Christmas In Reverse Order

Archaeologist Ayşe Temiz leading the protest against the new jetty 

Boxing Day was spent in an appropriately pugilistic manner, protesting against a blot on the landscape.  The struts of an illegal jetty in front of The Halikarnasus Club have been spoiling the view of the castle from the Kumbahçe side of Bodrum for too long and despite the promise of their removal being dangled as a carrot (pre-election) by local political parties,  the stakes are still there. This was annoying enough but when news came out of the blue that permission was about to be granted for the (illegal) jetty to be built, the residents of Bodrum were out on the streets to show their displeasure.  We've just heard that the tender to rebuild has been withdrawn today, so fingers and toes are crossed and will be until those ugly posts start being pulled up. 

The beach was definitely the place to be on Christmas day - warm and sunny with not a breath of wind. As we sipped our mulled pomegranate juice and munched our imported cheese, a woman swam leisurely past, a sight common enough in the Antipodes on 25th December, but not here. 

I can't say much about the Christmas Eve Mayor's party as we only popped in for a short while and left before the host arrived.  A combination of 2 head colds and smokey braziers is not a comfortable one and we didn't want to spread our unseasonable germs around, so we arrived on the dot of 7pm.   I couldn't  help but notice how amazingly prompt people arrive at a party when the drinks are on the house.  It's a pity we can't get such a good attendance for the Consulate information meetings!