Today is shopping for provisions and laundry day, you are probably about as excited as Kevin is at this point! Launderettes are amazing, they take your smelly socks, bedding, towels and everything, wash them back to that beautiful white (if they started white of course) and they smell gorgeous and, just to make it a little better the amazing staff smile while they iron your smalls! All for the cost of 80 tl or £20. Now that may seem quite expensive but in this heat we perspire, I know you are surprised but even I sweat. Sleeping when you are sticky is not pleasant, and as you can probably imagine, if you sweat while sleeping, you sure as heck sweat when you attempt any form of movement whilst awake! Therefore launderettes are awsome, especially if you are on the move as much as we are, don't get me wrong, we do not take washing there every day (probably would as the clothes smell so good afterwards) our budget would be blasted well and truly out of the water rather abruptly. Perhaps every two weeks when the bedding is stacked to the ceiling and towels are solid boards stacked side by side, as if you attempt to fold them they may snap from the salt more than the overuse. Once washing has been deposited at the ever smiling ladies in laundry land, we go food shopping, every man's nightmare. When living in 35 degrees however, I find men are actually quite happy to wander around an air conditioned food hall, it is like walking into a fridge just, a very clean filled with goodies and fresh one. The supermarkets in Turkey can be very hit and miss, as stock is not always refilled when depleted and brands just disappear overnight. Some of course are amazing, filled with beautiful foods and smell of bread and gorgeous yummyness. When planning meals one has to be rather flexible and prepared for last minute changes, great when on a boat and a budget! We choose not to stay in shop filled bays and villages as we love to see the unspoiled Turkish coastline which of course means we have to be prepared for, especially with food. Tinned food is not always easily sourced and is nothing like the British supermarket varieties. Beans in tomato sauce are not available in many stores, so we bulk buy when we can, as we do with salt and vinegar crisps which are also very rarely found, sugar free drinks, other than coke, always create excitement. Then you have milk, only UHT of course but if you would prefer fat free rather than full fat, be prepared for a bit of a challenge. Turkish supermarkets have improved over the years, they just haven't yet reached the same standards everywhere. Sounds as if we only eat beans and crisps! It can be challenging trying to plan ahead as of course the fresh bread and delicate fruits are almost impossible to store, our freezer is a small compartment within the fridge and will only hold so much, bait takes the largest space (a necessity of course, if we caught any fish! ) The markets in Turkey are by far the best place to head for your fresh fruit and vegetables. The voices of vendors reach our senses first, calling to their audience, enticing us towards their particular stall or kiosk. Colours then add to the experience, washed white mushrooms snuggle among huge crisp white cauliflower and bright, misshapen carrots. Green beans languish alongside plump purple aubergines, which highlight the vivid yellow lemons and fat juicy tomatoes. The aroma of spices waft through the warm sticky market stalls, cinnamon, basil, coriander and rosemary, and many I have never heard of. Dried peppers, aubergines and various leaves hang in colourful bunches above our heads swaying gently in the warm breeze, providing an amazing powerful bouquet to this vibrant atmosphere. Locals bustle through the chaotic range of seller's sampling the little tasters left out by each stall holder, if they purchase, it is usually a good place to shop. Linens flap from their pegs high on the stall roofs, tables strewn with beautiful brightly decorated cloths. Materials and pashmina with dazzling jewels sewn delicately, adorn the aisles between the more traditional Turkish clothes and the bright tones worn by the throngs of holiday makers. The contrast is incredible between the customary dark Turkish dress and the bright sparkling summer clothing worn by the visiting holiday crowds. When the weather is at its most harsh, high temperatures and hot winds, the markets can however, by just too hard to cope with. What entices us in the spring or autumn, seems to accentuate our stress and irritation in the height of summer. We tend to eat on board as spending our budget on restaurants and bars would limit our travelling and mean going back to work, therefore our diet is pretty healthy most of the time. Chicken is by far the cheapest meat and as you know, can be made into almost anything ( luckily, as we have it most days) fish and red meat can be pricey, clearly not too pricey if you can catch your own. (fish that is, not red meat!) Fishing is terrible in these waters, over the years the stocks have dwindled and very rarely can we catch an edible sized fish. When watching the fishing boats bring in their haul, most of the bigger bass, bream and salmon trout are smaller than you would expect. Unfortunately they pull in many very young fish which obviously depletes the following years supply. Greece seems to have a similar issue, most of what they caught were lobster octopus or small fish. Back in the air-conditioning and shopping, Kevin heads for the chocolate aisle, while I head for the fruit and vegetable section, nothing new there! We stock up and lug it all back to Zoe who looks rather appalled at what she must carry. Water bottles are the heaviest and most difficult to store they weigh so much that we have to decide where on 'Kejstral' they should be placed just so we don't sink. What with the diesel tank in the stern, water tanks x 2 in the port side and bow, gas bottles in the starboard side, we must distribute the weight as equally as possible, not an easy task. As we travel to 'Kejstral' on our tender we have to dodge the speeding dinghies with their huge powerful engines, you really do have to watch them carefully, zipping between the larger boats they appear out of nowhere scaring us half to death. Then we have to negotiate the waves left by their trail, I usually end up a soggy salty mess by the time we arrive on board.
In the evening we planned to meet Angelina and Mark for a drink in a tucked away little bar in town. On the seafront as in most places the drinks are more expensive and the establishments are somewhat commercial and not what we enjoy. Our evening is lovely, a few beers and lots of snacks provided very kindly by the staff. We enjoy lots of laughs as well as learning lots from our new sailing friends who have travelled from the UK taking six years to explore as much as they possibly can of the journey southwards. At midnight we head back for some much needed sleep.
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April 2019
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