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Hello Hello!

We got back from Turkey last night and are already feeling the cold! I'm going to be posting a little bit about each place we sailed through over the next two weeks and I have over 2000 photo's to sift through and edit so I'll be sticking them up too.

I also have some very exciting news about the book- tomorrow is the first official photoshoot complete with food stylist and photographer! We have spent most of the day preparing for tomorrow and all I can say is it's a stark contrast, going from tanning in 30 degree heat to prowling through boxes of peppers for the most photogenic, within hours of stepping off a plane! We have been cooking all day and the first shots will be taken tomorrow morning, so I'm hoping to feature a few behind the scenes pics later this week.

For now here is my travel log day 1 to 3! The pictures are more foodie related as the days progress so stay tuned and Enjoy!

Orhaniye
The whole holiday was booked through Sunsail an English based yacht charter company, and unlike previous visits to Gocek, we decided to explore the new base of Orhaniye. After a long day which started in the early hours at Dublin airport, and a fairly erratic drive from Dalaman airport we finally arrived at our destination of Marti Marina, Orhaniye, in one piece. I always find it a bit disorientating arriving somewhere in the dark, but even the dim light could not disguise the fact that Marti Marina looked very much like a boat yard, and the website featured a hotel overlooking the marina. However on closer inspection the hotel was still in the process of being built and the building site gave the impression that the builders had given up and left a long time ago! But this was not our problem, in little under a few hours of well needed sleep, we would be on the water sailing, the overlooking building site, a distant memory.
We picked up our yacht, a Cyclades 42, which would be home for the next two weeks and gave it a quick once over before hitting the pillow.
The marina itself is fully functional with Shower and Laundry facilites, a small supermarket, a salt water swimming pool, and two restaurants overlooking the bay.
After a briefing at the sunsail office, picking up provisions in the supermarket, and a quick application of much needed suncream we were out sailing.
Two of the best things about a sailing holiday, is that you are outdoors practically all the time, surrounded by fresh air and with the water being so warm and clear, you find yourself in and out quite regularly to cool off from the sun’s heat. The second, you get too see so much, travelling to a brand new destination everyday!

Dirsek
Our first stop was Dirsek, a stunning little bay, surrounded by tall dry mountains, about an hour’s sail south from Orhaniye . There is a small restaurant in the bay which is run by the owners, who quite inconspicuously live in tents along the edge of the water, adding to the hands on feel of the place. Boats can anchor in the bay and tie a line ashore or the restauarant offers lazy lines along a jetty. We arrived at around lunchtime and got straight in for the first swim of the holiday, the water is so clear that you can see the bottom even at about 9 meters up, this makes great conditions for snorkelling, which quickly became my new favourite activity! We motored in to the restaurant with the small dighy which comes with the boat and arrived to a scene of what I would describe as controlled chaos. The regular chef had been rushed to the dentist with some major dental urgency and a happy go lucky waiter had been drafted in as the sorry individual who was set to take up the reigns. Guests are invited to go into the kitchen and choose from large table of meat and fish for their main course. On the opposite counter, large glass dishes full of cold starters are spread out in a large row for guests to choose from.

Roast Aubergine in Tomato Sauce, Cooked Green Beans with Yoghurt, Olive Oil and Garlic, Boiled Potatoes with a simple scattering of Parsley, Fried Corgettes, A sort of Onion, red Pepper, and Chilli Salsa, Cooked Spinach and Yoghurt topped with a sprinkle of Paprika, Cheese wrapped in Filo Pastry, and Tzatzichi were among the many dishes which made up the Turkish Mezze, a term coined to describe this massive selection of dishes. The restaurant charges a set price for the Mezze and you can choose whatever dishes you want in a buffet style, it’s a brilliant way to get a chance to try all the different flavours.

Now it’s not often that I feature sickly romantic moments between myself and Sofie, apart from the picture on the "About" page, but after dinner we lay up on deck and watched the stars. I know, I know, pass the bucket, but in our defence, with the only unnatural light coming from the restaurant in the distance, it was practically unmissable. I have never seen stars as amazing as on that night, and as we lay flat on our back it was as if we were wearing 3D goggles, with every last twinkling light jumping down at us. What a perfect way to end a great day.

