Turkey's For Life...

Fethiye Photo: Sheltering From The Storm

2012-01-27T13:43:00.002+02:00

It's Friday again so it's time for another Fethiye photo. Previously, the photos have concentrated on the January winter sunshine, particularly the photo of Fethiye harbour that we showed a couple of weeks back.

However, this week has been very wet so it seems only fitting that today's photo displays that. I took this yesterday morning after restless sleep caused by storms, reminiscent of the Fethiye storms that caused the damage in Çalış last year. Throughout Wednesday night, continuous, angry rumbles of thunder were only interrupted by huge booms of thunder directly above us and high winds and rain battered the house.

Heavy skies over Fethiye

This is the calm after the storm. It's quite common for tankers and cargo ships to come into Fethiye bay and, while they're considered an eyesore by some, I think there's a certain beauty and serenity about them as they rest on the dead-calm, morning waters of the bay. Yesterday morning, a couple of tankers were in Fethiye bay, presumably to shelter from the rough, Mediterranean seas. This was one of them. It had been here for three days.

Today is sunny and clear and the vessels are now gone. Hopefully, we'll now get some respite from the stormy weather of this last week so those affected can begin their clean-up and repair any damage caused. Here's to a sunny weekend!

Turkish Recipes: Biber Dolması (Stuffed Peppers With Rice)

2012-01-26T13:43:00.000+02:00

The first time we came across biber dolması, we were staying with a Turkish friend and his family for a few days. Early in the day, mum was already preparing the evening meal and I remember glancing at the hob and seeing a pan with a glass lid, steam hissing through the gaps every now and then. Inside the pan were snugly-fitted, upright, green bell peppers. Boiled whole peppers? That was my thought. I wasn't looking forward to this meal!

Our first attempt at biber dolması

It was only when the peppers were served that we realised they were stuffed with a heavily-spiced rice (dolma means stuffed) and of course, the longer we lived in Turkey, the more we came to know that stuffed vegetables, particularly with this rice filling, are a feature of Turkish cuisine. We love them. It wasn't until yesterday however that I actually attempted to make my own.

A Recipe for Turkish Biber Dolması
This recipe is great if you've got friends coming round for food. You can make it early in the day (or even better, the day before) to be served cold later on as part of a buffet and it's filling so your guests won't be going home hungry.

Rice mixture for the filling

The Rice Filling:
First of all, you need to make your rice filling. This mixture is enough to fill 9 or 10 of the green dolmalık peppers (medium-sized bell peppers) you get from the market. We only had 7 peppers so we have a bit of mixture left over.

Finely chop 2 onions
Add a small handful of pine nuts to a pan and toast them lightly. (Be careful not to let them burn)
After a few minutes, add a generous glug of olive oil and your chopped onion. Stir for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften. If you want to, you can add a small, peeled and chopped tomato at this point, too. This is optional.
Now add 1 mug of rice, salt and pepper (we also added chilli powder as we like spicy dolma) and stir around for a few minutes on a low light, being careful not to let the rice burn.
Add 1 mug of water and a dessert spoonful of sugar, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer the rice until the water evaporates.
Remove from the heat. The rice will not be fully cooked but you don't want it to be as it will continue to steam when you stuff the peppers, later.
As the rice is cooling, add a sprinkling of dried mint, cinnamon and allspice. Sprinkle in a generous handful of currants too. We used up some dates instead and it worked fine. Mix it all together (as in the photo above and leave to one side to cool)

Making Biber Dolması

The main thing you need to think about for this is your pan. Do a test first by standing your peppers in a deep pan. It needs to be a snug fit and they shouldn't pop up over the top of the pan.

Making up the dolma

Once you know how many peppers will fit into your pan, remove them, cut the tops off and take out the seeds.

Fill the peppers with the rice mixture using a teaspoon to push the rice to the bottom. Don't fill them too tightly.

Place the stuffed peppers back into the pan carefully with their lids on. Some people use the top of a tomato to top their peppers - more aesthetically pleasing - but we were happy to use the pepper lids for just the two of us.

Now pour warm water into the pan (being careful not to let any get into your peppers) until the water is about a third of the way up to the top of the peppers.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and leave them to steam for between 20 and 30 minutes until your peppers are soft.

Remove from the pan and leave them to cool.

A serving of biber dolması

Biber dolması is best served cold. We like it with a blob of süzme yoghurt, sprinkled with mint and chilli powder, on the side.

Biber dolması is one of the many dishes that make up Turkish zeytinyağlı dishes (olive oil dishes) and is also known as zeytinyağlı biber dolması so don't be shy with your use of the olive oil when you're making this (some recipes suggest up to half a cup!). It really makes the dish.

If you like the sound of of this olive oil dish, why not try our barbunya pilaki recipe (borlotti beans in olive oil). That's a late summer favourite for us when barbunya beans are abundant on Fethiye market.

Datça Peninsula: Palamutbükü 8 Years On

2012-01-24T10:55:00.002+02:00

A little over 8 years ago, we were taken on a road trip to the Datça Peninsula for a short break with friends. It was November and Datça was deserted and beautiful. Just about everywhere we visited was closed up for the winter months, but we didn't mind as we were there to chill out for a few days and enjoy the solitude.

One place our friend was keen to show us was Palamutbükü. 'You'll love it,' he said. 'It's perfect.' Off we went along the winding roads and rubble tracks on the peninsula, and eventually we arrived at a golden, shingle beach. The sea was a cold, clear blue and all that broke the expanse of open water was a lonely islet sitting just offshore. Our memory of this place is that, apart from a large wooden stand (remarkably, it was open for business - serving instant coffees) there was nothing else along this little stretch of shore in Palamutbükü.

Timber frames - a clue to summer at Palamutbükü

8 years later, again in November, we stayed with friends in the lovely village of Yazıköy which we soon discovered was just inland from its nearest stretch of beach, Palamutbükü. On arrival, we headed straight down there and we were curious to see how much had changed in our 8 year absence.

Thankfully, not too much. Aside from the odd couple taking a stroll, the place was deserted. The sea was still a crystal clear blue, lapping gently against the same golden shingle. We weren't fooled. The sea here is famous for being 'refreshing' even in the height of summer. Timber frames, complete with 'Wireless Internet' signs nailed into posts, a short row of low-rise, beachside restaurants, one 2-storey hotel and a few wooden chalets set in their own grounds were the clues that told us Palamutbükü is definitely on the Turkish beach lovers' radar during the summer months.

The golden shingle beach of Palamutbükü

But that was about it. We were pleasantly surprised. All along the Turkish coastline, large sections of previously undeveloped land have given way to holiday resorts, villas and apartments, so we were expecting much the same fate for Palamutbükü. Sometimes, it's great to be wrong and have that guilty pleasure of feeling like you have a place all to yourself.

The Datça Peninsula is a treat. Somebody somewhere is keeping a tight grip on the 'no over-development here, thank you,' approach and, for now at least, the place is packed with secluded bays, some backed by old, seaside hamlets. The almond and olive harvest is still a feature of village life and the ancient, Hellenistic ruins of Knidos - albeit more accessible after substantial road improvements - still stand lonely, exposed and windswept - and are the more beautiful for it.

We really hope it's not another 8 years before we're once more exploring the Datça Peninsula - and we're also really hoping that when we do get the chance to return, the landscape will be just as we remember it now.

Browse Hotels In Datça & Palamutbükü

Istanbul - A View From Galata Bridge

2012-01-22T22:17:00.000+02:00

Regular visitors to this blog will have worked out long ago that we're not big on covering all the main tourist sights of Turkey here. It's not that we don't want to! The problem is, we only started this blog a couple of years back when we'd already made numerous visits to Turkey and lived here on and off for 6 years. That meant we'd already been to many of the main haunts on the popular Turkey tourist trail pre-blog days and we'd like to keep everything as up-to-date as it possibly can be.

