Just when you think life can’t get any more hectic, it does!
Yılmaz has finished work now so I am now chief cook and bottle washer, as well as all the other jobs I do. The cooking doesn’t bother me, actually I quite enjoy it, but it means I am in from 8am until about 10 or 11 at night which is a long day. Thank goodness we have mostly repeat guests in who are understanding if things take a little longer. Not all though…we had some new arrivals in who complained that they went to reception and there was nobody there to help them. Unfortunately we are not a big enough business to have somebody sat on reception all day, but as all the other guests agreed, it isn’t hard to spot one of us running round in the kitchen or bar and ask for help.
I did have a couple of days off while friends Grant and Dawn were here. We had one lovely day in Kalkan and Patara beach (18km of sand, great waves), and another day we went to Günlüklü beach and Göcek. Günlüklü is named for the trees that grow there, one of the few places in the world where they grow naturally. They are called ‘liquid amber’ trees because of the amber sap they produce which is highly valued in the cosmetics and perfume industry. They also have very pretty bright green leaves and provide great shade and the beach has been tidied up a lot and is a lovely spot now.
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| Cem in his usual place |
The hotel is still full, but now the children have gone back it is noticeably quieter. Until the evening that is when, especially with Frank around, the bar is quite lively. We upset the neighbours the other night and have promised to be more careful about the noise levels. It isn’t the music, so much as the laughter which at least means people are having a good time. Will have to make sure they do it inside the bar with the doors shut after midnight though!
Had a great ‘Turkish night’ last week. We ordered a belly dancer as usual and she was pretty good, though that was partly because she had plenty of enthusiastic guests to work with. But she also brought along an added extra (her other half I think) in the form of our barman of several years ago who goes by the name of Sylvester (can’t even remember his real name) and is now doing fire shows. Now I have to confess that I was very dubious about letting him lose in the bar with lighted missiles, remembering him as quite keen but a bit of a twit and having visions of him hurling his ‘flaming balls’ into the audience, if not setting fire to the bar roof. However I had to eat my words when he put on the best fire show I have EVER seen. He was truly amazing and finished up doing somersaults, still swinging his fire balls. Needless-to-say, guests who had come along were suitable impressed and those who hadn’t because they thought it would be just another belly dancing show were disappointed.
Just goes to show, you never know what will happen at Poppy! It’s nearly 9am now, and I wonder what today will bring…
