Fast flowing rivers and aching bones!

I have just returned from yet another heavenly week in Foca, Turkey.  Each time I go I am overwhelmed by the friendliness of the local people, who can never do enough for you.  On this visit we had to have some repairs done to the house that was handed down to my sister and I from our mother, who had lived there for a few years.  In less than two days we had organised for a painter, plasterer, carpenter and tiler to 'fix it' for us.  They not only turned up on time, they didn't take any breaks and stayed until the job was done - amazing, and very refreshing!
Then I had to return to the British Summer - when will that start I wonder?!
But it being summer time, does mean that the rowing regatta season is hotting up, with Henley Women's Regatta attempting to take place over this weekend.  Already there has been a warning that it may not take place due to all the rain water coming off the land and making the Thames flow quicker that the rapids over Vic Falls!
So I have an overseas rowing coach staying with me, while his crews have a week of training on a river that is practically un-rowable!  After a long day of training he mentioned that he was suffering with arthritis pains in his feet, something he has suffered a lot with more recently.  On asking if he ate many tomatoes, his reply was 'yes, I love tomatoes, I buy some every day just to eat as a snack, I don't really like any other veg'.  Trying to convince him that there was a connection between the fruit he loves and the pain in his foot was not easy, but the promise of a freshly baked cake at the end of his hard day hopefully was enough to compensate.  Little did he know I had sneaked in a few vegetables to compensate his appalling diet!  The addition of ginger in the buttercream is also good as an anti-inflammatory.

Carrot, courgette and Ginger Cake


2 eggs
100 g dark muscovado sugar
75 ml sunflower oil
100 g wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
60 g raisins
2 tbsp chopped mixed peel
150 g carrot, grated
100 g courgette, grated
For the butter icing - 
100 g unsalted butter
175 g icing sugar
2-3 knobs stem ginger, diced
stem ginger syrup

• Preheat the oven to 190C (375F) Gas Mark 5 and grease and base line an 18cm tin.
• Whisk together the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy.
• Slowly whisk in the oil.
• Fold in the remaining cake ingredients and spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, until firm and golden.  Cool on a wire tray.
• Beat together the butter and icing sugar until smooth.  Add the diced stem ginger and a little syrup and mix well.  Spread over the cooled cake.

A serious start to winter training

It's when I hear the expression 'the nights are drawing in' that I start to dread the coming months.  Knowing that it's going to get darker and colder each day and that despite this, I will still have to get out on the river or in the cold boathouse gym, and train.
With this in mind, I booked myself a flight to Turkey!  Back to my much loved house in Foca, to be able to stay warm for just a few days longer.
But I didn't intend putting off training, so asked a friend who lives close if he could lend me a bike (I had borrowed one in the past from him, but couldn't quite remember what it was like).
He is such a good friend that when I turned up at my house on Saturday evening and opened the door, there was my trusty steed waiting in the kitchen!  What I had failed to remembered is that it's a small framed mountain bike, with big thick tyres and a lovely basket on the front!!  Not quite what I will be using in the Cycling Weekly Surrey Hills sportive in a few weeks time, but hopefully it may make it feel a whole lot easier when I get on a real bike!
Foca also has only one road that runs through it, so there is no choice as far as my daily training goes - and no avoiding all the huge hills that a coastal road inevitably has.  Before leaving home I had roughly mapped out a route on the internet and thought I could cover a round trip of about 25 miles.  So far I haven't even made it to the first village 23km away!  The heat and hills are exhausting.  But the views at the top of each hill are absolute heaven - which is obviously why it's taking me so long to get anywhere, as I have to keep stopping to appreciate the amazing place I am in.  I'm sure I won't be doing that in the wet and soggy Surrey Hills.

Behind with Blogging!

 I can't believe where the time goes - so much for keeping this up to date through the summer months.  When I am not working (and at the moment it is busier than ever), I want to be outside playing on the river, on a bike or just sitting in the sun and chilling out.  So blog-writing gets put to the back of my mind.  Then a few friends mention how much they enjoy reading about my adventures, and I feel guilty for not sitting at my computer for a little while longer.