For ourselves (and therefore, for the benefit of the blog) we're visiting the sights again slowly, slowly. We enjoy it! Turkey has some of the most significant and beautiful historic buildings and sights in the world. How can we not enjoy it? But there are also those random moments that make you stop in your tracks. Even when you've been somewhere many times and walked the route many times and seen the view many times, sometimes you really notice a scene for the first time. We've got to include those times, too.

View from Galata Bridge, Istanbul

One of those times happened in October when we were in Istanbul. We'd walked down the hill to Eminönü from Süleymaniye Mosque in Beyazıt. Once in Eminönü, we bought a plastic cup of Istanbul pickles (turşu) and set off towards Beyoğlu, across Galata Bridge. All the while we were munching on the pickles and slurping pickle vinegar - oh how happy we are that this is the norm in Istanbul. We're pickle fans!

Inevitably the time came when the flimsy, plastic fork would no longer suffice and so we had to stop and lean on the railings of the bridge while we polished off the rest of the pickles. That was when we looked back to where we'd come from. That was when we thought, 'Just look at that view. Look at Istanbul!'

So many layers. The boats selling their balık ekmeği (fish in bread) on the banks of the Golden Horn; the overcrowded main road, packed with single decker buses and taxis; historic hamams and the Egyptian spice Bazaar just to the left; 1960s apartment blocks, office buildings and a multi-storey car park...and all crowned by the majesty of Süleymaniye Camii (Mosque). Amazing to think that when you walk up there to visit it, it's not actually that easy to spot! Steep hills and high, stone walls do an excellent job of concealing it.

We can't say this is our favourite view in Istanbul - we can never say what our favourite view is in Istanbul. It's a city full of stand-and-stop-and-stare views! But this view says a lot to us.

Find The Best Rates For Hotels & Hostels In Istanbul On Turkey's For Life

Fethiye Photo: Koca Çalış in January

2012-01-20T13:05:00.001+02:00

At the beginning of 2012, we made a bit of a resolution for this blog that we would post a different photo of Fethiye and surrounding areas each Friday. The photo must also be taken in the month we are currently in, meaning all of this month's photos are different Fethiye scenes from January.

The first two photos were views of Fethiye itself; the first one being a sunset view from the new section of Fethiye harbour and last week's photo was of gülets in Fethiye marina. We wanted to branch away from the town centre this week and display a photo from elsewhere in the region so I've been scouring my archives - and it appears I don't take many photos of other areas in the month of January. Maybe we usually just bunker down in this, one of the coldest months in the Southwest Turkey calendar.

Looking towards Fethiye and Çalış from Koca Çalış Beach

Well, not in 2012 we don't! Apart from the Fethiye folder, my brand new 2012 folders are labelled, pristine...and currently empty...except for this one lonely photo in my Çalış 2012 folder.

This is a photo from January 4th when we went for a stroll along the sea, through Çalış and further along to Koca Çalış. There was a fair amount of heat to the sun and we saw that Mutlu Restaurant had a couple of plastic tables out on the beach. Well, we would have been silly not to make the most of the beautiful weather so we sat down to enjoy an Efes Pilsen in the winter afternoon sun.

In the summer months, these steel poles will morph into some kind of awning and will provide welcome respite from the hot sun for diners, drinkers and bathers. The beach will be a patchwork of sun loungers and umbrellas.

But these winter scenes are our favourite scenes. A deserted beach with a feeling of abandonment on the one hand and expectancy on the other. Abandonment because these rusting steel frames are all that is left behind once the summer visitors have left. Expectancy because, in a few short months, the wait for these steel frames will be over and they will once again serve a purpose when the summer visitors return and descend on the beach at Koca Çalış.

Turkish Recipes: Hamsi Season Celebration

2012-01-18T18:01:00.000+02:00

We're in the dying embers of hamsi season in Turkey; that time of the year when millions of shimmering, silver anchovies swim along the Black Sea coast and (most of them) straight into the nets of waiting Turkish fishermen.

The last three times we've been up to Istanbul have been during the winter months and so we have revelled in heading straight for the Karaköy fish market at the end of Galata Bridge. We go there for the deep-fried hamsi ekmeği (anchovies served in a half bread with rocket leaves and onion) or plates of hamsi, again served with nothing but a simple salad of crisp rocket leaves and thinly sliced onion. A drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon and it's just another example of perfection on a plate.

Hamsi season

We were talking about this over the weekend and it lead to an inevitable craving for hamsi. So strong was the craving that we decided to make some for dinner last night. Obviously, it's never going to be the same experience as sitting by the side of the Golden Horn, watching the passengers spill from the Karaköy ferry as the sun goes down behind Süleymaniye Camii on the opposite side of the water, but it's still a favourite dish that we really don't make often enough.

A Turkish Recipe For Deep-Fried Hamsi & Salad
Hamsi is usually sold whole on Fethiye fish market which means you have the fiddly (if you haven't got the knack) and messy task of gutting and cleaning the fish - you get a lot of fish to the kilo! Head and tail can be left on and eaten - you don't notice them as the fish are so small. However, if you're lucky, trays of cleaned and headless hamsi are sometimes for sale on the fish market for a lira or so extra. We went for this easy option yesterday.

Prepare the salad first

We wanted our meal to be slightly reminiscent of Karaköy fish market, so while we were on Fethiye market yesterday, we bought a bunch of rocket leaves and some spring onion to go with our hamsi.

Wash your rocket leaves and lay them on a large serving plate.
Wash and slice your spring onion and sprinkle over the top of the rocket (thinly sliced half moons of a regular onion are good if you have no spring onion).
Cut a few cherry tomatoes in halves and quarters and lay these around the plate.
Prepare a salad dressing and put it to one side for now. Lemon and olive oil dressing does the trick but, as we were feeling indulgent, I mixed a richer, smoother concoction of a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a teaspoon of mustard, a good glug of olive oil and a generous amount of nar ekşisi. Nar ekşisi goes perfectly with both fish and salad.

Fry the hamsi and dress the salad

Now on to the hamsi:

Sprinkle plain flour, and a little chilli powder and cumin (these two are optional) onto a plate and tip the hamsi over it. Toss around until all of the hamsi has a light coating.
Heat some sunflower oil in a pan suitable for deep-frying.
Plunge the hamsi into the hot oil in batches. Fry the hamsi for a minute or so only, otherwise the fish will be overcooked, dry and chewy.
Pile the cooked batches of hamsi on kitchen roll to drain while you fry the rest of it.
Once all of your your hamsi is cooked, season your salad and drizzle some of the dressing over the top.
Now arrange your hamsi over the salad.

Hamsi - perfect finger food

Put your favourite film on. Place the large plate of hamsi and salad on the sofa between you, grab a couple of forks, put the rest of the dressing into a little pot and cut some fresh, crusty bread. Eat, chomp and dip!

Afiyet olsun.

Our Olive Haul On The Datça Peninsula

2012-01-15T15:12:00.001+02:00

"Okay, let's go to the grove and pick up the olives," our friend's dad said, grinning.

Our friend rolled her eyes - this is all old hat to her - and asked us if we wanted to go and help harvest the olives (she quite clearly didn't). Of course we wanted to go and help get the olives. We were dying to have a go at whacking a big stick about a tree and watching the olives fall, and besides, we'd been fed and watered by her mum and dad all weekend. Lending a helping hand could be our way of paying something back.

