Dave's Icmeler adventure 2012

[dksbbs]

Prefix

Well it`s Saturday and I've finished work for two weeks and a day, the actual period of leave has been booked for over a year but we didn't know if we would get a holiday this year as my eldest has started Uni and needs financial help and my youngest wanted to go to Spain with her school but after saving hard we will be able to take a holiday, the relief when we finally booked was immense, the thought that we make it back to Icmeler for the 10th year was fantastic.

Our priority has been to pay for a holiday next year for the whole family as my job is not looking too secure at the moment due to a take over and the fact that my role is likely duplicated in the new organisation but I suppose I have a 50/50 chance at the moment.

Anyway by cutting down my smoking for the last few months (I still have the odd one while drinking) and pulling in our belts in other areas we have managed to also pay for the flights for next year and have most of the apartment money so just the spending money to find now.

This holiday unfortunately is not for two weeks but only 11 nights as my brother has decided to get married next Tuesday and has asked me to be best man, absolutely no consideration what so ever and would not change the day when I asked!!! Oh well one has to suffer occassionally and I am actually thrilled he considered me for the honour.

We actually fly Wednesday from Manchester T2 with Monarch, I've booked carparking on the Manchester Airport website, the meet and greet came up at only £55 for 11 nights, I've also booked the escape lounge at a discounted price and the fast track through security although T2 is normally good and there is not normally bad queues unlike T1 which can take an age.

We did book two trips already online with ICR, On Monday 17th we will experience the trip to Akyaka, we are really looking forward to this one as other forum members have booked and I llok forward to meeting them, on Wednesday 19th subject to numbers we were hoping to go on the ICR AI (Private) Boat Trip which has been unfortunately cancelled, we will decide what to do when we get there.

This weekend we are collecting all the bits and pieces together ready for packing.

My intention is to update this blog every couple of days instead of writing a review when I get home however if I slip for a day or two you will have forgive me.

[neecy]

look forward to your blogs. i love reading about others holidays as it feels like i have been home for years. we were in icmeler in june and looking forward to next year. have a great holiday

[stevew]

Hi Dave, looking forward to meeting you and your good lady, and will act as your advance scouting party, sampling Efes and Raki/cherry juice and the O.H.will be sampling G & T.......... See you there..
enjoy Steve

[Fanny]

Looking forward to your blogs Dave - if your reviews and this prequel are anything to go by, they'll be great
and given the amount of detail you put in them, am sure we can let you off if you don't manage to blog EVERY day haha

Have a great time and hope you've got your speech polished and ready for delivery

[Jozzyd]

Am dead chuffed you are having your annual fix Dave Looking forward to reading your exploits and you will LOVE Akayaka i am sure, we managed to go twice this year (independently) Have fun.

Best wishes Jo and family x

[jayjay1950]

You will love Akyaka Dave. We did the Lazy day trip and booked for Stella show as well as the Akyaka trip through ICR and booked the Rhodes and village tour through Icmelertravelcentre although I wish now we had done it all through ICR the trips through them was best. Will be interesting to read what you think of Akyaka anyway. When you go will you do me a favour and tell Bobby I looked into kindles for him but unfortunately they don't do them in Turkish. Have a great holiday Dave x

[dksbbs]

Wednesday


Following the wedding Tuesday my head was amazingly good, my best man speech went down well and everyone had a great time.


My wife took our youngest (16) to school and came home crying, we then finished packing the last few things and then it was off to the airport but not before my wife and eldest (20) had a cry.

Motorway was good and 45 minutes later we had pulled into the meet and greet car park at Manchester T2.

Monarch bag drop there was no on in the queue and five minutes later we were at the security check point, we had purchased fast track so meet the queue which wasn't that long.

Duty free we purchased 2 litres of Gin for £20 but I thought the cigarettes were expensive so gave them a miss. It was then off to the Escape lounge.

