Alanya

Our apartment is on the other side of town from the Otogar. As usual my little book comes in handy and the taxi driver rings Willem (our host) for directions. Willem is at the gate to meet us. What a lovely welcoming man. What a lovely apartment! 5th floor (with a lift). Modern, bright, clean and warm. Open plan living space, bedroom, lovely shower room, and a balcony with a pool view. Obviously, being winter the pool is not in use, but I should think in summer it would be a great spot to sunbathe. We even have a view of the castle from the balcony. Directions to get around are easy, behind us is a huge shopping centre with many brands outlets and a Carrefours supermarket. Or just along the road a big Migros. In front of us, just 5 minutes walk, is the promenade and beach. We both love this apartment as soon as we walk in. Comfortable, hot water, warm, washing machine, lovely! Willem even gets us a new clothes airer. Told you he is a nice man.

The weather forecast is not great. Thunder storms and rain for the next few days. Hey ho. Make the best of it.

Main attraction is the castle. Built in the Seljuk era high up on a rocky outcrop high above the sea. You can walk up to the castle if you like, but it is very steep. So the better option is the cable car and shuttle bus. There is a bit of steep walking between the two and lots of steps. But the views are fabulous in all directions and it is well worth the climb. Below the castle the red tiled roofs of Ottoman villas seem to tumble down to the sea. Building here must have been a challenge.

Below the castle is the red tower. Its an octagonal defense structure built in 13th century to protect the harbour. Its very imposing and features on the flag of Antalya. Inside, very steep steps take you up through several levels of floors. The vaulted ceilings are spectacular and it is surprisingly well lit by the openings in the walls that were designed for pouring boiling pitch and water onto the heads of any invaders.

The ship yards were fascinating. A series of dry docks with high ceilings where boats were built and then floated straight out into the harbour. Its a damp place with the sea lapping on the rocks and that wonderful seaweedy smell. In each dock there are explanations of various boat building techniques, lots of information. I should imagine its packed with sightseers in high season, but we are alone to wander as we please. Bliss.

We dodged the weather for all except one day when it chucked it down for. 24 hours. Hey ho. I did the ironing. Norman was on luggage maintenance. When you see something coming apart, you need to get onto it straight away. A stitch in time, saves nine.

Last day in Alanya and I feel awful. Sore throat, banging headache, dizzy, sick. Yuck. Basically spent a lot of time in bed, trying to sleep. Dreading tomorrow, four hours on the bus to Konya!

Woke feeling shakey but better thank goodness. Willem, dear man, drove us to the Otogar. Lovely, kind man. If you need an apartment in Alanya, he is the person to go to.

The nutmeg story.

We have found a beer called `Frederik brown ale` which is really lovely. It prompts me to make a beef stew called `carbonade of beef` at home. Its cold weather food. Ingredients; cubed beef, sliced onions, mushrooms, garlic, stout (guiness), beef stock, and a good few gratings of nutmeg.

Easily purchased all the ingredients except the nutmeg. (Muscat cevizi) Lucky for me there is a spice stall in the middle of the shopping centre. Its a huge stall, even in small towns the spice stall is very important. So, in I go! `Bir muscat lutfen` (one nutmeg please). Man looks a bit taken aback, but shows me the big bowl of nutmegs. `Evet, bir lutfen` (yes, one please). ` Bir kilo?`. At this point we resort to my near non-existant Turkish, and his not too good English and sign language. Finally a fine specimen is chosen from the bowl and placed carefully in a plastic bag. I am taken to the boss man (Patron) who does the weighing and takes the money. The bag is placed on the scales and the Patron does a double take. A bit of rapid Turkish goes on and they both look at me in amusement. `Bir?`. `yes, bir!`. `€200`, they collapse with laughter, its a fine joke! `Crazy English`. Then, they insist it is their gift to me, no charge `welcome to Turkey`.

The stew was lovely. I managed to scrape the nutmeg with a sharp knife (no grater), and it was a very fine nutmeg indeed.

Would love to buy more, but I know there are quite a few in the cupboard already at home.