More professional Datça villagers at work

This conversation was taking place in Yazıköy on the Datça Peninsula, just along the road from ancient Knidos. We were staying with a friend's parents and it was November; right in the middle of the olive harvest. Yazıköy's whole existence is based around the growth of olives and almonds, and just about everyone in the village was occupied in the act of tree whacking and piling the fallen black olives into white, nylon sacks.

Dad was eager to get the two foreigners in on the action, so our friend reluctantly agreed we'd all go along. "But only for an hour!"

We all trouped off through the village, buying bottles of water on the way. You can't do anything in a village the size of Yazıköy without everyone knowing and pretty soon we were a not-very-professional-looking crew of 8 or 9 people, trudging along dry, dusty footpaths towards the grove belonging to our friend's family.

Our not-very-bountiful olive bounty

Dad and the other men disappeared further up the grove while we were given the task of filling one of the white sacks with olives that had fallen to the ground and missed the sheeting they were supposed to land on as they fell from the trees. Afterwards, we were to whack the remaining olives from a couple of nearby trees.

Let's strip away any images of the Mediterranean idyll here. Yes, we were laughing hard and having a great time, but only because we were all so bad at carrying out our given task. We were soon very relieved that our friend had stressed we'd only be sticking around for an hour because we were tired and aching!

The olives don't fall easily - they're more than keen to stay firmly attached to their tree branches - and it takes a fair amount of whacking and shaking to force them to fall. When they do fall, it's almost as if they're getting in their punishment for disturbing them, so and they pepper your head like pellets. Some of the softer ones you pick up splat between your fingers, leaving a dark, purple dye. And then, after a few minutes of scratching around on the floor, your back starts to ache. People in Yazıköy do this day in, day out during the harvest and they have our full admiration. Maybe we're just not cut out for this.

The hands of a man who spends more time on a laptop than harvesting olives!

Between four of us, we collected 2 kilos of olives in an hour. Pitiful! They barely covered the bottom of the sack, and so, when the rest of the group emerged with 2 sacks, packed full of olives, we were more than impressed that they'd done this in an hour...until they owned up and said they'd harvested them the day before and had just come today to pick them up.

The olives harvested that day were bound for the olive local olive oil factory rather than being jarred up for eating. We were told that the less rain there is, the more oil the olives produce. A lot of rainfall means they're good for eating rather than pressing.

Fethiye Photo: Fethiye Marina in January

2012-01-13T14:12:00.000+02:00

Wow! Friday again already, so it's time for the second instalment of A Fethiye Photo Every Friday. Last week, we kicked off with a scene from the new section of Fethiye harbour, halfway between the centre of town and Çalış.

My silent New Year's Resolution was to sort out all of my photos - delete the attempts that didn't quite work out so well, edit the ones we like, label, number, assign to a folder. This used to be an easy task - but I've realised as each year passes, I'm taking more and more photos and therefore giving myself a harder job...but it must be done. It's an obsession. An obsession that's taken me back two years into the archives.

Fethiye Marina Gülets

And this photo is two years old but it was taken in January and it's a typical January scene along Fethiye marina. On a sunny day, winter is perfect because you can see the mountains; snow resting on the peaks. The air is clear (once the smoke from the wood burners has dispersed) the sea calm and the sky a vibrant blue.

We've never been on a gület cruise - hopefully we can rectify that one day - but if there is one thing that symbolises Southwest Turkey and the Turquoise coast, and one thing that contributed to us falling in love with Fethiye as soon as we arrived in 1998, it's the sight of these beautiful, wooden vessels.

Have you ever been on a gület cruise? We'd love to hear about your experience.

Fethiye Famous Heads: Fatih Sultan Mehmet

2012-01-12T14:36:00.000+02:00

Fatih Sultan Mehmet is number 3 in our series about the identity of the busts sitting on their marble plinth overlooking Fethiye harbour, otherwise known to us as the Fethiye heads. Previously, we've researched Mehmet Akif Ersoy (writer of today's Turkish National Anthem and instrumental in the beginnings of the Turkish Republic) and we've also written about Osman Bey (he who began the Ottoman Empire).

Fatih Sultan Mehmet 1432-1481

Fatih Sultan Mehmet - one of the Fethiye heads

While Osman Bey has the acolade of being the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Fatih Sultan Mehmet holds a significant place in history as it was he and his navy who finally conquered Constantinople in 1453 (there had been 12 previous attempts). He went on to make Istanbul the capital of the Ottoman Empire and it remained as the capital until the 1920s when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk transferred administration to the more central Ankara.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet also cemented the power of the Ottoman Empire, making it easier for future sultans to rule. On many occasions, he and his troops successfully expanded eastwards and westwards but it wasn't just in battle where he was successful. He improved state administration, introduced a penal code and built universities and colleges.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet in Today's Turkey
Fatih Sultan Mehmet's legacy in today's Turkey is there for all to see. He built Rumeli Hisarı (Rumeli castle) in preparation for the siege of Constantinople and the fortification still stands on the European shores of the Bosphorus Strait today. The Fatih Sultan mosque in Istanbul where his tomb sits was built for him. He was also responsible for the construction of Istanbul's famous Topkapı Palace which was home to the Ottomans for centuries to come. The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge which crosses the Bosphorus was named after him and there is also one lasting legacy which anyone who knows Turkey will be familiar with: Mehmet remains a very popular name in this country!

As usual, we used Wikipedia and the fantastic 'Osman's Dream - The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923' by Caroline Finkel for our research. Our little passages are just snippets of information and of course, not everything always ran smoothly. Intertwined with historic social and educational reforms and successes and failures on the battle field, the Ottoman Empire was packed with murder, mystery, intrigue, mutinies and betrayal - much better than any soap opera you care to watch. All is revealed in Caroline Finkel's book.

Istanbul Vista - Galata Tower And The Golden Horn

2012-01-10T13:12:00.000+02:00

We decided to take a detour through some of Istanbul's back streets rather than walk down the busy main road of Divanyolu Caddesi to Sultanahmet yet again. I'll admit to doing a bit of chuntering as we were on our way back from our second incomplete visit to Süleymaniye Camii. On the first of these visits, the mosque was closed because of extensive renovation work to the interior and, on this visit, after being told the mosque was fully open, we arrived to find the garden and the tombs closed. There's a certain 'we will not be defeated' attitude starting to creep in now and should we be lucky enough to get to Istanbul again in 2012, we WILL get that photo of the view over the city.

The back streets that join elevated Beyazıt and sea-level Eminönü are great fun and served well to quell any further chuntering from me. They're almost vertically steep, making the activity of aimless wandering a challenge, and they're not particularly pretty - but they're worth the effort. Narrow and built up, the only way to keep your bearings is to keep heading downhill because you know you'll hit the waterside of the Golden Horn at some point.

We were picking our way down through a steep alleyway. A high, dirt-blackened wall to the right and a long row of tiny shops on our left, all selling nothing but belt buckles! This is why we love Istanbul. Craftsmen work here daily, creating belt buckles in all manner of shapes and sizes, but for who? Who comes up here to buy them? Do they sell them to larger, more accessible stores? We've no idea but the footfall around there can't be great. We were only there by accident.

Galata Tower and the Golden Horn, Istanbul

And, as you trundle along these streets and alleyways pondering these conundrums that Istanbul contuinually forces you to ponder (Istanbul is full of streets like this), you come across rare gaps between the buildings. And through those gaps, you catch sight of the open world. In this case, we caught sight of the Golden Horn and Galata Tower standing high and watching over the city.

We made a quick detour through the gap just to take this photo and then we returned to the maze of streets. We continued in downward fashion and eventually found ourselves in street food heaven, behind the Mısır Çarsısı (Egyptian Spice Bazaar Mısır). But that's another post. In the meantime, should you ever find yourself in Istanbul and in need of a custom-made belt buckle, give us a shout and we'll point you in (roughly) the right direction.