Escape lounge was smaller than I expected but drink selection was good, fresh sandwiches were brought out every 10-15 minutes and the choice was Tuna, Ham, Egg, Cheese, there was also cakes, pastries, cheese &crackers, salad and you could order soup. We spent a very nice two hours relaxing before we went for a walk and to board the flight. In my opinion the lounge was definitely worth £15 each.

Boarding was on time although not by seat row number but we were all aboard and pushed back two minutes late at 15:02

Our flight was with Monarch and we booked the extra leg room seats which were worth the extra we also had the advantage that we had three seats between the two of us as no one occupied the spare seat.

Following takeoff the first service was for those who had ordered the hot meal, it actually smelt very good, the next service was drinks, special offer was two cans of beer for £7 which I took advantage off, mixers were £1.20 each and I think shorts were two for 7.50.

They then tried to sell scratch cards and finally duty free, a litre of Gin was £12.50, the cigarettes if you bought 400 ranged from £42 to £45

The plane was clean, the crew were happy and chatty, we had a little turbulence twice and the seat belt light was switched on, finally we descended into Dalaman and touched down 3 minutes early, Excellent flight all round.

Visa desk had queues but they were quick, the people in front of us were from a different plane and the visa lady put the wrong visas in our passport thinking we were from the same country, she only realised when I handed over two crisp ten pound notes, the visa were carefully removed and the correct ones inserted, she laughed and became quite chatty which is a first for an official at Dalaman for us.

Down to collect the luggage and then off for our transfer which was waiting outside, total time from touchdown 35 minutes.

Transfer was good, the driver stopped at a shop and got us two bottles of cold water, he didn't speed once and we were at the apartments in just under 90 minutes, the roads have definitely improved and seem to be finished.

At the apartments were given a choice of three rooms, we chose the ground floor apartment furthest from the bar and dropped our cases off going straight to the bar, three drinks later at 1am we walked to the Best Supermarket and changed some money, we got 2.87 which is the best rate in ten years visiting Turkey, it was then off to Nefes Pide where I had a stunning Adana Kebab and the wife had a chicken Shish, together with a soft drink and a bottle of water the bill came to 30lira, back to the hotel and the final nightcap it was time to retire after two long days.


to be continued.

[dksbbs]

Sorry about the typos, not that used to typing on a tablet.

[jayjay1950]

Don't forget to tell Bobby that I cant get him a kindle that he can use in Turkey will you Dave.
Hope you have a great holiday,give our love to everyone xxx

[dksbbs]

Don't forget to tell Bobby that I cant get him a kindle that he can use in Turkey will you Dave.
Hope you have a great holiday,give our love to everyone xxx

Hi June , i passed the message on today.

Dave

[jayjay1950]

Thanks Dave. What's the weather like now out there? we could certainly use some of that sunshine here in Uk,looks like it could chuck it down any time soon. Have you been to Akyaka yet?

[dksbbs]

Thanks Dave. What's the weather like now out there? we could certainly use some of that sunshine here in Uk,looks like it could chuck it down any time soon. Have you been to Akyaka yet?

Hi June, its about 33, a heat wave is due next week according to a couple of bars, we are off th Akayaka on Monday.

[dksbbs]

Thursday

We woke up not naturally as planned but by my phone alarm going off in the safe, it was still set for early morning for work, thank god Turkey is 2 hours ahead so it wasn't too early, it was then a scramble to find the safe key to turn the damn thing off.

I thought I had only slept with my wife during the night but it was evident that I also had slept with a couple of mosquitos as well as my back had 9 lovely bites where the buggers had dined all night, where I had used Skin so soft the night before was clear but I don't but the stuff on my back, I will from now on. My wife didn't have one so I was obviously the preferred choice.

A couple cups of coffee and it was off out for breakfast, The three(4) bells was our choice and an excellent breakfast consisting of bacon, sausage, beans, tomato, mushrooms, two fried eggs, two rounds of toast and a glass of orange was thoroughly enjoyed for 8 lira each.