Today I am sitting at my laptop outside a cafe, overlooking the Aegean Sea in the beautiful town of Foca, where I have a little town house.  The more I come here, the more I believe I could stay forever - the food is amazing, the sea is warm and silky smooth, and the locals make you feel as if you are one of them instantly.
I normally start my day with a run around the harbour, then into the sea for the first swim of the day before breakfast.  On this visit I have friends staying, Katie and Maddie, and Katie is an artist, so every other day we have been having painting lessons - starting with a bowl of cherries on day one, then a still-life in the garden, and finally we hope to stretch to a sea-scape.  At the moment we are still trying to figure out where to paint where we will not be over-looked - I am not yet ready to show my very simple artistic attempts to the world!
When we are not painting we have been out on the sea, firstly on an organised boat trip, and then on a private yacht belonging to a friend - so good to escape the world completely and sail away to a deserted bay for a swim.
And the food?  Every time I come here I think I will treat it like a spa break - exercise lots and eat really healthy food, as the local restaurants all serve amazing meze and fresh fish cooked really simply.  What I forget each time is the Raki that is served with food (an aniseed drink very similar to Ouzo, but is drunk throughout the meal and is quite strong), and the late- night dancing that has to be done!

Turkish delight!

I needed a week of relaxation, so have travelled back to my house in Foca, near Izmir in Turkey.  It is a simple little fishing town, with a seafront full of little restaurants and lots of tiny backstreets with unexpected treasures tucked away.  One of the main reasons I love Foca is that it is not so easy to get to, so only the Turkish people use it as their summer retreat, and not often will you hear another English voice - perfect!
Little did I know when I booked my flights that I would be arriving in the midst of Foca Festival - a celebration of the town and its' people.  This included the biggest barbecue I have ever seen, cooking fresh fish which was then put into huge chunks of bread and given to everybody free of charge.  This was followed by the fishermen racing their boats in the harbour and then a net mending competition - it was amazing to watch, the concentration on their faces showed what skill they really have.

After this was Turkish folk dancing, not only by the experts, but the crowd were also expected to join in, and did so with great enthusiasm!
Later at night they held a concert in the town square, with music and singing by well-known musicians.  The grand finale was a firework display over the bay - amazing.  Unfortunately I missed the concert, although I had every intention of attending.  Instead my Turkish neighbours invited me to a celebration dinner - their son had just returned home after 5 months conscription to the Turkish army (every day of which he hated he later told me).  But we were not without our own concert as the son Murat plays classical guitar and his friend who had arrived with him was an opera singer.  I felt I had landed in a completely different world  - it was amazing.  I am not sure how I will be able to host a dinner party as impressive in return!

Since then my days have been filled with swimming in the beautiful sea, eating out late at night, and wandering around the backstreets of the town with my camera - my days are pretty busy, as you can see!

I had been told to look for one certain shop whilst on my wanderings, and this has turned out to be such a great find - Meltem craft shop is run by a lovely Turkish lady and her English husband.  The shop is full of local crafts and Meltem's wonderful home-made jams and chutneys, with such unusual flavours as crunchy pumpkin and molasses, crunchy apple, or even carrot jam.  Next year they are intending to open a coffee house and private dining, which I will certainly be visiting.
Each time I come here I learn new things about the people and their culture, and each time it makes me want to come back and learn and experience more.
Last night I was invited to another dinner party, this one just as delicious as the last.  Each meal starts with a mezza, which goes on for quite a long time and has to be accompanied by Raki!  Lots of little dishes of amazing flavours - fava, houmous, bean salad, green salad, stuffed peppers, cheese pastries, anchovies....the list goes on.  And then, just when you think you are full, the main dish arrives!  Sometimes it will be meat, either kebabs or meatballs, but last night for me they cooked local fish, it was so tasty.  And the great thing about Foca is the cats - when you want to clear your plate of fish-heads you just throw them over your shoulder!

Forced extended break!

I can't believe we are still here - we should have left on Saturday, it's now Tuesday and there is no sign of us moving anywhere. On Saturday we flew from Izmir to Istanbul to try to get a flight, there were none. We looked at taking the train via Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna, Munich and Paris, it was full for the next three days and anyway we were told it was not safe. So then there was the idea of flying to Rome (via Athens), to take a train or bus..............two minutes later Rome closed. Plan D was a bus to Munich, taking 48 hours, costing £230 and no sure sign of getting out of Munich. We spent a night in Istanbul, in a hotel that was not safe to leave at night. Dinner was a toasted cheese sandwich in our room. Breakfast was served in polystyrene trays on table mats of three-day old newspaper - very classy!