Kayaköy Cin Bal - The Winter Experience

2012-01-08T14:40:00.000+02:00

As regular visitors to this blog are no doubt aware, Cin Bal Restaurant in Kayaköy is one of our favourite places to eat. It's not simply going out for a meal. Cin Bal, with its kendin pişir, kendin ye (cook it yourself, eat it yourself) approach to dining is an eating experience. Previous posts on Cin Bal have shown photos of the cool, vine-shaded gardens, Ottoman seating areas, barbecues with sizzling meats and cold meze dishes and salads. It's a memorable way to spend a summer's evening with a group of friends...and a guaranteed way to impress them.

Barbecue from your indoor table in Cin Bal

But what happens in the cold, wet winter months when all of a sudden, sitting outside to laze about on cushions while the meat cooks over hot coals doesn't seem so appealing? That's when Cin Bal moves indoors.

Aside from the beautifully juicy and tender lamb tandir and the tempting choice of meze dishes, the whole Cin Bal experience centres around the barbecue. The owner of Cin Bal is obviously fully aware of this and so, to keep his restaurant appealing year-round, barbecue chimneys have been built at regular intervals along the outer walls of the building. A couple of brick chimneys in the middle of the room by the central fireplace make for a cosy atmosphere in what could otherwise be a stark room.

The central fireplace (şömine) soon warms the interior of Cin Bal up.

If you do go to Cin Bal in winter, choose your seating wisely. Wander in and sit down aimlessly and you could find yourself cheffing for both yourself and your friends for the night. They who sit near the little arches in the wall are they who will take charge of the barbecue - unless of course none of you fancy cooking for yourself, in which case, one of the waiters will do it for you (but it's just not the same if you do that).

I've taken charge occasionally but barbecues are generally left to Barry, as it was in this case!

Now, another reason we love to go to Cin Bal is because they hang all of their own meat. So this is just a little pointer here to vegetarians and those of you who eat meat but prefer not to think about where your meal has come from. Cin Bal are very proud of their produce and have their hanging meat on full display in a glass fridge for all to see.

Cin Bal's proud display of hanging sheep carcasses

This is part of what makes it Cin Bal for us - but if that's just not your bag, you might want to choose a seat that doesn't leave you catching sight of all that meaty loveliness every few minutes. We don't need to tell you where it is. You can't miss it!

Fethiye Harbour Photo - Fishing On The Harbour

2012-01-06T16:04:00.002+02:00

Today marks the start of another new series for this blog. For a while now, we've been toying with idea of doing a weekly Fethiye photo on a set day as my photo archives are just so jammed that it makes sense to share them here. Friday, for that nice Friday-feeling-weekend-feel has always seemed like a good day to do this.

But harmless as it may seem to some, committing to a weekly project is quite an undertaking for us. We post everything on this blog as and when. We don't do plans. Well, it's a new year, so let us begin with a fresh start. A Fethiye photo every Friday...

Fethiye Harbour Sunset

And here it is. Week 1, Photo 1. Whichever day of the week it may be, it's impossible these days to walk along Fethiye harbour without seeing a long row of fishing rods wedged into the concrete edging. This photo was taken a few weeks ago as we walked past Boğaziçi Restaurant towards home.

One of the fishermen was packing up for the day and had propped one of his fishing rods against the lamp. Some views just look right to me..and this was one of them. I managed to take a photo just before the guy appeared on the edge of the shot.

We hope you enjoyed our first photo in the series. We'll try to keep the photos seasonal so you can watch Fethiye change as the weather changes. Oh, and when we say Fethiye, we mean Fethiye and environs: Çaliş, Ovacık, Hisarönü, Ölü Deniz and the beautiful Kayaköy.

Eating in Sultanahmet: Tarihi Sultanahmet Köfteci

2012-01-04T18:57:00.000+02:00

Most tourists visiting Istanbul are likely to be staying in Sultanahmet - the area boasting Sultanahmet Camii (the Blue Mosque), Aya Sofya and Topkapı Palace - and of course, wherever there is a glut of tourists, it naturally follows that there is a glut of expensive souvenir shops, bars and restaurants. It's a fact of life wherever you are in the world and Sultanahmet is no exception.

But that doesn't mean people on a budget need to avoid these areas like the plague - and it also doesn't mean you have to pay ridiculous prices for a decent fill of Turkish food. You only have to walk a few hundred metres out of Sultanahmet to find little street food treats like the Cihan Derya Balık Lokanta. For a sit-down meal and a large bottled Efes (a rarity in Istanbul), we found Palatium to be reasonable and perfectly chilled - and of course, they have their added bonus of a little secret underworld, too.

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi, Istanbul

It's along the Divanyolu Caddesi, the main road leading from Sultanahmet towards Beyazıt, where you will find bars and restaurants with prices to make you develop a bad case of watery eyes. But even here, you can still fill find somewhere that will fill your tummy without decimating the insides of your wallet.

The Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi is one such place. We went there for the first time in October hoping for a simple, cheap (for Sultanahmet) meal and although it wasn't as good as the amazing köfte we ate at Edirnekapı's Durak Rumeli Köfteci (nothing will ever beat that - it was the situation we were in), it was certainly a decent köfte at a reasonable price.

A portion of Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi köfte

We sat in a 1920s-style eating area and ordered our köfte and the waiter soon arrived with a generous serving of 6 meaty köfte with a side of 3 large, pickled chillies and a basket of thick wedges of fresh bread. It definitely filled a corner for us. We also ordered a plate of piyaz because we just can't resist. Köfte without piyaz just isn't köfte for us.

Sultanahmet Tarihi Köftecisi is not the cheapest food you're going to find in Istanbul but to be able to sit in prime tourist land, a stone's throw from three of the most famous historic buildings in the world, the price and the quality gets a thumbs up from us.

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi is at 12, Divanyolu Caddesi, Sultanahmet.
We paid 11 lira each (October 2011) for a plate of köfte served with a side of pickled chillies and a basket of fresh bread.

New Year's Day in Fethiye And Some Ideas For 2012

2012-01-03T11:37:00.000+02:00

Happy 2012! New Year's Day in Fethiye is usually a quiet affair. It's the morning after the night before and party goers and families who enjoyed a late night to allow the new year in stay at home to recover and relax. Many of the restaurants remain closed; glittery decorations and popped balloons littering the floor inside. Yes, January 1st in Fethiye is the day when everyone takes a deep breath, breathes in the New Year and chills out.

Outdoor service along Fethiye harbour while the clean-up operations went on inside

Except, January 1st 2012 was a different story along Fethiye harbour. The last two days of 2011 were cold and wet but we woke up (eventually) on New Year's Day to a bright, sunny day and it was Sunday. Sunday is the day when Turkish families spend the day together and, in Fethiye, promenading along the harbour is a popular Sunday pastime.

Families enjoying a New Year stroll along Fethiye Harbour

Staff in the restaurants along the harbour were busy inside, sweeping up the remnants of the previous night while customers filled the tables outside, making the most of the New Year's Day sunshine. The whole harbour was buzzing with activity.

Candyfloss and inflatables for sale along Fethiye Harbour

Today is January 3rd but today is the beginning of our New Year. We've had family visiting for the week and they headed back to Dalaman Airport yesterday for their flight to Manchester. Today is the first day of normal, daily life for us in 2012.

