Love Kalkan

 I love Kalkan and these are some of the reasons why.
Kalamar bay... deeeelicioussss.









This is a view of the Meltem apartments where we are staying.  I thought there were members of my family in this pic, but I think they're hiding.  Note that there are several ways of keeping fit here.  Hill and step climbing being the most common and probably most effective, with swimming, snorkelling and diving up there too (top in my book!)

Dave is not asleep, merely mentally working out which runway should be used when coming into his private airstrip near Kalkan...

Another view of the bay from the Kulube beach club.  Lots of steps lead you to little spots where you can sunbathe and then leap into the deep blue sea.  Snorkelling here is fun, although there aren't always as many fishes to see as last year.  Still, if you lie still on the top of the sea and wait various beautiful and peculiar looking fish and crabs emerge.  Love it.  If you don't snorkel you don't realise just how much wild life is gently swimming around your feet!

Kalkan again!

We're back!  

 
Right now, at 7 am I'm sitting looking across Kalamar bay, listening to the sound of a boat chugging across the perfectly calm blue sea.  It's just the most wonderful view and is very high on the list of my top things about Kalkan.
Also up there on my list is the people here.  How can it be that almost everyone here is so friendly happy and laid back?  That's locals and visitors.  Amazing that this little place can have such a good vibe!

So, what else?  Well yesterday we went to the Kalamar Beach club where we were lucky enough to get sunbeds right next to the sea with a view across the bay to die for (yes, I know I'm a bit of sucker for views!)  My snorkling kit came out and I had my first encounter of the year with the underwater world of the Turkish Mediterranean.  We also had a yummy cheese pie snack and a few drinks and all this came to around £15 - sunbed and free pedalos etc included - plus a free taxi back to our apartment.  The friendly and of so efficient staff even patched up my other half when he managed to hurt himself jumping off one of the rafts. (Must teach him how to dive...)

Next, restaurants.  Well, the plan was eat out less and eat in more, but we've failed miserably on that score and have eaten out each night.  All 3 meals were great and 2 of them were nice and cheap!  Ali Baba's the first night gave us a chance to sample lots of different very tasty Turkish dishes, whilst the beautifully sited Fener cafe - we sat overlooking the sea - provided us with just what we fancied last night - chicken shish kebab, 2 seafood tagliatelle and a cheese burger washed down with a bottle of wine, a couple of Efes and some soft drinks for under £50 (there are 4 of us).  It was also lovely to go back to Doy Doy -even if just for a drink this time, although I can't wait to get there for a meal!
Our expensive meal (and it was a bit ouch) was at Bread and more on the Kalamar road.  It was a great night out with live music provided by 2 talented Turkish musicians.  The food was excellent - meze starters followed by Turkish specialities, all of which we enjoyed. But most of my memories of the evening are of the waiters with their great floor show as they danced to the musicians and encouraged others to join in.  It was fun and apparently happens every Friday!  The reason it was expensive was the wine we consumed - too much... I can't quite remember the bill - it was my turn to pay - but just as it arrived I started to feel a little strange so my other half was landed with it!

I do have an excuse - which leads to another accolade for Kalkan.  I acquired a gammy leg (from an insect bite) the day before my hols, so I was already armed with antibiotics and other paraphanalia when I arrived.  But it clearly needed some treatment once I'd arrived here and I have been so grateful and impressed with the people who have helped me out - Turkish and English.  I suspect that I should not have been mixing the drink and drugs though on our night at Bread and more...
All in all it's been a brilliant start to our holiday and I'm sure I will update again later on. 

Cocktails for slimmers - The Withdean Wobble-Buster

  Summer is here!  True, we are experiencing a little precipitation this weekend - but that has its upside.  It gave me a moment of mirth when my dear daughter slithered into the house literally dripping all over the carpet.  I made her a nice cup of tea, but how much happier she may have been if I'd been able to offer her a
 'Withdean Wobble-Buster' to raise her spirits!

The conversation may have initially have gone like this:

enter daughter with appearance of drowned rat

mother:   (laughing with a drain like quality) Oh, are you wet?
daughter: (with a slightly sarcastic tinge)  Just a bit...
mother:   Is it raining then.
daughter: (short pause)  Can you get me a towel... please...
mother:   Have you put your bike away in the garage?
daughter:  (definite huff)  I'm just going to do that...
mother:    So you don't need a towel yet then...
daughter:  ******

This is not a good example of a positive parent-child relationship and I suggest the following conversation may improve matters.

enter daughter with appearance of drowned rat

mother:  ( tittering - but in a supportive manner) Oh darling, how lucky for you that you've been drenched in natural h2O.  You look stunning
daughter: (with slightly sarcastic tinge)  Actually it's been torrential rain and I'm not all that ecstatic about it.
mother:   How about a nice hot drink then - or wait a minute - how about trying that new cocktail that    everyone's talking about - The Withdean Wobble-buster!  It's guaranteed to make you feel great about yourself!
daughter:  (short pause) Can you get me a towel please.
mother:     (slight sigh)  Have you put your bike away?  You could at least do that even if you're so unsupportive about my new cocktail...
daughter:  ( looks outside at rain gushing down in bucketfuls and adds slight sigh - like mother, like daughter-)  ok maybe a Withdean Wobble-buster would be lovely.  Thankyou.... Are you saying I'm fat???

(I must say for the record here that my daughter is most definitely not fat - very slim in fact.  It is with my own weight loss plan in mind that I devised the Withdean Wobble-buster.)
But you get my drift, I hope. So here without any further ado is the recipe for

The Withdean Wobble-Buster Cocktail


Ingredients:
sparkling rose wine
Plenty of Ice cubes
A cocktail stick
Assortment of summer fruits - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc


Half fill a small wine glass with ice.
Add sparkling rose wine until the glass is full.
Spear pieces of fruit onto the cocktail stick and add to glass.
Place remaining bits of fruit on small plate, which also doubles as drink coaster.
Put glass in the middle of of small plate.
Admire greatly
Drink drink and eat the bits of fruit...

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