So finally we gave up and decided to fly back to Izmir and take a taxi back to the house in Foca.

At least we can sleep in our own beds and wait until the madness stops.

An easy routine.......

The only downside of having a property in another country, that you only visit occasionally, is that you spend the first couple of days cleaning and repairing and making it feel like home again. In our case it was two days of weed clearing - the garden looked like a meadow, when in reality it should be crazy paving (whoever invented that dreadful phrase and concept was certainly crazy). So, yesterday morning I cycled down to the local garden centre and tried to explain, in my non-existent Turkish, to a very sweet man, with non-existent English, that I needed weed killer. The killer bit was easy, katil. But when it came to weeds ise yaramaz ot, ayrik otu, I was a little stumped! Despite this, after 15 minutes of gesticulating, I had a coke bottle with some dubious looking liquid in it, that we had agreed needed to be topped up with water, 1:5. And after all this debate, he refused to let me pay for it! That is what I love about this place, everybody wants to help and there is no ulterior motive, ever. A couple of hours spent in the internet cafe trying to download lectures I have missed, came free with Turkish apple tea and a bunch of geraniums! Sometimes being female is just the best!

So, a routine is very soon settled into. I am woken by the local military base....my alarm can be anything from the morning drill being called (perfect for getting me out of bed!), a boogle, a round of rifles or a full brass band! The base is only about 500 meters from the house

and if the wind is blowing the wrong way it sounds like we have thirty soldiers in our back garden. A thirty minute run to the headland is followed by a swim in the sea (bit of a shock this time as we are here earlier than normal and it's pretty cold!). After a quick shower, a breakfast of muesli, fresh local strawberries and local natural yoghurt. Unlike the Greek yoghurt we get at home, this Turkish yoghurt is thick and creamy, but also very smooth. It also has a crust on top like that of a home-made rice pudding - almost chewy, and absolutely delicious. If I was cast on a dessert island and only allowed one meal it would be this yoghurt and honey....forever!

After that the day consists of laying on the patio, strolling into town to do odd jobs or buy more food, and walking the two minutes to the sea for another swim - it's hell!

The other thing that has to be mentioned is the cats. They are everywhere. And I mean everywhere - there are hundreds, all colours, and sort of semi wild - they will let you feed them but are unlikely to let you touch them. We have adopted a couple at the house in the short time we have been here and already they feel comfortable enough to sleep on our chairs, but not for us to get too close.

Tonight is our last night so we are going out to dinner. We will go to the same place we ate in on our first night, despite saying we would try different ones.......the problem is they are so nice and constantly give us more than we order or ask for, so it seems rude not to give them out custom. Obviously this is why they do it but what the heck!

Another week, another country.......

Back to my beloved Foca, to the house where my mother lived and has now become a retreat for my sister and I when we need to escape the real world.

We've only been here two days and already I walk slower, sleep more and eat more healthily than ever...........I think I am finally winding down. It's pretty hard not to.

Foca is a beautiful tiny fishing village on the west coast of Turkey, 70km north of Izmir. Totally unspoilt, there are no English people, no buildings above three storeys allowed to be built and best of all, great food to be had.

Our first night was a treat....we wandered along the seafront to one of the restaurants (although very small, Foca has an abundance of great restaurants to choose from). We ate freshly made houmous with dill (I would never have thought this combination would work, but it did), a salad full of local leaves (nettles, thick, strong rocket and lots of leaves I didn't recognise), plus a shrimp casserole - freshly caught prawns cooked with garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms and olive oil and topped with local cheese. It was delicious. We were both too full for dessert but then were told there was a surprise to come! A terracotta dish of halva.......not the way we would normally eat it though.........it was halva, cooked with milk and olive oil, served hot sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts, and was amazing (you do need to have a sweet tooth for this, as with all Turkish dessert and cakes).

After that there was more free wine and finally to top it all, a nearby table of men presented us with some of their red snapper that had been cooked in salt and then set alight as a birthday celebration dish - what an evening!

Tuesday morning is market day - another chance to eat great food as all the traders insist on you trying everything. And of course, we are a complete novelty, not being locals, so they have great fun making us eat things they suspect we won't like. But we return to the house laden with fresh cheese, local honey, herbs, local olives and olive oil and the best bit, thick creamy local yoghurt - I am in heaven.