2012 season at Poppy has begun! We have a few rooms of guests in – all very
nice. It always takes a little time to
get back into routines after the long winter break. I am up early even in winter, but once the
boys have gone off to school I can do things slowly. Now I have to get all my home chores done and
be at the hotel by 8. Not so bad really,
and with a 3 minute journey to work by bicycle (with Holly the dog in tow – or
more often towing me) I can’t complain!
As I am going to be doing the cooking
this year I have spent some time getting the kitchen how I want it. Now I have everything in place and it is – I
think – easy to use. The down-side is I
now get really cross with anybody who moves things, puts things back in the
wrong place, or generally disturbs my order.
I would like to ban everyone from the kitchen but that would mean I
would have to cater to the ‘staff’ all the time. I do cook for everybody once a day – good
filling Turkish meals like dry beans and rice, aubergine with mince (a sort of
Turkish version of moussaka which goes
by the charming name of ‘belly slit open’ – that is the aubergine’s belly,
hopefully not the eater’s!)
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| caretta caretta turtle at the beach |
The local wildlife has been putting
in an appearance recently with several people saying they have seen turtles in
the shallow water just off the beach (I think it is mating time) and someone
telling me he sees dolphins nearly every day in the late afternoon. Our boat is in the boatyard at the moment –
wooden boats have to be taken out and inspected every year and there were quite
a few changes we wanted to make to it – but hopefully when we are able to go
out again we will get to see dolphins.
We are planning to do private trips for the hotel guests – up to about
15 people for a tour of quiet bays and islands and maybe some ‘sunset’
trips. There is nothing more relaxing
than pulling into a small bay as the sun goes down and lying back to enjoy some
food and drink and the gentle rocking of the boat!
I was sent a feature from the Daily
Telegraph which focuses on investment in Turkey but inevitably talks quite a
lot about tourism. Here are some
interesting facts:
·
76%
of Brits polled who had visited Turkey
said their holidays were ‘better than expected’ and 70% ranked their trip as 1
or 2 on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is the best
·
The
top reasons for choosing Turkey
were climate, history and culture, fair price, Turkish hospitality,
family-friendly environment and accommodation facilities
·
Turkey comes 2nd globally in
terms of number of hotel beds and ranks 7th on the world’s
most-visited destination list (according to World Tourism Organization)
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| another nice picture from Dalyan |
Another reason to visit Çalış is the carnival which will be held this
year for the 5th time from 27th May to 2nd June. The programme this year includes a craft
fair, oil wrestling competition (a traditional Turkish sport which has to be
seen to be appreciated!), a beach football tournament and entertainment from
various musicians and bands. Carnival
day will include the grand parade along the sea front and a big concert in the
evening. I hope the weather is kinder
than it was last year but I am sure whatever happens that a good time will be
had by all and lots of money raised.
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| our winning 'army' at the carnival 2009 |
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