Bristol Airport was offering breakfast and a pint for £8, so we ordered this and 1 coffee. Breakfast and coffee for me and a pint for Phill.
Flying with Easyjet for the first time using speedy boarding, we watched for the gate number and it soon came up that we were leaving from Gate 16, it was a good 10 minute walk, and once through the passport control, we made our way to the speedy boarding queue, parents with children under 5 were second to board. We managed to get row 3 and on looking back at the crowds, there were only about 40 of us who had speedy boarding booked. The plane was not too full, and we had a 3 row to ourselves. We took some sandwiches for the flight and we bought some wine and lager to see us through to Dalaman.
Stepping off the plane the heat soon hit us - aaah bliss, it was lovely to smell Turkey again, allbeit it via the aviation fuel
but what a lovely feeling. The suitcases arrived very quickly and we were quick to go through passport and visa control, who were actually friendly, smiled and also made conversation!Headed down the ramp to find our the ICR desk and there was only ourselves and one other couple going on the Mini Bus. Free water was provided and about an hour and a half later we were back home in Icmeler.
Staying at Ozlem 1 Apartments, great time was had here (Non ICR)
We ate at Cupids, Ugra, The Garden, Sizzler, Temel Kofte, Erdem, Yakomoz, Vinces. All meals were delicious, but Ugra and Vinces were our definite favourites.
Did 2 ICR trips, the AI boat trip, which was a good day out, avoiding the bees, and Gypsy Beach. This was a really nice chilled day, and the breakfast alone was well worth the £20. Then off to the beach to totally relax for a few hours. JT was a great host and we had many laughs. My haggling skills excelled and all in Turkish, I managed to get the Efes reduced from 7 - 5 lira, and Vodka from 10 - 7 lira.......cok cok iyi.
Spent a few days down the beach and ate at the Erdem and Yakomoz for lunches. I would return to Erdem again but I was very disappointed with Yakomoz, as I ordered Greek Salad, which was just a plate of leaves, tomato and cucumber - Ahem, excuse me, where is the main ingredient, the Feta Cheese?....Cheese was then added to the salad, but then we noticed the bottles of Efes were being filled from the Draught Tap. This was enough for me to drink up and go, never to return to Yakomoz. Such a shame, as it is a lovely setting.
Had a trip to Marmaris to meet some friends from over the years, then a taxi boat back to the peacefulness of Icmeler. Marmaris is just too busy.
Our time was spent walking around and catching up with friends. We met many old and new friends at the Sizzler on the ICR meet up and we all had a thoroughly good night. (Tony - shame about Ireland losing to Wales
)Didnt really do too much shopping this time, but I did buy a Radley Bag for £25, really good quality and a couple of table cloths. One was quite expensive which can be kept for special occassions and another one in Marmaris for 25 lira. Very good quality on both of them. Other than that just the DS chip for Jeff and a beach bag and pair of sandals as I got a blister.
The weather was exceptionally warm until the day before our departure, when the rains and storm came. Cant fault the weather though.
Exchange rate was excellent, the lowest I got was 2.8 and the highest was 2.89. We took our usual amount of cash with us, £100 a day and we came home with nearly £400 in lira towards next years holiday.
All too soon the day to come home arrived. Our ICR guy arrived spot on at 11am, and we had a pleasant journey back to Dalaman. Our flight was delayed by 1 hour, due to the adverse weather, and the speedy boarding at Dalaman was just as good as at Bristol. Row 3 again on the way home with a lovely smooth flight (which surprised me considering the weather). All too soon we were back in Bristol to similar weather that we had left in Icmeler.
Overall - a fantastic holiday once again, and it was lovely to meet new and old ICR forum members. Roll on May 2012 to do it all over again.
