Cause
We went out and bought a barbeque. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Summer is coming, the evenings are pleasantly warm. There are, however, various fundamental laws of the universe, Boyles Law, Sods Law and the rest. We were reminded of these fundamental laws. Within minutes of buying the barbeque this happened, accompanied later by bright flashes and bangs. The following evening when we even dared to think about cooking and eating outside, more of the same.
Effect
Rather late due to being in the UK and busy since we got back. We both agreed on this one. Bee on a wild lupin.
Before we left for the UK we found ourselves thinking about new furniture for the roof terrace. What we wanted was a table and chairs, something for eating and entertaining on. Ideally something reasonably sturdy, weather proof and not plastic. We did not find much in Selçuk, so we ended up looking in Kuşadası. There are loads of places along the Soke road, many specialising in bamboo furniture, there is also Koçtaş (B&Q), and a variety of furniture shops doing mostly interior furnishings but some doing garden and patio lines. Initially we looked at Koçtaş, easy to do since it can be done online, and familiar. We looked at some of the bamboo stuff, it was all very light and it gets windy on the terrace, we had visions of furniture flying down the street.
Searching around we came across a really nice, well made, sturdy, hardwood round table and chairs – a great size, comfortable for 2 to 4 people and will do 6 at a squeeze. With a little bit of haggling we got the price down only to marginally more than a not vastly dissimilar but more flimsy hardwood dining set from Koçtaş, albeit with four chairs rather than 6, and the table is smaller though a better size for us. We settled on the price, explained we would be in the UK for a few days, it was agreed we would leave a deposit and when we got back we could call, they would deliver, and we could pay the balance at this time.
Yesterday afternoon we made that call. We were told they would deliver today. This morning we had a follow up call at 9am to say they would be with us within 2 hours. An hour later our furniture arrived and was carried up to the roof terrace for us. It fitted where it was expected to fit and we think it looks good. It has certainly been worth shopping around, doing some haggling, and stepping away from the familiarity of UK chains. Once again we are amazed at the brilliant customer service.
The delivery of new furniture prompted us to finish tidying the roof terrace which has been rather neglected over winter. We started doing some bits a month or so ago, but then stopped for all manner of reasons. Finished now – ready for summer. Time for tea and baklava.
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Tagged cleaning, customer service, Home improvement, housework
In London we picked up some parts for the bike, some of which was pre-ordered and waiting for us at Warrs. It was also a good excuse to buy some new summer gloves and one or two trinkets. I wanted a clock and found a nice one which mounted on the handlebars. As ever the staff at Warrs were fantastic and everything I had ordered was waiting for me.
So today we took the bike and parts to Izmir. This involved Hilary going on the 
bus and carrying the new saddlebags, and me riding the bike. At Has Oto (Izmir HD) we gave them the various parts minus the bling which I had already fitted. New grips because the old ones lacked a great deal of comfort. Saddlebags and the mounting kits including the parts to relocate the rear indicators; these are great the bags detach when they are not needed. We hung around while the parts were fitted, were offered tea, and added a new rear brake pedal which is easier to reach than the old one. Everything was done by early afternoon. Their customer service is brilliant and the bill for mounting all the stuff was very reasonable indeed.
We now have the bike ready for hitting the longer distances. The saddlebags and windshield come off in seconds when we want to do local trips and are there for us when we want them. Already we are thinking of a couple of trips, more on those at a later date. For today we took a less direct route home, towards Çeşme, and then the coast road south, nice in places, some great scenery and at times the air scented with wild flowers.
We are ın this strange land. We got on a bus, sat on it as it went along for more than an hour, nobody brought us tea (or water) and cake. It seems it is not only acceptable to wear shoes inside a house but considered normal, even on carpets. It is grey and cold but it is not raining properly, it’s a strange sort of dampness, one that does not soak you to the skin in ten seconds the way that rain does.
It does of course all feel immensely familiar to us. Red buses, oyster cards, the bustle and noise of the city, and the rest. In many ways it is familiar, in many ways it also felt odd. Less odd now after being here a few days, but initially very much so.
But even after a few days….. They drive on the wrong side of the road – must remember this when crossing roads. And no bin in the bathroom – the laundry basket is not for the same purpose.
On May 1st the dolmuş timetables reverted to summer. We could stay in Kuşadası till well after dark and still get transport home (assuming we actually wanted to eat out in Kuşadası). The beach umberellas were coming out and the beach clubs were opening up.
İzmir Airport, on the other hand feels strangely deserted. It is not a busy airport for the most part but there is hardly anyone here and very little going on. The internet log in system gave us seats at opposite sides of row 14 – when we handed in our hold baggage, these were swapped for adjacent seats in row 11. I begin to wonder whether there will be anyone else on our flight.
So for a few days we are swapping the scent of lemon blossom and honeysuckle, and spring flowers, and pleasant sunshine for what we have heard is a cold and wet UK.
One thing we didn’t mention in our post about Bodrum was the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey. Demonstrating our usual talent for excellent timing, this important cycle race was in Bodrum on the day we planned to leave and taking pretty well the same route as we had planned for our return journey. As with all important cycle races internationally, the roads were closed so as not to interfere with the event…
Well, we decided to make the most of it. We left our gear in the hotel lock-up and headed to the café on the harbour front where we had taken tea after visiting the castle. It had an excellent view of the starting line. We arrived nearly two hours before the race was due to leave. They were perfectly happy for us to sit there over a total of four glasses of tea and two small bottles of water.
It was fascinating to watch the barriers being put up, the adverts (for the TV) 
being attached to them, the bicycles arriving on top of cars, the cyclists warming up. We were right next door to the hospitality facility and probably saw many famous people we failed to recognise. The café was filmed by one of the many TV crews in attendance.
Shortly after midday, the cyclists were off!
On our way back to the hotel we noticed that the roads were still very blocked – 
tailback following the closure. We found another place to drink tea and left Bodrum in a leisurely manner at around half past two. We stopped off just before Lake Bafa for tea and gözleme then again, near the lake itself, for a photo opportunity.
About thirty km out of Soke we ran into traffic again. Everyone was very good humoured and chatty and, once they knew the tail back was due to the cycle race, quite understanding. We waited at the side of the road and, really, encountered remarkably little traffic on the way home.