Next stop Icmeler Online, we changed the AI boat trip which we had booked online for the Stella Show includinkg food, there was some confusion about the Akayaka trip and the online booking couldn't be found, Rami finally found it, would you believe after 49 years I still can't spell my name, all was well in the end. Note to self, always double check spellings when using online forms.

The rest of the day was spent around the pool at the apartments, temp in the shade was 33 with a slight breeze.

Evening arrived when you have to make the most difficult decision, where are we going to eat?

Don Conleoni was the choice and we strolled down, unfortunately all the nice tables at the front were taken to we decided to leave it for the night and go somewhere else, our choice was back the three bells as we love the Korean food. I had the Bi Bim Bap and Karen had the Yam Yam chicken, with drinks of 2 Gins and 2 large beer the bill came to 72 lira, it was a great meal, full of flavour, service was excellent. we were actually surprised to see one table eating Sunday Roast with those giant yorkshire puddings, I did't know you could order through the week, we are going to keep that a secret from our daughter as she will want to go there everyday next year if she found out.

Back to the apartments for a few nightcaps and it was sleep time.

[Sami]

Excellent bit of blogging there Dave. Love it. My eyes just lit up with the thought of a heatwave next week as I am coming out very soon, hopefully in time to catch this glorious weather. My tan is fading way too fast from the August trip. Keep em coming!

[dksbbs]

Friday

Woke up naturally, no alarm clock this morning. We both slept well and woke refreshed. It was actually gone 10am, a few cups of coffee and it was down to the pool, obtaining a sun bed was not difficult, the apartments are full but unlike August most rooms only have couples and there are very few children, we also notice a lot of guests are beach people and disappear down there each day.

Following a refreshing deep in the pool I had 30 minutes in the sun, I am not a person who enjoys sunbathing so I have frequent breaks to the bar for chats with other guests, once again the guests all seem nice and friendly, in fact there are a number of people who we met last time we came in September in 2006.

About 1pm it was breakfast time, I had the full English again and Karen had a Turkish breakfast, bot plates were cleaned quite quickly.

My mosi bites are starting to drive me mad with the itching so into the medicine back my wife brings and I found some Piriton, hopefully they will help.

The rest of the day was spent around the pool and before long it was time for drinks on the balcony, after a couple of gins I decided to lie on the bed, I woke up an hour later.

Mosi bites are still driving me mad, I had read somewhere that hot water, as hot as you can bear helps kill the poison, so I gave that a try, it worked and they didn't itch all night.
Dinner we had decided on Captain Bulls**ts, we both had the sizerling beef with garlic and hot sauce, they were fantastic, I had two large beers, Karen had two bottles of strongbow, total bill 73 lira, just over £25.

We then walked to the magic garden, one of our favourite bars, two beers, two gins 28 lira. time to move on and we walked down the canal, Bamboo was 75% full, Majestic and Venice were packed with no seats.

The new stalls were very quiet, we walked along the prom and decided to go to Cafe del Mar for the last couple of drinks, slightly more expensive but what a view. Efes was 7.5 and local gin was 9, we had two each. It wàs then a nice stroll back to the apartments for a nightcap, I actually stayed up longer than I should have and before I knew it 3am arrived and it was definately time for bed.

[stevew]

Hi Dave, great to meet you and Karen, a good day had by all, my lens cap had fallen into my bag,,, it may have been dodging something,,, but thats a story for you to tell,,, is it the Icr 5 bays you are thinking of for thursday.???
6 of us may join you,

[dksbbs]

And you Steve it was a great day, we are on a boat tomorrow but booked direct as we use Adem every year, may be the same boat. Will have to start updating my blog but I have been enjoying myself to much.

Dave

[jayjay1950]

Yes Dave you need to update your blog because I want to know what you thought to the Akyaka trip x

[dksbbs]

I never completed my blog while in Icmeler but the full review can be found at

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16755

Dave