A Week in Turkey

[simonwebb74]

We we have decided last minute to book a week in Turkey. http://wdisneysecrets.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

My Mother in Law said that their villa was available for 1 week in between bookings.

So yesterday we managed to:

Get authorised absence from school for our son
My wife and I booked our holiday from work
I rearranged my on call cover with work
Arranged with Lisa to look after Mabel (The Labradoodle)
Organised for someone else to run the football team at a tournament.
Oh, and booked flights!!!


We are traveling with hand luggage only to save money on the flight (It added 15% to the flight cost to take suitcases!!). The thinking is that as we are staying at the house we can do the washing as we go along, packing should be interesting!!


So we are off to Olu Deniz on 6th June for a week in the sun, playing in the pool and on the beach and basically just chilling out with the kids.

Oh and in a bar on Saturday 12th to watch England v USA :yes:

[Tink]

Sounds like fun! Take a swimsuit, a change of clothes and go! :yes:

Oh, loads of photos expected upon return, of course. :D

[lisaw]

[QUOTE=simonwebb74;209923]
Arranged with Lisa to look after Mabel (The Labradoodle)
[QUOTE]

Colin and the kids are having Mabel - I'm coming with you! :wiggle:

[simonwebb74]

[quote=simonwebb74;209923]
Arranged with Lisa to look after Mabel (The Labradoodle)
[quote]

Colin and the kids are having Mabel - I'm coming with you! :wiggle:

I would have thought you would rather look after a mad doodle than spend a week on a beach holiday :taunt:

[mumof2]

well done on getting all that arranged! :thumbsup:

i wish i was going on a beach holiday!

[lisaw]

[quote=lisaw;209961][quote=simonwebb74;209923]
Arranged with Lisa to look after Mabel (The Labradoodle)


I would have thought you would rather look after a mad doodle than spend a week on a beach holiday :taunt:

Well you have a point there! :lol:

[josh.p.]

How exciting! I love Turkey :yes: they have the best food!

[Shellyamc]

Sounds like fun! Take a swimsuit, a change of clothes and go! :yes:

Oh, loads of photos expected upon return, of course. :D


pssssttt...Tink ummm:unsure: isn't that out of range of a Secrets member? I mean I would hate to tell them they can't go..but rules are rules :sorry:

[foreverducky]

Sounds lovely! Please share lots of photos with us!

[simonwebb74]

Right we are off to the airport in 30 minutes. Dinner in Frankie & Benny's (Kids eat free) then fly out later tonight.

:wave: :wave:

[Isafari]

Right we are off to the airport in 30 minutes. Dinner in Frankie & Benny's (Kids eat free) then fly out later tonight.

:wave: :wave:

Hope you all have a wonderful time :thumbsup:
Safe journey

[simonwebb74]

Well the week in Turkey was just what we all needed. We did nothing all week but play in the pool, sunbathe, then go out for dinner in the evening, with 1 trip to the beach last Thursday.

The weather was great, getting really hot towards the end of the week but then the kids tend to disappear indoors because it's too hot!

We took a few photos so I will post them as soon as we have sorted them out.

[foreverducky]

Have fun! :D

[mumof2]

sounds good to me! my holidays are never just relaxing, must try one like that soon!

[Isafari]

Pleased you all had a good time. Of course we are waiting to see the photos :yes:

[Tink]

Really looking forward to the photos! :yes: :D

[Johnie]

Can't wait to see some pics!

[Skywatcher]

Have you been before - heard some great things about Turkey and Thomas wants to go for the whole '2 continents' thing :lol:

Just checked and the volcano is very quiet at the moment :yes:

[simonwebb74]

We have been 4 or 5 times now. As the in-laws have a house there we go for the convenience more than anything.

Their house is in a town called Oludeniz which is in the south west corner of Turkey near Fethiye. It has fantastic scenary and a lovely beach (The famous Oludeniz blue lagoon) but although you are surrounded by so much history the town itself has completely lost itself to tourism.

We often joke that someone from the Turkish tourist board came to England to see what the typical English tourist wants from their seaside resort. They went to the tackiest resort in England assumed its what we all wanted so replicated it in Turkey!

To really experience Turkey you need to get away from the tourist towns and into the countryside, then you get a real sense of the country's history.