Monastery of Panormitis, Simi
Our next stop was a long sail to the Greek island Of Simi, just on the border of Turkish waters. It was an extremely strange little port, whose mystery was heightened further, when we discovered the pilot book had absolutely no information about it. It seemed to be less of a town and more of a church with surrounding accommodation, we only came across one restaurant, there could have been more. The change from Turkish to Greek waters was quite significant in terms of cuisine and for dinner we ate a pretty standard fare of Calamari, Moussaka, Souvlaki, with large side dishes of Tzatzichi.
The large abbey sits right on the water front and is lit up quite impressively at night, the whole bay has a white painted walkway which goes from the abbey right the way around and up the hill to a large old windmill which overlooks the bay.

After a bit of googeling I discovered that the Monastry is Greek Orthadox and dates back to 450 AD. It is the largest on the island and is also considered one of the most important.

Apart from a few small shops, there was a bakery which sold fresh bread in the morning and had extremely tasty coconut macaroons topped with cherries.
We left the following morning for a long and bumpy sail to the small Turkish town of Datca...

I was away for the past few days for what is fast becoming my monthly trip to Sweden! Just to give you a brief history about my obsession with the home of europop, I love the Eurovision and in Sweden unlike Ireland it is widely accepted to enjoy that style of music, they also produce the best of it! I was once part of a boyband which saw us play in Sweden and one of the members (Jonathan Fagerlund) was also Swedish, at one stage I practically lived with his great family so I got to learn a lot more about the MANY traditions of Sweden. Ever Since I left the band I continue to visit and my beautiful girlfriend also happens to be from the land of the moose.

I have travelled quite a bit through Sweden and even lived there for a while, I would highly recommend you visit Gothenburg city, great shopping, really healthy food, and quite easy to access thanks to Ryanair. Perfect for a short city break.

Myself and Sofie were there for the past 5 days with two of our friends so we did a few touristy things to keep ourselves entertained, including a short drive from to a beautiful picturesque island north of Gothenburg called Mastrand, a trip to Scandinavia's largest theme park, Liseberg, some essential shopping and even a spot of sailing!

We also attended Sofie's Grandparent's crayfish party which was LOT'S of fun! The idea of the crayfish party has grown in popularity since the 1930's when the crayfish season began in late August, people sit out in the last of the summer sun, eat huge amounts of crayfish, sing schnapps songs, and wear funny hats and bibs! The one we went to was no different and definitely lived up to my expectations!

I particularly love shellfish so I can't describe my excitement when what appeared to be unlimited supplies of crayfish and prawns were placed elegantly on the table! All table manners really go out the window at this stage, when shell's are cracked, and claws snapped to reveal the salty sweet cooked cold meat. Making loud sucking noises also become an acceptable form of behaviour, to our friends who are bit squeamish, this must have looked more like a massacre than a party! I nearly had one of them trying the crayfish but they couldn't bring themselves to do it! Oh well maybe next time!

The eating is only broken up by the singing of songs and drinking schnapps which happens so regularly that for a light weight like myself it led to singing in my best Swedish at the top of my voice!

People who aren't used to cooking generally shy away from shellfish and see them as something pretty difficult to prepare, but if you can boil an egg then you can cook crayfish. Here is a simple recipe to make the crayfish we had at the party.

Swedish Crayfish Recipe

1. 2 lbs of crayfish


2. 3 Litres of Water


3. 5 tbsp of Salt


4. 1 tbsp of Sugar


5. Handful of Crown Dill or Fresh Dill
   

Bring the water to the boil in a large pot and add the salt sugar and dill. Add the crayfish to the hot water, if your crayfish is live, I recommend you put them in one at a time in order to keep the water hot enough to kill the little fella's instantly. Bring to the boil again and let simmer and cook for 10 mins. The option here is to just strain the crayfish under cold water but my advice would be to rinse them under cold water and place them back in the seasoned water with ice for a better taste.

A that's it! Serve them cold and enjoy your very own cray fish party!

I have been super busy writing the book for the last two weeks in order to be able to head off on holidays! Were off to Turkey sailing, so I'll be hoping to have lots of great pictures for you when I get back.
See you soon! Happy Holidays! :)