Out and about in Kalkan

Just got back from another  10 days in our favourite place.  Arrived to rather murky weather, still warm, but overcast, and some rain (a rarity in May/June).  The jacaranda trees on either side of the apartment at the back were in full bloom, and they really are a wonderful colour, more fully enjoyed by the people who are in the apartment at the back, but a lovely backdrop to the block.

Photos of Meis Island

This time we had decided to really flop around doing not much, but it is difficult when there is still so much we haven’t seen.  We had no guests staying with us, so could be really selfish, and did indeed spend a lot of time reading and swimming.  One of our trips out this time was to Meis, the Greek island with a very interesting history, off the coast, near Kas.  We drove down to Kas to get the ferry on the first Saturday, only to be told that it only sailed on weekdays,  so as we were down  there, we drove around trying to find the ancient ampitheatre of Antephellos, which seemed to be pretty elusive.  Just on the outskirts of Kas on the road to the peninsula, we saw about fifty men sitting outside a café having what was obviously going to be a feast.  There was loud music playing and a really festive spirit.  As I just love weddings, we parked and walked back, and I took a photo of the men receiving a blessing before the start of the meal.  We then sat at a patisserie owned by a Turkish/German woman and ordered a coffee.  She had two friends with her, and they were sharing a birthday cake which looked delicious.  She obviously saw our envious looks and brought us a plate of cherries which were delicious, followed by a plate each of the most delicious cake! which she wouldn’t accept payment for.  True Turkish hospitality, and the sort of thing that happens all the time. 

Another example of this happened later in the week, when we were parked outside a barber’s in Kalkan, whilst George bought some screws in the hardware shop which sells absolutely everything.  The car was next to a tree covered in a sort of canvas tarpaulin presumably so that no fruit could fall to the ground, either that or to protect it from birds.  As I watched a man came out of the barber shop, scaled the tree and started picking the fruit and throwing them into the canvas.  I asked him what fruit it was, I had never seen it before, and he gave me a handful to try.   They looked as if they were overripe – white, squashed gooseberry type things, but were the sweetest fruit I had ever tasted.  He said they were called dut – but that was as much as we were able to communicate apart from my thanking him.

I had just finished reading The Junior Officer’s Reading Club – immensely unputdownable and fascinating, and I am in awe at the modern soldier’s bravery and skill set – but I remember reading that the children in Afghanistan were scrabbling on the ground to eat the Toot fruit – obviously the same thing.  I have since looked it up and it is a white mulberry.  Very short season, difficult to pack so seldom seen in markets or shops, and sometimes made into jams, but the best thing seems to be put it in your mouth as quickly as you can and just savour it……

One morning we went with our friend Halit who owns the local glamorous silver shop, a must for every female who comes into Kalkan, to breakfast at Adam’s, which is a family owned restaurant just outside Kalkan with absolutely jaw dropping views over the sea.  He and his family have lived there for generations.  We ordered Turkish breakfast and within ten minutes the most wonderful spread was laid out.   Olives, fried halloumi cheese,  yoghurt, honey, tahini, butter, tomatoes, baked eggs, breads of all sorts, jams, mekez which seemed to be a sort of grape or maybe other fruit jelly, and which Halit taught us to mix with the tahini and spread on bread.  Delicious.  Please don’t come out to Turkey and look round for full English breakfasts, you will be missing so much.

One evening we sat next to a Turkish couple from Istanbul, who were on their first holiday together, having met on the internet a month ago, and had a lovely long conversation about Turks, the Muslim faith, the forthcoming election and food!  People are so sharply divided about the merits of the candidates  -  we are of course extremely interested to know the outcome, although it is unlikely that our position as British  owners in Turkey would change, I suppose you never know.

We once more visited our favourite carpet shop, and this time bought eight cushion covers made from a really attractive kelim for our new cottage in England.  When we got them home they look perfect.  We also bought a runner .  We also treated the apartment to a wonderful citrus green bean bag for the balcony.  Snuggling down on that with a book early evening and a glass of wine is just my idea of heaven, keeping an eye on the sunset as you read.