We haven't made any New Year's Resolutions, but we have lots of ideas for 2012. We'll start running again tomorrow and hopefully take part in at least one of Turkey's running events of 2012. We'd like to travel to somewhere new in Turkey and explore some unfamiliar territory - this could possibly coincide with a running event - and an annual visit to Istanbul is always pencilled in somewhere in our heads even if it hasn't been promoted to the calendar. We'll also continue to experiment with different Turkish food and Turkish recipes as we've always done.

Of course, all of this will be reported via this blog! We're also working on a new look. One reason for this is to improve navigation. There are over 2 years worth of posts lurking in the archives here and we'd like people to be able to find what they're looking for easily. So, keep a lookout for that over the coming weeks.

We're looking forward to an exciting 2012 and hope you'll join us for the journey through the year.

Happy New Year From Fethiye

2011-12-31T11:21:00.001+02:00

The plan for today was to have a photo of Fethiye that we'd taken today on the final day of 2011. However, heavy raindrops are falling from the sky in steady fashion, the sky is a blanket of grey and there are no signs that the situation might improve any time soon.

So, here's the final Fethiye photo this year, taken in 2011 and in sunnier circumstances.

Fethiye in winter...on a sunnier day than it is today

Pin It

It's been a great 2011 for us and for the blog with more and more people finding us. Earlier in December, we looked back on the year by choosing our favourite posts about Turkish food and recipes and also reminisced about where we had managed to travel in Turkey.

So later on, we'll say güle güle to 2011 and hoşgeldin to 2012.

To all of you who read this blog, a great big thank you and Happy New Year! Enjoy the last day of 2011 and hopefully, we'll see you on the other side in 2012.

Herkes için, İyi Yıllar!

Yeni Yılınız Kutlu Olsun!

Hotels In Fethiye & Turkey

2011-12-29T11:59:00.000+02:00

A little claim to fame and some good news for Fethiye this morning as Trip Advisor placed the town on its list of 'destinations on the rise.' Whether that means the whole Fethiye region or just the town itself, we're not sure - but it's still nice to wake up to when a sizeable bunch of your friends rely on good tourist numbers in order to make a living. We'll see what the season brings.

It's that time of year when thoughts turn to summer holidays and short breaks - we've already mulled over quite a few ideas of where we might like to go in Turkey in 2012 - so this post is a reminder that you can book hotels and flights to Turkey via our blog.

Çalış and Fethiye Hotels

Pin It

As we write many of our posts about Fethiye, the page opens on the Fethiye & Çalış hotels section, but you can compare prices and book hotels all over Turkey (actually, you can book hotels all over the world but well, we're a Turkey blog).

2 of the hotels along the Karagözler in Fethiye - Yacht Classic and V-Go Guesthouse

Pin It

These two collages are photos I've taken throughout this year and all of these hotels - and hundreds more - feature in the Fethiye & Ölüdeniz sections. The site compares prices from most of the top online booking companies such as booking.com and hotels4u, so hopefully, you should be able to find the hotel you're looking for and at the best price.

You'll find the Fethiye & Turkey Hotels section towards the left-hand side of the menu tabs at the top of the page.

Are you planning to visit Turkey in 2012? If so, where will you go?

Turkish Street Food: Cihan Derya Balık Lokanta

2011-12-27T12:59:00.001+02:00

Turkey is well known for its fantastic street food and, in Istanbul, you could probably lay your hands on street food traditional to just about anywhere in Turkey. Whenever we visit Istanbul, one of the highlights of our time there is working our way through the variety on offer, and in October, we made our Turkish street food discovery of 2011 when we sampled and fell in love with the delights of the tantuni kebab.

The tiny and unassuming Cihan Derya Balık Lokanta in Beyazıt

But sometimes, we like to keep things simple and return to our familiar favourites. Hamsi ekmeği (anchovies in bread) at Karaköy fish market certainly fits into this category, as does this tiny balık (fish) lokanta in Beyazıt. This is also a place where you come for fish in bread.

Which would you choose?

Pin It

This is seafood of the crispy, battered, deep-fried variety and it's a welcome sight after you have walked uphill, along Divanyolu from Sultanahmet. As you trudge past the expensive restaurants geared towards the foreign tourists and pass the döner kebab stands, you do start to wonder if this little stretch of Istanbul has anything to offer the hungry wanderer on a budget. Don't get us wrong, we do munch our way through and enjoy a good few döner kebabs over the course of a year - we even did an ode to the döner kebab - but there are only so many you can eat on a long weekend in Istanbul when there's so much other tasty street food out there to get your gnashers into.

Deep-fried crispy prawns in fresh, crusty bread.

These days, our trips to Istanbul must involve a visit to Beyazıt so we can catch up with a friend who recently set up a business there after a move from Fethiye. Of course we look forward to seeing our friend...but we also look forward to stopping off en route at the Cihan Derya Balık Lokanta.

You can choose from calamari, hamsi, mussels, crab meat, mackerel, whiting and more, all lightly battered and plunged into steaming hot, bubbling oil. But our favourite - the one we always go for even though we say we'll get something different this time - is the plump, deep-fried, battered prawns. Topped with a white sauce and chilli flakes, this is heaven in a half-bread!

Cihan Derya Lokanta is in the Beyazıt area of Istanbul, opposite the Beyazıt metro stop.
Take away or eat in - there is an indoor seating area down a small alleyway just to the left.

Thinking of visiting Istanbul? Find The Best Hotel Prices For Istanbul On Turkey's For Life

Sıcak Şarap - Christmas In A Cup

2011-12-24T11:31:00.000+02:00

For us, there's no other drink that makes you feel quite as festive as a steaming hot cup of fruity, spicy red wine. Fortunately for us, sıcak şarap (mulled wine) is now popular in the bars of Fethiye over winter, and we've been known to enjoy the odd one just to warm ourselves up on arrival.

This time of year sees Christmas markets sprouting up all over Europe and we'd love to visit one of them sometime. When we were working in Manchester (England) over the winter months, we would finish work and head straight to the European Christmas market for a comforting glühwein and a bratwurst. It didn't matter what the weather was like; a glühwein with a shot of rum warms the coldest of hands and puts a smile on your face!

Whether you call it glühwein, mulled wine or sıcak şarap (hot wine), this time of year just isn't the same without it. We've got our ingredients ready, and we'll definitely have a pan on the hob, steaming away later on tonight.

A Recipe For Glühwein / Sıcak Şarap

No apologies for the holly frame. It's Christmas!

Making your own glühwein is easy. You just need a few ingredients, mix them together in a pan, heat them up and the result is festive, winter comfort in a cup.

Pour a full bottle of red wine into a large saucepan. You don't need to use expensive wine. Just a cheap bottle of house red will do the trick.
Add the juice of one large orange.
Crush a pinch of coriander seed and a couple of cloves and add that to the pan along with a small cinnamon stick. A pinch of allspice can be added instead of the cinnamon and cloves, if you like.
Now add a dessert spoonful of brown sugar and give everything a stir.
This bit is optional but DEFINITELY recommended. Add a good splash of brandy or dark rum - whichever you prefer - to the pan.
Place the lid on the pan and bring to the boil slowly. Remove the wine from the heat but leave the lid on and let it stand for a few minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.
For more comforting results, your mulled wine should be served in a cup rather than a glass. Place a sieve over the cup and ladle the wine through it until your cup is full to the brim with the festive goodness that is glühwein.

Cheers! Şerefe!

To all of you out there celebrating Christmas or enjoying the Holidays, thank you for reading and Merry Christmas!

Fethiye Weather - Four December Photos

2011-12-22T11:31:00.000+02:00

It's a question everyone asks: What's the weather like in Fethiye in _____? (Insert month). We all know July and August are scorchers on the Southwest coast of Turkey and rain or cloud is very rare. Spring and autumn are pleasant - our favourite time of year in fact - and winter can be anything from mild and sunny to stormy to just downright cold.

