinner we headed into Fethiye town centre.

We had been trying to get tickets for the game in advance but they kept telling us to ‘come back tomorrow’ – much like everything else in Turkey it was very unorganised! In the end we just gave up and got them from the gates on the day. We got the cheapest seats which we only 5tl… bargain!

After getting tickets from the stadium (just behind the Tuesday market area) we walked back in to the main town and sat down in a little cafe for some ice-cream. It’s real Turkish icecream and if you’ve ever eaten it you’ll know what I mean when I describe it as slightly chewy – it’s delicious and really filling. We got 4 scoops for 2tl which is an absolute bargain. I’ve heard horror stories in recent weeks of people being charged £10 for one ice cream in resorts – even 10tl would be extortionate! This was a massive ice cream, I got a mixture of lemon, blackcurrant and chocolate chip…dipped in chocolate sauce and nuts. Yum. They have so many different flavours to chose from too.

After that we took a slow walk through the park in Fethiye and managed to catch the sunset – click HERE for my previous blog post for photos of that. I love this park and it’s so much nicer to walk around in the evenings when it’s cooler and the sun isn’t directly overhead.

Berkay popped to the shop to stock up on sunflower seeds for the match (you’ll see why if you keep reading) and then we headed off to the stadium again.

I was suprised by how much security was outside the stadium. There were stewards searching people and police with guns and truncheons, it was really quite intimidating. I used to have a season ticket for Chelsea FC and considering the massive difference in the standing of both clubs, there wasn’t an awful lot of difference in the security measures in place, the only things that were missing were police horses! At Chelsea games we were allowed to take our bottles of water inside the stadium as long as the lids were thrown away (or hidden in our pockets – shhh) but here they didn’t allow any kind of bottles – strange.

Once through the turnstiles we searched for our correct seats, but failed to find them. The numbering seemed to be totally illogical – I ended up sitting in seat 245 and the seat next to me was numbered as ‘407’ – go figure! It didn’t matter, because despite the speaker on the tannoy announcing that everyone should stick to the seat number stated on their ticket, very few people actually did.. at least not in our stand. There were very few stewards inside the stands, I can’t actually recall seeing any.

There was a small snack place to buy food in, none of the usual hot dogs, burgers, pies and pints of beer though – toasties, chicken doner kebabs only. There was also a crate full of packets of sunflower seeds for sale which seemed to be everyone’s snack of choice! Turkish people do love their salted sunflower seeds, they eat them like a little chipmunk or something – it’s quite a skill to master or you end up with a mouth full of cardboardy shells. Bleugh. Literally everyone was eating these, and none of them seemed to care where they disposed of the shells – look at the massive pile Berkay made on the floor!! After all the salt we needed a drink of water so had to buy one from the young boy selling them from a massive ice barrel in the corner of the stand – they were 1tl each, for a tiny little carton.

It was soon national anthem time, something the Turkish people take very seriously. Everyone stood still with their hands by their sides singing along. Nobody moved a muscle apart from the photographers!

I enjoyed the game, although it was very frustrating as neither team managed to score and boy did they have a lot of chances! Even my Fethiyespor themed nails didn’t bring them luck.

The match was pretty much the same as any other game of football I’ve been to, passionate fans, jeers, swearing and booing at the referee, fights on the pitch leading to red cards and players diving all over the place. Oh, the beautiful game eh? Don’t get me wrong, I do love football. I thought it was interesting how they had a ‘water break’ 23 minutes into the game due to the hot weather, something that is certainly never necessary in England.

There are a very passionate set of Fethiyespor fans in one of the other stands, they’re the hardcore, season ticket holders. They were singing and banging drums for much of the match – I found it so funny how most of their chants were to the same tune as the football chants I’ve heard at Chelsea – different words, different language, same tune!

The match ended in a 0-0 draw which was disappointing, but it was a good evening regardless. As soon as the full time whistle was blown we hurried out of the stadium, got on the dolmus and headed home, Berkay went straight to work. I wish he’d get a full day off sometimes, he’s not had one day off since the end of May and isn’t likely to until the season is over in November. I’m thankful that his boss and his colleagues are flexible and will allow him to make up hours if he asks to go in late.. that’s better than nothing (:

Swimming, dogs eating ice-cream and man flu!

Posted on August 27, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

We haven’t really done much exciting in the past few days as I’ve somehow managed to get a horrible cold, honestly who gets a cold in the middle of summer? I’m feeling much better now though, so here’s just a little recap from the last week!

The temperatures are still as hot as ever, infact I think one day last week was the hottest so far this year with the temperature hitting just over 41oc. On Saturday we decided to go out for lunch, we chose a restaurant attached to a hotel so that we could use their pool afterwards as it was so hot. We always used to use this pool when I first moved here but stopped in 2012 after the infamous 6.2 earthquake that I’m always talking about. Since then, I just always associate it with that day, and was too afraid to go back there. Even when we were there the other day, I had visions of the bar shaking violently, bottles smashing, water jolting out of the pool and everyone running out of their rooms/homes screaming… not good. We had a nice swim this time though, and the pool was almost empty, it was lovely and refreshing even though the water was warm!

