We were amazed by the value for money in Spain and Portugal - even in the 3 courses for 9.90 euro places the food was excellent - and you are never far from a free drink on the house - something I cannot remember happening in Calis even once for many a year. Also the drinks - we watched the Wimbledon final (the one Murray lost) in a bar where drinks such as beer, red & white wine, soft drinks were ALL 1 euro - not happy hour, 24 hour - and the red wine was brill!
The Government are causing all this to the Turkish tourism industry - meat prices soaring because they export the vast majority to help with their balance of payments - and the war on alcohol continues at every opportunity there is to put prices up. You can see evidence of both everywhere - even the 3C promises auction has a list of prizes which has changed from "Any meal for two" to "Any chicken meal for two" - and with the cost of drinks no wonder I haven't had one on the house in years!
I calculated how horrific the increase in alcohol products has been, in a topic from a while back. If you haven't seen that, it will shock you.
"To highlight the effect on raki - a 70cl bottle cost 2.37 TL in 1998, now 51.5 TL. Had we experienced the same rise in whisky prices in the UK in the same 15 years, a bottle of whisky bought just before the Millenium at £12 would today be for sale at £264.10 a bottle."
I'm not overly interested in what an Efes costs or a meal, if we want something we have it, we're on holiday. But it will change how people judge Turkey - and the place we used to say you couldn't spend you money is long gone, sadly.