So far, this December has been wonderfully mild and I'm still to drag my winter coat from the wardrobe. A cardigan or small jacket (with an umbrella) is enough for now - but that could change any day. As we head towards the end of the month and New Year, December in Fethiye heralds the end of autumn temperatures and the beginning of wrap-yourself-up winter. It's a time of clear skies and crisp outlines; perfect for taking photos of the area. All of these photos were taken in December 2010.

December Sunshine in Fethiye

Koca Çalış

Koca Çalış Sunset

Pin It

I took this photo last December as we were walking along the beach in Koca Çalış. It was 6th December and a beautiful, sunny day. The temperature was mild and we'd been sat at a beach bar, enjoying a drink.

Ölü Deniz

A beautiful and deserted Belcekiz Beach in Ölü Deniz

Pin It

Why would we want to visit Ölü Deniz on a sunny day in the middle of winter when nearly everywhere is closed (Kumsal Pide is an Ölü Deniz winter haven) and the place is deserted? We've just answered our own question. To take in the amazing scenery in relative solitude.

Of course, December is not always wall to wall sunshine. This photo was taken on December 30th. The boulders you can see on the beach were washed up during the storm of 16th December; a storm that caused quite a bit of damage in nearby Çalış. Take a look at these post-storm photos of Çalış beach - the morning after the night before.

Gemiler Bay, near Kayaköy

Clear December sea at Gemiler Bay

Pin It

This photo of Gemiler Bay was taken on December 30th, the same day as the Ölü Deniz photo above, and looking at it has just jogged our memory. This was a particularly warm day. We had friends over from England for New Year and we were sat at the beach bar, enjoying a beer in the sunshine. It was so pleasant that one of our friends even went paddling in the sea - and it was a Turkish friend who went to paddle; not a British friend pretending it was summer. That's how warm it was.

Fethiye

Fethiye Marina in December

Pin It

Winter is when I really enjoy going out with my camera to take photos of Fethiye under vibrant blue skies. This photo was taken on December 28th. The friends who came out for New Year were staying at the Yacht Classic Hotel along the Karagözler. They had a fantastic terrace with jacuzzi and a seating area overlooking the marina. As you can see, the weather was perfect so we were able to sit outside with New Year drinks, admiring the view.

And we did say anything could happen with the Fethiye weather in December. As I'm typing this, the sky is heavy with grey cloud and steady rain has been falling since the early hours of this morning. But, the winter cold is still being kept at bay...for now.

Turkish Beer: Efes Gusta Wheat Beer

2011-12-20T14:20:00.000+02:00

Back in November we wrote about an interesting variation on the Efes Dark beer theme. That was no ordinary dark beer. That particular beer was Efes Dark Kahve Aromalı; a dark beer with a hint of coffee flavouring. It's not a beer we could drink all night, but it's definitely a good winter tipple and we'll no doubt be enjoying the odd bottle over Christmas and New Year.

Over the festive season we'll be in Fethiye, and the fridge will of course be well-stocked with Efes Pilsen along with other festive liquid treats. We'll also be making space somewhere on the shelves for a few bottles of another Efes production, Gusta Buğday Bira.

Gusta is Efes's contribution to the world of wheat beer and, despite my love of beers, wheat beer is a drink that just does not suit my palette. No, Gusta will be in the fridge for the benefit of any visitors that care to call upon us - and as one of the beers of choice for Barry.

Whenever we go to Greece, we always make the most of the various choices on offer and enjoy working our way through a few beers from different countries. And Barry always goes for a wheat beer as one of his choices. When we were beer sampling in Rhodes Old Town, the choice was Paulaner. The weather was hot and sunny and a cloudy, murky looking beer just does not cut it for me in those temperatures. As soon as he poured it into the glass, I could smell those familiar fruity aromas that distinguish wheat beers from a refreshing pilsen. Not for me! Crisp, light and clear is what I'm looking for.

With wheat beer, as far as I'm concerned, you either like it or you don't. For those of you out there that do enjoy the distinctive aromas and flavours of murkiness in a glass, Gusta is a perfectly good example of a wheat beer...according to Barry. It's usually served in bars in Turkey in its corresponding tulip-shaped Gusta glass and at 5% it's not as strong as many of the German wheat beers out there. But when it comes to the morning after, that's not always a bad thing - especially if you're like us and are likely to be mixing your drinks between now and January 1st 2012!

Are you a fan of wheat beer? Have you tried Gusta? If so, what did you think of it?

Istanbul: Sultanahmet's Secret Underworld - Palatium

2011-12-18T19:34:00.001+02:00

Howling wind, driving rain - and a huge floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall window radiating a warm, inviting glow to the outside world. It's little wonder that every time we walked past Palatium restaurant in Sultanahmet, it was a packed. We were two of its very regular customers whilst we were in Istanbul in October, as it was only a few doors down from Antique Hostel & Guesthouse where we stayed and they were serving large bottles of Efes Pilsen; a treat we have never found previously in Istanbul!

A former carpet shop, Palatium is now a thriving bar / restaurant serving meals baked in a brick oven. It's one of many establishments in Sultanahmet serving the masses of tourists who are here to visit the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya amongst other attractions. At first glance, all appears normal. But not everything is as it seems in this restaurant. In fact, from frequenting this building, we realised that not everything is as it seems in Sultanahmet.

Palateum, Sultanahmet, Istanbul

We'd been in Palatium twice before we noticed a section of floor made from reinforced glass - it had been obscured by floor cushions on our previous visits. Not being one to trust reinforced glass, I peered down from a safe tile-floored distance while Barry stood directly above the emptiness below.

Dim, yellow lighting created shadows over piles of earth, bricks and archways. The waiter came over and told us that the building's owners had discovered this underground world and had excavated it themselves. 'You can go down there if you like,' he said and pointed to some steep, iron steps in the rear courtyard. We liked! Off we went, ignoring the wind and rain.

Byzantine archways beneath Sultanahmet

Underneath this restaurant, and the roads and pavements of much of Sultanahmet, is an underground world of brick arches and tunnels. Even in this small excavated area, it's possible to see further pathways, still blocked by earth. A rabbit warren of tunnels that must have linked up to serve this area of Istanbul at one time.

And then we heard voices. Where could they be coming from? We were the only people down there...or so we thought.

Byzantine corridors beneath Palateum

We ducked our heads and went through an archway towards where the voices were coming from. A group of tourists were stood listening to a guide as he explained about the mini maze of corridors. It's thought that if they ever get fully excavated, this particular section of tunnel will eventually lead to Topkapı Palace, formerly the Great Palace in the Byzantine era. We listened for a moment, fascinated - and then remembered that we were supposed to be the only people down there. Where had these people appeared from?

Barry disappeared round the corner and through another archway and immediately bobbed his head back round, grinning. 'You'll not believe this. Come and look at this.'

Peering across to another restaurant while gazing up to Palateum

I followed him and we entered into a smaller chamber. A chandelier hung from bare rock and a tall plant obscured a doorway - a doorway into a completely different restaurant! We were about 15 feet below our restaurant. We could see the customers sitting on beanbags on the reinforced glass above our heads (top right of the photo directly above). We found out that this restaurant is Albura Kathisma Restaurant - this is where the tourist group must have appeared from - and it has its entrance somewhere round the corner from Palatium on Akbıyık Caddesi, down the hill.

It was as though the people dining in the restaurant had no idea we were there, spying on them. Maybe they didn't. We felt invisible. How exciting. How completely weird...and definitely one of the unexpected highlights of this year's trip to Istanbul. It certainly wasn't on our Istanbul itinerary! We sloped away unnoticed, through the archways and back upstairs into the other 2011 world from whence we came.

