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We know it’s already March – and this is our monthly Fethiye news update for February – but we have a good excuse.
Runtalya
As is the general norm, we head to Antalya for the first weekend in March.
It is one of the biggest Turkish running events on the calendar; the Runtalya Marathon.
This year followed that general rule.
And, because of how the days fell this year, the 2024 event happened right at the beginning of March.
My birthday is at the end of February – so everything came together perfectly – but, of course, the daily routine was put aside for a few days.
For the ride itself, we were blessed with warmth and sunshine. As we were the other days.
But now everything is back to normal, so the service will resume regularly.
We took our usual bus from Fethiye to Antalya and stayed in Kaleiçi again. So we will update our articles about Antalya soon.
The archaeologists got busy!
Stormy weather
And what’s more normal than talking about local weather?
Fethiye gave us plenty of it throughout February.
I couldn’t decide which February photo to use for the weather section of this article.
It was a choice between the photo of the port above…
..or a photo of a rather large hailstone, next to a coin – just for context.
That appeared on our Facebook page though, so we walked along the flooded seafront along a stretch of Şehit Fethi Bey park.
In Antalya they had suffered the worst of the storms. There were many floods both in the city center and throughout the province.
The rough seas meant big swells and wet feet for anyone who wanted to walk along the seafront that day.
Fethi Bey commemorations
And speaking of the park, the commemoration of Şehit Fethi Bey is celebrated in February in Fethiye.
Pilot Fethi Bey lost his life on February 27, 110 years ago.
Our local park, Şehit Fethi Bey Parkı, is named after him. And the statue of him is located in the meydan of the park.
Memorials are held at the statue every year.
And this year it was announced SoloTurk would also perform an airshow.
And he did it!
Picnic tables, chairs and blankets were spread out on the grass along the harbor on a sunny day.
And crowds lined the seafront to watch the lone F-16 jet and its expert pilot slice, weave and swoop over Fethiye Bay.
A completely different experience than watching Türk Yıldızları perform at the Ölüdeniz Air Games.
The pilot left us all speechless as he flew over the bay, just above the surrounding rooftops.
A fleeting and silent passage, immediately followed by the almighty roar of engine noise.
Goosebumps stuff.
Around
Well, as already mentioned, February is the birthday month for me. So this means steak month!
And our favorite place to go for a steak is the Çarıklı Et restaurant along Fethiye harbour.
The presentation of the meals is different every time we go. But we always love steaks.
On this visit, we were given puffy bread (balon lavaş) with butter and olives before our meze arrived.
We couldn’t help but try the yeşil tabak – mung bean salad with avocado and broccoli – which was our favorite dish on our last visit.
We also had a serving of Fiery Atom (natural yogurt with vibrant dried chillies) and a mini lahmacun each.
And also another appetizer. But we will update our old article about Çarıklı, so we will mention that dish there.
Creatures of habit
A bowl of beyran soup and a pide were also devoured in Can Çekti before a recent trip to the Çalış Sunday market.
If you think you remember this from last month’s news roundup, you remember well.
But we’ve since been back again.
It’s currently our favorite lunch break on Sundays if we don’t eat at home.
In the Kitchen on the Blog
Obviously we cook everything in the kitchen.
But, for the sake of relevance, we will stick to the Turkish recipes we cook and those featured on the blog.
Baked Pancakes
We made our own baked hash browns in February.
It is usually prepared with courgettes but we had a lot of cauliflower stalks in the fridge.
To avoid throwing them away, I grated them and used them instead of courgettes.
Works!
Kebab time
And we also decided it was time to expand our kebab collection on the blog.
Rather than let chicken şiş kebab feel like just the only skewered meat recipe on the blog, we’ve created a favorite of many; juicy Adana Kebab!
Of course we had to get the full kebab experience and serve it with flatbread, charred green pepper and bulgur pilavı.
Also on the blog
We were busy in February!
soups
February was the month we had National Homemade Soup Day.
If you know this country, you will know how much the Turks love their çorba!
This prompted us to bring you our complete guide to Turkish soups, including the soup recipes we have on the blog.
Salads
And in February there was no International Salad Day or anything like that.
But this year’s warmer temperatures have us feeling a little like we’re on salad greens.
So, we have also created our list of famous and favorite Turkish salads.
Shopping in the city
Supporting local businesses is not difficult in Fethiye because many businesses are locally owned.
If you love shopping when you’re on holiday or travelling, this is our guide to shopping in central Fethiye.
What to buy and where to buy it.
And in the meantime you can tick off some of our must-see things in Fethiye.
AND…
We have continued to update our Turkey running events page as more dates are confirmed.
Registration is open for many of the races whose dates are already confirmed.
Fethiyespor
Bottom half of the table for Fethiyespor, even after the 2-1 victory in the last match this afternoon.
We have been terrible non-supporters this year. We have to find time to go to the next home game…
Here are the results of the season and the next matches.
And this is the situation of the championship.
In other news
Our random news stories that pop up as the month goes on.
Here’s what came out in February…
On top of the world
This is not surprising for Istanbul Airport because it is also a major transit hub.
But we were surprised by this BBC article that said, Istanbul and Antalya were two of the four most visited cities in the world in 2023.
The data was based on airport arrivals.
Obviously, the entire province of Antalya is an extremely popular tourist area.
But we were surprised by the fact that Antalya’s local airport is among the top four in the world for the number of people in transit.
A new mascot
Istanbul cats are much loved by many in the city.
And Santa Sofia has always had a famous cat, Gli, who millions of visitors have photographed and petted.
Unfortunately he passed away in 2020.
In February the HDN reported that a new mascot cat had made its presence felt in the visitors’ stand.
Without a doubt, if the cat attracts attention and sticks around for more, it will have a name by now.
A new tariff
Stick to the theme of Hagia Sophia; this entrance fee was actually introduced in January.
But we were waiting for a friend from Istanbul to come and see what it was.
If you want to visit the Hagia Sophia, there is now an entrance fee of 25 euros and a separate entrance for visitors.
Train ride
Many of you undoubtedly know the phenomenal success of the cross-country Doğu Express tourist train from Ankara to Kars.
The success is such that new routes have now also been announced so you can explore unknown areas of the country.
One route will start from the Ankara area and head towards the western Black Sea, passing the UNESCO World Heritage site of Safranbolu.
The route from Ankara to Diyarbakır will also be offered.
The same goes for Ankara towards the city of Tatvan, on the banks of Van Gölü (Lake Van).
Until March
We’re already a week into the new month, but we’re sure we’ll have plenty to tell you before the rest of the month is over!
In addition to new blog posts, you can also see what we’re up to via our Facebook page AND our Instagram – especially in Instagram stories where I usually add random photos and videos of what we are doing at that moment.
Oh, and you can find us on Discussionsmashed potato.
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