Not a big Deal

While coming back home from a visit to Gosia and Brian’s house and still shaking a bit, Marta talked to her friend Meral on the phone and was invited to go with her and her boyfriend Murat fishing in a small seaside town in Kent, called Deal. Kemal was also happy about the idea and even did not mind the fact that they had to wake up around 4.30am and meet Meral and Murat at 5am on Sunday morning. Meral and Murat came to pick up Marta and Kemal in their new shiny black car and off they went....to greet the sun on its journey up the sky.

The day looked very promising and the hues of the rising sun made the world around look incredibly beautiful. After almost running over a couple of bunnies happily occupying the middle of the road, they arrived in front of a Deal Pier before 7am. It was lovely: quiet, serene, peaceful. The sea was calm, there were almost no people (maybe apart from 1 or 2 fishers already on the pier), the beach was deserted and clean (well, no wonder, it was 7am on Sunday morning!) and only the occasional cry of a seagull disturbed the quietness and silence of the place. It was just perfect (and the total opposite of the scenery in Brighton!)

Meral, Murat, Marta and Kemal all felt very happy that they managed to wake up early and arrive in this place at that time. There is something special about early hours of the day. Although the nature is already up, the world of mankind is still soundly asleep in their warm beds and whoever does manage to get out of their bed, even in the middle of civilization and surrounded by concrete walls, is able to get closer to nature at that time.

They unpacked all their food and blankets from the car and settled down on the pier.
It was now time for some breakfast, so Meral started preparing sandwiches and Marta was helping her. They ate the sandwiches and drunk some tea (not too much as it all spilled out from the flask in the boot of the car during the journey) and Murat organised his fishing rods and they relaxed. Nothing much actually happened, as it turned out that the fish in the sea was not hungry that day, so Murat and Kemal decided to sleep a little on the benches and Meral and Marta decided to go for a little tour on the pier. The view from the pier was really nice and the girls enjoyed themselves a lot.

Here is the view from the pier:



Then, when the shops started opening, they decided to go and visit Deal. Before they left the pier, they were stopped by the pier guard who showed them his photographs of the place that he printed and sold to the tourists. Meral and Marta pretended that they liked them and ended up buying one each out of politeness. Good girls!

So, they went for a coffee first, which was a bit strange tasting, but at least half the price of any coffee in London – so it wasn’t too bad. Then, they went to visit the shopping centre, but most of the shops were closed. Then, they went to see the Deal castle – although it wasn’t a big deal and then, they ended up on the beach, trying to relax a little. That was the best part of the trip around not a big Deal.

Here they are on the Deal beach:



It started getting hot, so on their way back to the pier they bought some ice cream for everyone. But when they came back on the pier, they saw boys sitting there freezing in the wind that was getting stronger and stronger. The fish did not become hungry, so all that Murat managed to catch was a few crabs and a couple of squids….which he then threw back to the sea. A bit dispirited, he came up with an idea of going for a picnic somewhere else.

So, they all packed their food and their blankets and went back to the car. Murat then drove through picturesque little villages to Dover and then to a nice spot nearby, next to the cliffs on one side and the sea on the other. They stopped on the way to take some photos of the scenery.

Here is the scenery:



The weather was perfect for a picnic. So they lay out their blankets again, ate, and fell sleepy. However, before they managed to relax, a guard came and told them that they were lying down on a prohibited patch of grass and that they should move to a “designated picnic area”. And so they did. Now, nothing could move them from there and they all fell asleep. Except for Marta, who managed to take a few photos of the place.

Here are a few photos of the place:







They slept and slept and the sun shone on them and shone. Soon, they all became quite reddish. They would stay there for much longer, it was such bliss, but big clouds started covering the sun and without the sun shining on them and quite a strong wind blowing from the sea, they started freezing. Well, not exactly freezing, but it became uncomfortably cold.

It was time to head back home and two hours later, after being stuck in a huge traffic jam and seeing some nasty accidents on the way, they arrived at Marta and Kemal’s place for a few glasses of Turkish tea. Marta’s dear cousin Grzesiu was busy making baklava and Murat fell asleep on the little couch in the kitchen. Meral and Marta were testing some secret equipment in Marta’s room and their faces burned with red heat that was now starting to come out.

Everybody had really great time in Deal, though it wasn’t big and there were no fish.
Sometimes just going and spending a day outside of London in good company can feel like real holidays. And that how this trip felt to Marta and Kemal. It was just perfect – a real treat! and they are really grateful to Meral and Murat for making it possible for them to happen!