Useful Info For Wannabe Sultanahmet Underground Explorers

Palatium is on Kutlugün Sokak, opposite the 4 Seasons Hotel in Sultanahmet.
This is not an official tourist attraction and we were not asked for any entrance fee or 'donation.'

Get Rates For Hotels & Hostels In Istanbul On Turkey's For Life

Turkish Food & Recipes: 2011 Favourites

2011-12-16T11:35:00.000+02:00

A few days ago we went through our Turkey travel highlights of 2011 and, despite a bit of 'we never go anywhere' grumbling from me throughout the year, we realised that we've actually not done too bad! It was a good exercise to look back at where we have actually been.

Well, now it's time to loosen belts, forget about calories, sit back and enjoy a foodie feast.

Turkish Food & Recipes - 2011 Highlights
As with the travel post, we had difficulty choosing favourites for some months. If you know this blog well, you'll know we're quite partial to investigating, tasting and making Turkish food and then writing about it. There are a lot of Turkish food posts for 2011!

January 2011 - Turkish Breakfast: One of our favourite pastimes in Turkey is whiling away a few hours with friends, picking our way through köy kahvaltası, the traditional Turkish village breakfast. Whether it's sitting in Kayaköy or by the sea, it's the best meal of the day. More of a banquet than a meal, click the link to see photos and read our post on Turkish breakfast.

February 2011 - Döner Kebabı: The döner kebab is probably the meal that springs to mind when you ask people what they know about Turkish food. This post was a celebration of the real döner kebab - not the poor quality ones sold throughout the UK at 3am every weekend. Click the link to read our post about this most famous of Turkish street foods, the döner kebab.

March 2011 - Pumpkin Soup: Balkabağı Çorbası (Pumpkin Soup) is a regular on our menu throughout the colder months in Fethiye. Squash is widely available on the Fethiye markets and the soups they make are colourful and comforting when the weather is miserable and grey outside. Click the link to follow our Turkish recipe for pumpkin soup.

April 2011 - Sigara Böreği: Börek (phyllo pastry dishes) is very common in Turkish cuisine. There aren't many people who come to Turkey on holiday and leave without having tried sigara böreği - or 'cheese rolls' as they're often called on the menus of Fethiye. Sigara böreği was the first Turkish recipe I ever attempted and it's taken until April of this year to post the recipe! If you'd like to make your own, you can follow our Turkish recipe for sigara böreği.

May 2011 - Ayran: Foreign visitors to Turkey have a love/hate relationship with ayran. We've never met a Turkish person who doesn't like ayran, but when foreigners are let loose to do their own shopping, ayran is often mistaken for milk. A watered down yoghurt-salt drink does not taste good in your morning tea! This post got lots of comments from people who had fallen into that trap (we've done it, too!) Here is our post on the famous Turkish drink, Ayran.

June 2011 - Meze: Thank you to the people who invented Turkish meze in an age gone by. We take great pleasure in going to the glass fridges of restaurants and choosing an array of meze dishes - we usually choose too many! But meze is not just about the food. It's about the company you're with. Read our post about the joy of Turkish meze.

July 2011 - Geren: Still on the meze theme, geren is our meze discovery of 2011. We were in a restaurant in Dalyan, choosing meze dishes from the fridge and the waiter explained to us what geren was. We ordered it, loved it and the waiter explained so clearly what it was that we then came home and made it ourselves. Here is our Turkish recipe for geren.

August 2011 - Spicy Chickpea & Aubergine Stew: This dish is popular all over the Middle East and, despite it being called a 'stew,' it's a light meal in summer when served lukewarm. As soon as we see the word spicy, we're immediately interested in trying a dish. This recipe is from one of our favourite, cookery books, 'Best Ever Mediterranean Cookbook.' If you like the looks of this dish (centre photo), click this link for spicy chickpea and aubergine stew.

September 2011 - Lamb Tandır: Slow-cooked, tender, juicy chunks of lamb. Words cannot describe how good this dish is and the people who commented on the post agreed. Our favourite place to eat lamb tandır is at Cin Bal in Kayaköy. If you want to know why, read our post about lamb tandır.

October 2011 - Köfte: We've done a Turkish recipe for köfte in the past, but this post from October was about the best köfte meal we have ever eaten. It's possibly one of our favourite meals of 2011 because of the journey we had beforehand. Click here to find out why this köfte was so memorable: Köfte comes to the rescue.

November 2011 - Tantuni Kebabı: This is easily our foodie discovery of 2011. We've read so much in the past about this meaty kebab from Mersin and we really wanted to try it. When we were in Istanbul in October, we made it our mission to hunt down tantuni. We stumbled across a tantuni place in the back streets of Beyoğlu and loved it so much, we returned again the day after. Here is our post about our new favourites when it comes to Turkish street food: tantuni kebab.

December 2011 - Kanat (Chicken Wings): Another staple of the meaty side of the Turkish diet. We love chicken wings and have eaten lots of them since moving to Fethiye. They're a regular feature on any Turkish, Sunday afternoon barbecue - but we also enjoy them baked in the oven. Here is our recipe for oven-baked kanat.

There really were too many Turkish food and recipe highlights to choose from for this list. We've eaten our way through a lot of food throughout 2011 and we're looking forward to continuing in the same fashion throughout 2012. What are your favourite foodie highlights of 2012?

Datça Peninsula - Exploring Knidos

2011-12-14T13:36:00.000+02:00

When a friend asked us if we fancied a weekend on the Datça Peninsula a couple of weeks back, we jumped at the chance. After our long weekend in Istanbul in October, we thought our 2011 travels in Turkey were through. Datça was to be an unexpected, added bonus - especially when we found out we would be staying with our friend's parents in the village of Yazıköy. Petrol money and paying towards food and drink was all the money we would need.

The road to Knidos from Yazıköy

It soon transpired that Yazıköy is really close to the tip of the nose of the Datça Peninsula - and therefore close to the Hellenistic ruins of Knidos. We were excited. The last time we were in Datça, 8 years previously, we had tried to get to Knidos, but the mountain road was a track at the time and, on that particular day, impassable. Knidos has remained on our radar ever since.

Thankfully, despite being very high and narrow in places, the road to Knidos is now tarmacked and the ruins are easily reached. It was November and we had the whole site completely to ourselves.

The ancient Greek site of Knidos

Turkey is well known for its plethora of ruins spanning many significant historical periods and, to be honest, when it comes to ancient Greek and Roman sites, it's easy to become blasé about their presence. It's easy to become 'ruined-out.' But some sites are special - and Knidos is one of those sites.

We could go into detail and tell you all about how Knidos was a rich, cosmopolitan city, how famous mathematicians studied here, how a certain Sir Charles Newton helped himself to many of the site's statues and shipped them to London (you'll have to go to the British Museum if you want to see them) but you can read all that in a guidebook. And, whilst we're interested in the historical value of Knidos, it's not just the history that makes it special for us.

The round temple at Knidos

Like the Lycian and Roman site of Tlos, Knidos is perched on a steep hillside, providing dramatic views. Whereas Tlos affords views over the Xanthos Valley, Knidos is surrounded by the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. This very tip is the place many people class as the geographical division between the two seas.

Normally packed with tourists, on the November day we were there, Knidos was windswept, lonely and beautiful. A place to come and sit or explore in solitude. We battled the constant wind to make it to the top of the hills and I was grateful for the focus-lock feature on my camera - it was impossible to hold my hands still to take a photo, so strong were the gusts rushing in from the open sea.

