Wednesday 8 December 2010

I've done my time in Room 101 (Sunday 19 September 2010)

George Orwell would be proud, I have completed my time in Room 101 and escaped without ever having to cry "do it to Julia". All it took was 3 days of patience and visits to reception and finally I have a decent room.



So after depositing my stuff I took myself off to have a look around Side. Such a lovely place, built in and around the Roman ruins on the edge of the Med. Little cafe's everywhere and yet again I find myself in designer heaven. Bags and shoes from whatever designer you care to name - Chanel is big here. Not for me of course, I prefer the real thing - says she from behind her £5 D & G specs from Vietnam! And no doormen in black here looking you up and down before they deign to let you in - just a cry of "come see my rubbish, even cheaper than Asda" or the favourite "luverrly jubbly" to welcome you into the designer havens. Bond Street it 'ain't but good fun nonetheless.

Just past the harbour is the Temple of Apollo, which was really impressive blazing white in the sunshine with the blue sea behind. Just the place to stop for a cocktail, but at almost a tenner for a cube, it may just be a very sober holiday! The currency is also a bit odd, the Turkish lira and the euro seem interchangeable and it's never that clear whether the cost is quoted in lira or euro - but at around two to one I have discovered it makes sense to sort that before you order.....

Always fun to try and guess nationality but have met a real expert. Every time you walk past a shop or restaurant they call out in what they hope is the right language for you. At the seaside restaurant of the hotel the guy doing this is amazing. He speaks a little of every language here and its great fun to watch him at work as you eat. It's not just telling the difference between Brits, Germans, Dutch or Russians, Ant and I are quite good at that. But he also seems to have the knack of telling the difference between all of the Scandinavians here, Swedish, Norwegian, Danes His patter differs with each. For the Germans he seems to focus on the seafood and the beer, for the Scandinavians it seems to be tempting them with the weight of the huge steaks and for the Brits? Well that seems to be the cheapness of the food (which it isn't) and dragging them into the kitchens to show them how clean they are - not sure what that says about us a nation!