None of this bothers us though as we have been there and done all that so now we use it as a quick, easy break from normal life, get some sun and laze around the house or beach all day, heading into town in the evenings for dinner, which one you fight through all the fish & chips, chicken & chips etc you will find really nice traditional turkish food at very cheap prices.

[Tink]

What constitutes traditional Turkish food? I'm woefully ignorant on the customs of this country. I've had a stop by the Food and Wine Festival Booth from Turkey one year... :redface: That's as close as I've been. I don't much remember the food, but I do recall not being overly impressed. :lol:

[Skywatcher]

Well everyone I know who has been raves about it and says what a great place it is, The culture and history is just immense

[simonwebb74]

What constitutes traditional Turkish food? I'm woefully ignorant on the customs of this country. I've had a stop by the Food and Wine Festival Booth from Turkey one year... :redface: That's as close as I've been. I don't much remember the food, but I do recall not being overly impressed. :lol:

There are a wide range of kebabs normally chicken or lamb, kofte which is a type of meatball, there are a number of casserole type dishes again chicken or lamb. Pide which can only be sescribed as Turkish Pizza and flat breads.

I love the cross over of cuisines, we walked past an Itialian restaurant and on the menu was Chicken Shish Kebab Pizza. I had to try it, it was lovelly!!

[simonwebb74]

Well everyone I know who has been raves about it and says what a great place it is, The culture and history is just immense

Absolutely, they are a very proud nation and also, in my experience, a very friendly nation.

The history is immense, I have been amazed at some of the places I have seen there, one place that sticks in my mind is Epheseus an entire city excavated from the ground. Walking around the streets and going in and out of the buildings there is something I will never forget. Definately somewhere you just have to visit if you are anywhere near the area.

[Tink]

There are a wide range of kebabs normally chicken or lamb, kofte which is a type of meatball, there are a number of casserole type dishes again chicken or lamb. Pide which can only be sescribed as Turkish Pizza and flat breads.

I love the cross over of cuisines, we walked past an Itialian restaurant and on the menu was Chicken Shish Kebab Pizza. I had to try it, it was lovelly!!

Oh that all sounds very delicious! :yes: I like kebabs and dishes of that sort. Do you know what type of spices they use? I'm guessing that given the geographic location it's similar to other cuisine flavors in the region?

Do they use yogurt based sauces at all?

Do you have any photos of the food? :D :D :D

[disneymom]

I know this is a Disney forum but I love reading about these different places :yes: isnt someone going to Kenya as well?

[Tink]

Yes, our Skywatcher is! :yes:

Yes, Disney brings us together that's for certain, but we do like to share in other aspects of our members lives, as much as they feel comfortable sharing.

So, we'll encourage folks to tell us about their non-Disney holidays, celebrate the birth of their chidren, their weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, other milestones or imporant events in their lives, and mourn their losses.

It's about the full spectrum of friendship, isn't it? :yes:

[simonwebb74]

Oh that all sounds very delicious! :yes: I like kebabs and dishes of that sort. Do you know what type of spices they use? I'm guessing that given the geographic location it's similar to other cuisine flavors in the region?

Do they use yogurt based sauces at all?

Do you have any photos of the food? :D :D :D

They use a lot of cumin, paprika, oregano etc.

Yogurt based dips tend to come with pretty much all meat dishes and also with the potato skins (Which are literally fried strips of potato skin)

I'm not sure if we have any photos, I will have a look later.

[uscwest]

I was last in Turkey in the late '70s. I remember visiting Kusadasi and Ephesus. We were on a cruise and when we were walking through the port to catch our bus I remember the kids tugging on our sleeves begging us to buy this or that for just a "buck".

I also had a good friend, a bartender at the Officer's Club in Stuttgart, who was Turkish and he used to take groups of us to a Turkish restaurant in Stuttgart where all we ever had to pay for was the alcohol. Loved the food.

I would love to be able to go back to Turkey some day and see other parts of it.

[Tink]

Thank you Simon. It sounds very delicious. Fried potato skins...hmmm... I'd try them. :yes:

[Johnie]

There is a lot of crossover with turkish and greek foods. Of course that is probably due to all the fighting between the countries. I'm sure I'd love the food.

We are Greek on dad's side of the family. My dad was trying to get family records a couple of years back and he was told he would need to contact the Turkish embassy....dad was not happy at all.

[simonwebb74]

I have finally found the time to look through the photos we took so here are a few of them