To Fethiye, Türkiye… Thanks For Everything!

Çok teşekkür ederim! I wanted to take every single opportunity to say 'Thanks For Everything' to Fethiye. From national looking monuments, a memorable Garanti branch and lunch with a castle view. In this third and final Fethiye blog installment, it's time to wrap things up where Fethiye stands. A market view? Oh, hayır! Tuesday was not the day, no market would be visited! 

Fresh from our 'Culture Center' meeting, as we walked towards that newly manicured park we saw our first national monument in Fethiye. After living in China for several years I love finding nationalistic statutes and nods to history from the state, Fethiye had my back that morning! The first monument embodied a quote from former president, 'Mustafa Kemal Atatürk'. He had said during his speech on the 10th anniversary after Türkiye became a republic. Engraved in black letters, 'Ne Mutlu Türküm Diyene'. That celebratory quote translates from Turkish to English as 'How Happy Is The One Who Says I Am A Turk'. The monument featured a figure of  'Atatürk' himself with him holding the hand of a child. For me I have heard such sayings from Chinese people during the patriot National Day celebrations, also signifying the foundation of their republic, posing a common link with Türkiye's love for their homeland. A lover of their own flag like China, in that moment I saw many fresh looking Turkish flags flying that day. Thanks, FYE! 

The Obelisk had me taking my photos with much enthusiasm, the monument displayed some kind of political message? I wanted to know! Now, with such limited information found from my Google search, I could gather that the Obelisk served as a war memorial. In the moment I wasn't able to read what had been engraved upon the stone part of that Fethiye war memorial, judging by the lower displays, the mood exuded a high energy projection of sorrow? I was more attracted to the flags once again and their placement, placed either side of the memorial allowed me to witness another slice of Turkish pride. With both symbols of Turkish national identity displayed so closely, the well kept state of the monuments told me that the current administration within Türkiye wants to promote such nationalism. I do think! Hey, I appreciated that sense of projection because it reminded me of China's own monuments and symbols that feature a national flag. Those Fethiye sights had me impressed! Keep flying that fresh Türk bayrağı! Yes!

Our jammed packed week in the Turkish sunshine resort of Çalış Beach wasn't going to allow us a visit to either of the nearby weekly markets, frankly I wasn't bothered but you already know that I live for a bit of culture! As we walked through the Paspatur, we did see some tourist shops with the same snacks and Turkish Delight that could be found at the markets. That smattering of 'Market Realness' satisfied my senses because such culture was served nevertheless, if we had a two week stint in the sun then I would have bought some of those nuts and treats to enjoy throughout the holiday but there just wasn't enough time. I also didn't want to be lugging any extra things back to England because with hand luggage only, well that wasn't the mood for me certainly! Our continued walk through the Paspatur helped us cool down, the soon to be 'midday' sun was on the war path, we didn't have time for that heat! Market views secured, the day so far in Fethiye had been more than jammed pack, we were winning! Garanti? What? Who?

Both me and my Sister wanted to see if we could find the estate agency who had sold us that legendary holiday home in the Çalış Beach area. Known as 'Falcon Estates', we made sure to keep our eyes peeled at the shop fronts along 'Atatürk Caddesi'. Unfortunately, we could not find Falcon's former estate agency, but the memories made along that street were still in our hearts. Garanti Bank, well that trading Fethiye banking branch dealt with us some 19 years ago as the sale of our holiday house went through. We needed a Turkish bank account to make sure a few monetary things were secure, that banking branch became a familiar place and for us kids it wasn't most exciting of places. No! We did hear our banking consultant, 'Aytül' co-ordinate a lot of things for us! She taught us one important Turkish word because she said it an awful lot, she would say 'Şimdi', which meant 'Now'. I think to myself, how remarkable my memory can be sometimes, gloating isn't a nice trait but I'm ok with owning that superpower because I want to! 

It was a full circle moment, as we sat for some brunch at the Turkish cafe where I had my Turkish breakfast, a certain view came into sight! As our Water Taxi made its way over the bay, we were able to see a Turkish flag that was flying proudly in the bluer than blue skies. That flag boasted a prime location as it sat on top of the mountain adjacent to the 'Fethiye Kalesi' meaning 'Castle' in Turkish. As we reflected on the day it felt like such a treat to have that mountain view from the comfort of our shaded seats. I for one had missed those mountains, I had missed the nature and I had most of all missed the culture. For us to be back in Fethiye, for us to be catching those sights that reminded about our time spent in the city had us feeling all those memories in real time. That view of the Turkish flag cemented the fact that even if that visit to Fethiye was our last, we had scooped up every single last node of culture. Absolutely not, we wouldn't be going anywhere near that castle because that wasn't part of the plan! No worries, F! 

Feeling thankful, the walk back to the Water Taxi had us feeling grateful for all of the day's experiences. In this segment of our experiences in Fethiye, we had snatched those government views in the form of Fethiye's war memorial and republic monument. I couldn't stress how nice it was to see a slice of nationalism because being away from China for almost 3 years has had me feeling less than 'red'. Those Paspatur market vibes had us right from the very start, no market would be visited during that super packed week holiday. Getting back to that familiar 'Atatürk Caddesi' allowed us to recapture those Garanti bank settings, pure memories from that house hunting week during the winter of 2003. No more the estate agency stood, we caught those feels along that street because regardless flashbacks were served still! Those full-circle castle and flag mountain views had us paying attention from the very start, right through to that departing moment. Finally, Fethiye has been blogged for now! Gitmeliyim, hoşçakal! Bye!

Done, Done, Done! 

Desperately Seeking Adventure