This article was written for Fethiye Times by Sian Midgley.
Those of you who have been visiting the area for many years will have seen lots of changes, good changes. The most noticeable being the addition of a fantastic park that now connects Fethiye and Çalış and gives locals and visitors alike the perfect spot to relax and have fun with their families.
But the second biggest change can be seen if you take a stroll along Yerguzlar Caddesi in Çalış or, for those of you looking at me rather blankly, the Sunday Market Road (‘ahhh, right, now I’m with you’). When I first arrived in the area nearly seven years ago the roads were unpaved and you had to do a little hop, skip and jump to get into Cafe Pazar on a rainy day without being covered in mud.
It All Started With A New Road Surface
It was obvious change was on its way when new paving went down, shortly followed by the arrival of Baba Fırın with its extensive range of breads and cakes, as well as seating areas for those who wanted to enjoy a coffee.
Since then pretty much every sort of shop you could wish for has arrived including a bike shop, numerous vets and pet shops, a few hairdressers, a knitting shop, a cheese shop, a fish shop, a meat shop, an ice cream shop, chemists, a deli, an estate agents, a hotel, and much much more.
Not forgetting of course a plethora of supermarkets including Baby Migros, Mummy Migros and Daddy Migros all within sight of each other. All we need now is a bank and an M&S and life would be complete. Ohh, and a Cadbury Chocolate Shop…now that would be really nice!
Food Glorious Food
Of course, it’s not just shops that have sprung up. Now there are eateries to suit every palate and every budget from fast food joints such as Garage Burger and Bazlama Istasyonu to restaurants such as Gustorante and the Secret Garden. If you want to experience authentic Turkish food you can pop into the small but perfectly formed Mom’s Kitchen – no menu, you simply choose from what’s on offer that day, or sit yourself down in chain restaurant, Alo24, and fill ya boots from the wide selection on the menu. As we speak there’s even a new Chinese restaurant opening soon.
Too Much Food
If you’ve over indulged yourself with a delicious meal, followed by delicious cake, followed by delicious ice cream, followed by a huge frothy coffee you can walk (or roll) over to the HA5 gym and work it all off. If that’s not your thing then, if you’ve still got room, just grab one of those tasty sweet bites from Baba Firin and wander past the gym watching all those crazy fools get sweaty during their workouts. Surely just watching them will burn off a few of your own? Right?
The Metropolis Expands
This development is also having a positive knock on effect on Barıs Manco where new restaurants and shops are popping up all the time. And guess what opened just the other week? Yep, that’s right, a supermarket, just in case you didn’t find what you wanted in the other three dozen you passed to get there!
So if you are on holiday in çalış and fancy heading up to the Sunday market to grab yourself a ‘cheaper than Primani’ bargain, don’t just get off the bus and head straight into the mayhem, take a stroll left or right and see what else is on offer in this beautiful place that I’m lucky enough to call home.
*A big thank you to Suleyman Ilker for his contribution to the photographs.
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