Thursday, 16 July 2015

Best Place for Bayram

I was chatting online with my daughter, bemoaning the fact that I wouldn't be home for the Bayram holiday and wishing myself over the Aegean Sea to Bodrum.  I then flicked on to Facebook to read that friends in Bodrum were already suffering the effects of the influx of city drivers. In Turkey, a car registration plate declares its place of origin. Istanbul is 34, Ankara 06, and Izmir 35 etc. It is mostly alphabetical with a few new counties tacked on the end.  In the South, we dread the hoards of 34 plate cars descending on to our narrow roads, bringing their bad city driving habits to add to our own pretty ropey ones. The average 34 plate driver seems to spend hours driving round and round before eventually finding the worst place to park, usually blocking a local's access to their front door or barricading them in. Traffic accidents multiply as tempers flare and the best thing to do at this time of year is lock your car keys away for a week and try to stay at home.  So I retract my wish to be home for the holiday, despite missing husband, daughter and dog, because I am in the best place for Bayram - a traffic free island.  I plan to fly home on Sunday, when the hoards will be returning to the cities.


An example of bad parking on Hydra, these animals deserve 34 plates. I was always told never to walk too close to the back end of a donkey, it's impossible to follow that advice here.

15 comments:

  1. . . we learned early on the that 'h' wasn't for holidays, it was for hibernation from the hinsanity!

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  2. Bet you can't wait to get home.....We're back home permanently in Shrewsbury now - left behind the gridlocked streets of Surrey and the giant car park that is the section of the M25 between M40 and M3. Hope we can get out to see you sometime soon! x

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    1. It must be lovely to be back home . i'm hoping to be in the same situation at 11:30pm tomorrow.

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  3. The photo is fabulous...enjoy getting home again, when the traffic improves.

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    1. Im not planning on getting in the car. a lounger by the pool will be the only wheels I want to see for a few days

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  4. Super photograph....and it sounds as if you are in the best place for the present.

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    1. I've had more exercise in the past few weeks than the last two months. Car free is the answer

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  5. Arrest that donkey! Yes, B to B, it's heavenly to be on a traffic-free island as we are also. Enjoy and don't come back until next Tuesday.

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    1. I must come up and see your island I fancy a phaeton ride

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  6. You'd best stay where you are!

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  7. Fabulous photo, gorgeous colors too! How I wished to be in that island, enjoy & Mutlu Bayramlar, Ozlem x

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    1. Happy Bayram to you and yours too, Ozlem.

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  8. Ha ha, you sound like us here in Fethiye. We're forever looking at the number plates at the moment - and will be through the rest of summer, I guess, now Ramazan is over. The jandarma had to take to the roads last year around Ölüdeniz becuase no more traffic would fit. Meanwhile, we sat at home in front of the fan. :) Hydra's looking chilled. :)

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