Excavated stonework at Knidos on the Datça Peninsula

Like many ancient sites all over the world, there are occasional information boards describing the purpose of particular structures or marble blocks, but we were too taken with the scenery - both the natural setting and the layout of Knidos around it - to concentrate on the details. The last time we were completely alone in trekking around a site like this was when we hiked around Cadianda above Üzümlü, near Fethiye.

Knidos theatre, over looking the sea

From Cadianda, we looked out across the Taurus and Akdağlar mountain ranges and we looked down over a distant Fethiye and the Mediterranean. It was silent and hidden. From above Knidos, we viewed the ancient city below us and the vast, open sea. Where Cadianda is tucked away, as if being kept a secret by the thick, forest pines, Knidos is completely exposed to whatever ferocities of weather care to pass that way. Exploring Knidos on a cool autumn day is an exhilarating experience.

Knidos: Useful Information

Knidos is situated on the Tekirburun tip of the Datça Peninsula close to the village of Yazıköy.
The site is open daily from 8:30am.
Entrance fee (November 2011) was 8 TL (about £3).
A museum shop at the entrance to Knidos sells books and souvenirs to do with the site.
Refreshments and snacks are available from a cafe, opposite the site entrance, by the marina.
Knidos is completely exposed to the elements and there is no shade. Take protective clothing if you are visiting during the hot summer months.

Browse Hotels In Datça on Turkey's For Life

Travelling Turkey - Our Favourite Posts of 2011

2011-12-12T10:59:00.001+02:00

December is whizzing by and we're careering headlong towards 2012, so we thought we'd do what everyone else does at this time of year and take a look back at 12 of our favourite posts of 2011; one for each month.

Sitting with notebook and pen and scrolling through the archives this morning, we soon realised there were too many posts to choose from. How do you choose a Turkish recipe over a fun day trip from Fethiye, a short break or a fantastic meal in Turkey? Well, we couldn't! The solution we came up with is a 3-part mini-series; a celebration of 2011 before it disappears forever. Without any further ado, here is Part 1:

Travelling Turkey: Our 12 Favourites of 2011

There are a couple of cheats in this section as we couldn't decide between posts for some of the months.

January 2011 - Gökova: Due to annoying flight changes, last December and the one before involved long drives to Bodrum to pick up stranded friends who were coming to Fethiye for New Year. The highlight of such a long drive is the amazing view over the Gulf of Gökova as you climb towards Muğla. Click this link to see our post on the Gulf of Gökova.

February 2011 - Af Kule: Not so much travelling Turkey as trekking Turkey. Our post on the trek to Af Kule monastery from Kayaköy attracted a lot of attention and is still the 'most commented' post on the blog. The views are as dramatic as the sheer drops beneath you so Barry had to be let loose with the camera whilst I remained rooted to the spot.

March 2011 - Antalya: March was the month where we headed 3 hours east of Fethiye to the city of Antalya. One of the highlights of Antalya for us was exploring Kaleiçi, the old, walled city.

April 2011 - Antalya: Still in Antalya, we posted a photo of Hadrian's Gate and told the story of our communication problems with a local traffic policeman. How were we supposed to know that the Üç Kapı he kept repeating to us was the Turkish word for Hadrian's Gate?

May 2011 - Rhodes, Greece: Wow. We couldn't get over how crowded this Greek island was. This post was all about trying to get our heads round how many people could possibly squash into the walled enclave that is Rhodes Old Town.

June 2011 - Sarsala Koyu, Dalaman: This beach was voted for by readers in a favourite-beach-poll we did on our Facebook page. We'd never heard of it and asked for more details. A few days later, in between a drop-off and pick-up at Dalaman Airport, we drove to beautiful Sarsala Koyu. Thanks to the people who told us about Sarsala. This is possibly our find of 2011. We were torn between this post and our day trip to Kalkan for June. Which one would you have chosen?

July 2011 - Istanbul: I had a set of photos sitting on my laptop that I had changed to black and white. Most of them were of older areas of Istanbul - a city we just can't stop ourselves from visiting - so we did a photo post called Istanbul In Black And White. Click on the link to view the photos.

August 2011 - Meis / Kastellorizo, Greece: We're not sure when we'll see this beautiful Greek island again, so this post had to make it into our travel highlights of 2011. August was the month we were supposed to apply for our Turkish residency but it wasn't to be. We made the most of it by taking the opportunity to enjoy a day trip from Kaş to Meis.

September 2011 - Dalyan: A strange one to use as a travel highlight as we were sad to be taking friends back to the airport. But this post was about using the pretty Dalyan area as a fun way of putting off the post-holiday-blues before you even get on the plane. Click to read about a perfect last day in Dalyan.

October 2011 - Saklıkent Gorge: It was a tough decision not including Kariye Museum in Istanbul for October but we couldn't ignore Saklıkent either. How on earth did we manage to write a blog about the Fethiye area for so long without getting to Saklıkent? We finally visited this colossal gorge again in October of this year when we spent a very relaxing day there with friends. Click the links to read more about Saklıkent Gorge or our very filling Saklıkent lunch.

November 2011 - Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul: Süleymaniye Camii is our favourite mosque and, after a long wait while it was closed for restoration, we got to visit it again this year while we were in Istanbul. This post has photos of the interior and of the peaceful garden area. Click the link to read more about the Magnificent Süleymaniye Mosque.

December 2011 - Datça Peninsula: We didn't expect any more travels for 2011 so we jumped at the chance when we were invited to Datça with friends. We have more posts to come on our time spent soaking up the tranquillity of this peninsula, but this post is about the olive growing area Yazıköy, our friend's lovely home village.

Have we missed anything out? What are your travel highlights of 2011? Let us know in the comments below.

Istanbul: Nostalgic Beyazıt

2011-12-11T20:45:00.001+02:00

If you know this blog, you'll know that we're a team effort - and this half of the team knows very little about, and just cannot get interested in, the tech side of blogging. I like to write about our daily life in Fethiye and our travels and eats in Turkey. I love to take photos of the Turkish landscape, foods and people. I can arrange the writing and the photos into a post and then that's my half of the deal done. I don't do tech!

It's only 4 years since I got my first digital camera, having resisted for as long as possible. Photos were for flip albums and frames (if they were good), not for sitting on computers. Eventually, I succumbed and a gradual process began where I became less fearful of sticking the camera lead into my laptop, loading the photos and then (obsessively) filing them into correct folders, numbered and labelled.

Beyazıt, Istanbul

And then, just as I got used to that simple process, photo editing became possible. Just no! I wasn't into that one little bit. Under the guise of being a purist and standing by my very strong view that a photo is what it is, I ignored the existence of all photo-editing software. Of course all of that refusal was to do with my distinct lack of interest in, and fear of, tech. But then we started this blog and I started to use Picasa to store my photos. It was more convenient that way. I worked that bit out.

And over time, because of the blog, I have become more interested in sitting with my laptop and playing around with my photos. A couple of days ago, I ventured into a whole new world and started to familiarise myself with supposedly simple tasks. Needless to say, it was anything but simple at first, but I persevered.

About this photo
I took this photo in Istanbul when we were there in October. This is Divanyolu, the main road through Sultanahmet, going towards Beyazıt. The side streets of Beyazıt are crammed with tiny shops, market traders and shoppers. No room for cars or vans means these guys are the main traffic to watch out for should you want to leave the area with your toes intact.

It's amazing how much weight they load onto these trolleys before dragging them up the steep, narrow streets, passing us by as we trudge ever upwards. These guys and their carts are a big feature of the Beyazıt area of Istanbul and as this whole section of the city has such a nostalgic feel to it, it seemed fitting to give this photo and older, more historic effect. What do you think? (Be kind. It's my first attempt!)