Yeah, baby. I’m back!
It’s been, what, three weeks since last I put virtual pen to virtual paper?
And what a three weeks they have been. Now, I did mention to a certain long term reader that I would be writing about my brand new car today, and shying away from the subject matter of the holiday I’ve just immensely enjoyed.
Well, tough.
Period Piece
The subject of the car will come, maybe next week, who knows, but, while the memories are still somewhat fresh in my disease-ridden mind it would be remiss of me not to put the full stop on all things Turkey.
To put those who don’t know in the scene, myself and my supercallifragelistic Mrs, Tina have just returned from our first overseas holiday in eight years. A two week stay in Marmaris, Turkey which, funnily enough was also the last place we visited all those very many years ago.
Sick Leave
Now, at the time I had just received my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and things were very much in flux.
It’s fair to say I wasn’t a well man back then (not that I’m the ‘after’ picture in some shiny diet and exercise promotion now). I was both physically and emotionally a wreck of a man. Something that meant we, out of necessity, stayed very, very close to the sunbeds.
This time I was determined to do some more exploring, and that’s exactly what we did. We visited the bay and the harbour, saw The Dancing Fountains in all their musically accompanied and illuminated glory. We took a trip on a glass bottomed, semi-submersible boat, and came face to face with fish and a shipwreck. We ate out… a lot, trying both local delicacies and tourist fodder. We walked miles on an almost daily basis (you know what I mean. Don’t be a pedant) . I even picked up a smattering of the local language and, by the end, could manage ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘thank you’ ‘Hello’ ‘good morning’, ‘good afternoon’, and ‘good evening’. We’ll just have to see how much of that sticks.
Challenge Accepted!
Of course there were challenges. Not so much from the get-go, as we were reasonably prepared by some miracle or another. Passports were checked, double-checked, and then checked again. Online check in was achieved with over a week to spare, and a lift to the airport pre-arranged thanks to my rather lovely step-daughter, Sarah. Really, apart from getting there far too early and spending a touch more than expected on booze in duty free, it all went very very well.
Marmaris itself is not designed for the disabled. This is true of most places, but Marmaris really turns it up to eleven. I don’t think, in two weeks, I encountered a single disabled toilet apart from some suspiciously small, horse-box shaped cabins on the beach. Drop kerbs too are sparse and ill-maintained, causing at least one failed superman impression onto the tarmac. Luckily this was the other side of the road, meaning I landed on the pavement. If I’d hit the road I’m not entirely convinced the manic, moped strewn traffic would have stopped
No, infrastructure wise, Marmaris is less than ideal. Luckily this is somewhat made up for by the lovely and very accommodating people.
If I was a cynical man, I might point to the fact that the resort is built on tourism, and the various cafes, bars, and restaurants are very keen to chuck you in and extract some lira from you. It goes a bit beyond that, though.
The example that most comes to mind, is the bar we stopped for lunch in where, after ordering, I was ‘helped’ to the facilities by two burly blokes lifting me, wheelchair and all, up three chunky steps. The same thing happened on the boat tour we went on, where I was ‘helped’ both on and off the vessel, and a chair was provided in the downstairs viewing area to enable me to fully partake in what we paid for.
What else?
Overseas Trip
Well, there is the small matter of Tina’s tumble. A fall of reasonably epic proportions as she walked around the pool, and which nearly saw her re-enter said pool. It was the pool-side drainage that was to blame. The plastic somehow caught hold of her bare foot, cracked, and sent her to the ground. Luckily, the only upshot was a large and very colourful bruise alongside some scratches. Painful, yes, but not enough to derail the rest of the holiday..
Oh, and Jet2 very nearly conspired to lose several parts of my wheelchair on the return journey. That would have taken the shine off things just a tad. On the way out the chair was stowed in the hold of the plane in one piece. On that fated, very early in the morning return flight, some bright spark thought to remove the unlabeled wheels and cushion of the frame and send the whole lot down the carousel. An idea that might have had more merit if the only way of getting there hadn’t been via a glorified trolley I couldn’t push myself. It’s a good job I wasn’t dying for the loo or something.
So, these are the somewhat scattered and wholly unorganised thoughts on the holiday. Would we return? Hell, yeah.
Soooon!
Marmaris might not be ideally set up for me. We might have had the odd escapade, this is true. The relaxed atmosphere, friendly people, weather, and fact there’s still so much to explore (we never touched nearby Icmeler) have left us already planning a return trip because, in some unknown way, the resort, perhaps the country, has stolen our hearts. So Marmaris, we will see you again! Until next time.
#
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think.
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
No comments:
Post a Comment