There's so much of my trip to Turkey that I never sat down and blogged about...such as the day I tried driving in Istanbul...in a Ford, of all things! Or the fact that that same day I crossed the bridge over the Bosphorus River that straddles Europe and Asia. Within half an hour and without leaving the same city, you can cross two continents.
Here is one entry (transcribed) that I wrote by hand my last evening in Turkey on Oct. 3, 2010:
"This is my last night in Turkey and I am spending some quiet time by myself in Sultanahmet. Sipping red wine, nibbling on olives and pita, waiting for an aubergiene and lamb kebab...this is by far the most atmospheric and relaxing dining I have had so far on this trip...which seems a good segue to arriving in Paris tomorrow.
Today, I went to the Spice Bazaar and then spent the evening in the Hammam (Turkish Bath) with an American girl from Wisconsin who is living here in Istanbul. While we were in the Hammam, there was a 4.4 earthquake in the Marmara Sea. It was mildly felt here in the city, causing furniture to rattle around, but in the ancient, stone walls of the Hammam, we were completely unaware.
The Hammam was bizarre...not nearly as luxurious as the one I went to last winter in the South of Spain, yet more expensive. We couldn't afford the option with massage, so we took the middle-grade option, which was a hot water soak, plus "body scrub and soap". We undressed (women only in this bath house) and, cloaked in towel wraps, walked into a huge, circular, gray-marble room with a large, round stone in the center. The stone was covered with nude women of all ages and body types, waiting their turn to be soaped down.
The attendents reminded me of Oompa Loompas. They were a full squad of short, fat, Turkish women in black bikinis who all seemed to look the same and ordered you to lie down on your towel, while they roughly threw warm buckets of water over you. The scrubbing felt great and then came massive amounts of foamy soap that inescapably made its way into your face and ears, prompting more buckets of water to be hurled at you in almost sinking-pirate-ship fashion. My favorite part was the 30 second foot massage.
After the scrub, came a shampoo that was equally foamy and splashy. Then, you were sent to finish off in the bath, which disappointingly consisted of a relatively small, cavernous room with murky-looking water and bad lighting. I wasn't very impressed, but I did enjoy sitting in the bright and airy lounge afterward, sipping tea and watching the Oompa Loompa ladies taking their break."
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