Hamman, the ancient traditional Turkish Bath.
When I mentioned to a friend back home that we were going to Turkie for our honeymoon, she told me about getting a Turkish bath and how it was the highlight of her trip. So on her recommendation three of us ladies that arrived a day early got booked and imbibed. My oh my!
We got the “Sultan’s Package” including a Swedish massage, foot reflexology, and a clay mask on our face.
And the came the Turkish bath part. It entailed of lying on this warm slab of marble, getting rinsed with waves of warm water, scrubbed to within an inch of your life with a salt scrub, both sides please and thank you, more warm water rinsing, and then the foam!! Oh, the foam! My sweet masseuse, a petite Indonesian girl, took a porous long skinny sack, dipped it in a tub of soapy water and fluffed it until it was full of foamy bubbles, then squeezed all the foam into me. Both sides again, please and thank you.
It was quite the experience, I have to say. Many more from the group are signed up for one.
This is our tour guide, Omar Sharif. He is amazing! Okay, his real name is Bugrat, pronounced Booraa with a rolling R. Awesome guy!
Our first official day of the tour started with a walking tour that took us from the Hippodrome to the Hagia Sophia, built in the 400’s AD as a Byzantine church, later converted to a Mosque, then a museum, now back to a Mosque. The original Sultan who converted it to a Mosque did so with great respect to the original religion. It was amazing to see mosaics of Jesus and the Virgin Mary set between Sultans as a sign of respect.
The original mosaic was floor to ceiling, but looters from the conquest ripped as much of the gold leaf and tiles as they could reach from horseback.
Women had to cover their hair for tours in Mosques. I had to buy a lovely Turkish Silk scarf and the shop girl carefully arranged and knotted it over my tresses so I could respectfully visit the Mosques.
Next up, stop, Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace, built in 1453, is ridiculously opulent. It sprawls over acres with official areas and private areas for the family.
One stop of this palace tour was the exhibit of the family jewels. My photos are not very good as we were definitely not allowed to loiter in this heavily guarded area. One gemstone was an 84 carat diamond! White and bright and sparkly.
Next stop was the religious relic room. Many, many, many beard hairs of many prophets and sultans encased in glass. My favorite was bone fragments of John the Baptist’s arm and skull.
The view from the back gardens is over the Bosphorous Strait. Left side is the European continent. The right side is the Asian continent.
After over 15,000 steps in the glorious heat, they nestled us into the most charming restaurant in a narrow alleyway up a bit of a long hill. Lunch and cold beer was served. Along with baklava and Turkish tea. Need I say more?
Last stop of the day, The Blue Mosque
But, first, before ladies can enter, the head must be covered again. While Steve and I tried to recreate the knots and wraps of my gorgeous scarf, a lovely young Muslim lady saw our attempts and came over and took over. She was so kind and her eyes showed such compassion. I truly felt blessed as I walked into one of the most famous Mosques in the world.
We are loving this visit to Istanbul, where East meets West. The city straddles the Bosphorous Strait and lives on both the European and Asian continents. It truly feels like the Capitol of the World.
All the people have been so kind and helpful and welcoming.
Goodbye for now.
Your Pirate King and his Queen
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