When we got home though, I could tell I had the start of a cold, and by Sunday it turned into fully blown man-flu, so I spent the day in bed! On Monday we managed to get out for a little walk with Boncuk, we treated her to an ice-cream which she loves. I know dogs shouldn’t really have ice-cream but she doesn’t seem to have any bad reactions to it, and we literally only give her one every few months. I’ve seen recipe’s for dog-friendly ice-cream, perhaps I should try those? For now, she had a twister lolly.. her favourite! Can’t you just tell how much she’s enjoying it?

We went and sat on a bench in a little park where we managed to sit for 5 minutes before the sprinklers suddenly turned on which made us both jump up, much to the amusement of passers by!

On Tuesday our friends called us and asked us to join them for a swim at one of the bays around the other side of Fethiye – I was still feeling a bit rough, but we went along and enjoyed it, although it was boiling. They drove to one of the bays where we all got out, unpacked the car and were about to step into the sea, when we realised it was filthy. There was rubbish all over the shallow parts which would have made it difficult and unpleasant to swim, so we got back in the car and headed to our trusty old büyük Boncuklu koyu instead. This is always popular with local people and we often go here for BBQ’s with our friends. There aren’t any facilities, but the sea is clean and calm so it’s perfect for swimming. When we got in we were expecting it to be a bit cool, but it wasn’t at all – it was like stepping into a hot bath! Even in the deeper parts, it was still very warm.

We didn’t stay for very long, and stopped off in Fethiye on the way home for some dinner. I had mincemeat pide, yum!

Today we went out for a wander along Calis up to the bridge accross the canal where the taxi-boats run. It was another hot day, around 37 oc, and the heat always causes a haziness across the mountains. I miss the crisp, clear, chilly days of winter!

Tomorrow we’re off on a boat trip, we’re able to go free as the tour group that uses Berkay’s hotel had some extra places – it would be rude not to go along really wouldn’t it? It will definitely be my last boat trip of the year and I’m not sure if/when I’ll get to visit next year, so I’ll have to make the most of it. Sea legs at the ready!

Happiest dog in Fethiye?

Posted on June 23, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

Summer is in full swing in Fethiye now and the weather has finally improved with almost guaranteed sunshine for the next few months! Hotter weather is tough on us all, especially when we have no aircon to rely on, but just think how the heat affects the animals.

I see really fluffy dogs wandering around panting and feel so sorry for them, poor little souls need a haircut and some shade to cool down in! Luckily Boncuk has shade available all times in her kennel and she doesn’t have a ton of big old fluffy fur on her either… but she still feels the heat and is constantly panting during our long walks, even though we always bring her little travel water bowl along with us.

Yesterday, as a little treat, we got her a Twister ice-lolly to help her cool down. I know dogs shouldn’t have ice-cream in large amounts because of the lactose, but this was a one-off treat and we know doesn’t effect her badly as she’s had it before.

As you can tell from the photos, she very much enjoyed the ice-cream and made a big mess, ending up with a very amusing pink and white mustache/beard combination! Just look at that happy, satisfied face, I’m pretty sure I had the happiest dog in Fethiye for a few minutes this afternoon!

After the ice-cream, we carried on with our walk where Boncuk made a new friend – he was so friendly and just wanted to play, but Boncuk wasn’t so keen. She didn’t put him off though, he joined us on the whole walk and ended up following us home afterwards! He’s disappeared now, hopefully he had a home to go to, he looked well fed and was very friendly so I think he probably did. Maybe we’ll bump into him again next time and hopefully Boncuk will be more friendly – she’s definitely very fussy about who sniffs her butt. (;

Park, Bluebells and Marshmallow Icecream..

Posted on May 5, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

This post is way over due. In fact it was over 2 weeks ago that these photos were taken, but one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place was so that I could look back over time on what I was doing ‘this time last week’, ‘this time last month’, ‘this time a year ago’… so i’m still going to post them anyway.

These photos were taken on Good Friday, the day before Berkay flew back to Turkey. We spent the morning in the park, first in the playground then through the woods and ruins.

The play area was full of children (duh!) but that didn’t stop us having some fun, Berkay enjoyed himself far too much, can you tell? He nearly fell off the funny little swing and had me in fits of giggles.

After the play area we went through the woods at Lesnes Abbey, it was so beautiful. We were the only ones wandering around so it was so peaceful, there were bluebells everywhere, which although we later found out we’re not supposed to pick – Berkay did pick a bunch for me! Sorry bluebells. I love being outside and just walking through the trees and flowers – although the insects, especially wasps, are the not-so-good part. Ewww.

I love these photos of us – we just laid down in the bluebells to get a good photo – look at our happy big brown eyes, ahh. (:

Anyone who knows me knows I love the minions from despicable me, why not embrace your inner child every now and then? I bought this Minion bag a while ago but never use it for fear of looking a bit nuts, but when you’re walking through the woods with nobody else around, why the heck not eh? Hehe. We had some fun with it – sticking it on the wall next to the ‘please keep off the wall’ sign – what a naughty minion 😉

After we’d been at the park for a while, my dad, step mum, brother and sister came for a walk too, since it was good Friday and everyone was off work for the day. My sister had fun climbing the tree and posing for photos. She kept picking daisies for me and running up to give them to me, she’s so sweet.

On the way home we got some ice-cream from the ice-cream van – I chose the marshmallow one was literally what it looks like – a huge vanilla whippy icecream covered in marshmallows and strawberry sauce, it was the best icecream I’ve ever had!! Yum!

I can’t believe this was over 2 weeks ago now – it seems a lot longer. Oh how time flies.