Writing the start of this in a bus stop in Hisaronu, after a “tried hard again” England performance.
Football first. We were beat by the better team, but for a lot of the game it was by those fine margins. Stuff happens. Usually to us. But “we get knocked down again, and we get back up again”. At least that’s what the pub were singing minutes after the final whistle.
Thanks Harry. You’ve been a great front for the team. Unfortunately, time & talent, and a bit of luck has beaten you. I wish you well in your future.
Jude? Grow a pair. Stop being ‘continental’ & dropping like a sack at every opportunity. Stay on your feet, believe & beat someone. Anyone.
Gareth? You’ve managed tournaments well, even against a tide of ‘pub managers’. But. Great leaders take gambles & trust instinct sometimes over stats & public opinion. Be braver, take a chance. Earlier. Play people that make it look like they’re playing with that fun & confidence they had as kids on the park with their mates.
Anyway, I know nowt about football strategy, nor the inner workings, so the above comments hold the same weight as the rest of social media’s experts & ITKs.
It’s confession time. Today was a bit of a duff start. It turns out that spending a few hours snorkelling with a big, fat, paper-white back means you get burned. Quite badly. Sunstroke level of badly.
So the first part of today was spent in the shade, in the cool & drinking (non-alcoholic) fluids – water, orange juice, ayran, tea, coffee. Anything.
I’m a nob when it comes to thinking about sun.
Later, I had a very cold shower & airdried (sorry) my way back to some sort of sanity, before heading out.
Oh, I did nip out earlier to the corner shop & out a big order in, that’ll get delivered in a Turkish Tomorrow. That’s not fair & is a cheap shot. The buses may well appear every (Turkish) “5 minutes”, but the reality is that the service & timing for everything else has been bang on.
Along with meats, ayran, tomatoes, and the like, I’ve also ordered 19l of water, a 24x ‘slab’ of Tuborg Fitresiz, some Coronas, Cokes & Sprites. The Essentials. High up on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I’m sure.
We went out at around 6pm, and via the Dolmus, headed into Hisaronu for a bit of a mooch, some tea, and then to our table at Fez Bar.
I’ve taken loads of photos this evening of shop names. I hope I’ve done them justice when I compile them. Here’s a teaser. Read right…
We had a good look around and have got an idea of which shop we are likely to be buying 5x £120 designer tee-shirts from. It came down to the quality & thickness of a ‘Moncler’. Go on, at some point I’ll buy. After all, 5 for £40 total isn’t bad. Is it?
From there, we had decided to give a ‘new to us’ restaurant a go, Festival, just opposite Fez Bar.
Jane went ‘Mousaka’ (she’s becoming an expert reviewer) , whereas I went all ‘Kavurma Lamb’. Stir fried lamb with vegetables, heavily seasoned with black pepper (I’m a fan). I had my now ‘usual’ of creamy garlic mushrooms as a starter, but can’t even remember what Jane ordered because of that. If I turned veggie, my meat replacement would be sautéd mushrooms. I bloody love them.
Food & service was really good, but would still need to stretch to get closer to Suat & the team at Shiraz, in my humble opinion. I set a high bar, I get that.
From there we walked over to Fez Bar, then swerved and carried on, only because we were very early, so had another mooch around the shops, not deliberately, but likely winding up the sellers. “Thanks but it’s just research. My son & his mates arrive tomorrow. I’ll recommend they take a look”.
Eventually, we circled around and went back to Fez Bar. “Our table” (the one where we won) had been reserved for us & I’d washed and now worn the same clothes as previous. No way it was coming down to whether I was wearing this same g-string or not, that’s not happening ever again.
Oops. I nodded off then. I’m back. It’s now 2:28am here. #NeverGiveIn
The place is brilliant. If I ran a boozer, I’d have similar aspirations. Place and people delivering are top notch. And also, and this is key, I think the place thrives off customers that are ‘regulars’ even if it’s their first visit. Ones that aren’t d**kheads. I know a couple of places locally where the same happens – it’s almost self regulating and still welcoming &’ nclusive. Unless you’re a d**khead, that is.
Then there was football. See earlier.
I’m calling time on this one. I’m knackered & it’s now 3am. Also, I’m now being bitten to buggery by midges.
See you tomorrow!
x