New Thing #86 - Balkans Trip - Day 14 (Istanbul, Turkey)

June 26, 2015

We had a lazier morning today as we didn't have anything to do but sightsee. Plus, we're nearing the end of our trip, and vacation fatigue is starting to set in. After another stellar breakfast at our hostel, we headed the short distance to the Basilica Cistern and O.M.G. I'm not sure I can describe this place to you, and my photos don't even remotely do it justice. First off, the building to enter is very unassuming, and we walked past it without realizing it. We even stopped to get directions from a security guard, and he pointed across the street. Yeah, we're special.

First off, let me preface by explaining what the BC actually is. It's the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns lying beneath Istanbul. It was built in the 6th century. The SIXTH CENTURY, ya'll. A Basilica originally stood where the cistern was eventually built, hence the name, and the basilica was built between the 3rd and 4th centuries. The cistern itself provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and surrounding buildings. It has the capacity to hold 100,000 tons of water, though it's nearly empty today with only a few feet of water remaining in the bottom. (Thanks Wikipedia for the info.)

Very unassuming entrance.

The origin of these Medusa heads is unknown, but some theories are they came from a building in the late Roman period.

It's thought that the heads were rotated to negate the Gorgon's gaze, but others just think it was because they fit the columns better this way.

So glad we went to this first thing in the morning because it wasn't super crowded, and there was no line to get in. Later in the day the line was out the door and down the street!

Here's the line later in the afternoon. I didn't even show the line down the sidewalk.

Next, we headed to the Spice Market to check out all of the food stuffs. We found that vendors were much more aggressive here than at the Bazaar the day before. Perhaps it's because we were all females and Dalim wasn't with us, but I found it really distasteful to walk through because of the things the guys were saying. One guy even called out to us: "Tea for the ladies? Tea to lose weight?" The only pseudo cat-call that I enjoyed was the guy outside who said "Can I help you spend your money on things you don't need?"

Touche.

Dalim had suggested we head down a side aisle, and we found out he was right. It was less crowded, and had fewer aggressive vendors. We found a really nice guy in a spice stall that probably spent about an hour with us letting us sample different spices and teas. We all ended up getting numerous bags of spices for chicken, potatoes, salads, fish and red meat. He even measured out the fresh spices for us and vacuum sealed them while we waited. That's pretty much the only way we could get them on the plane. Nikki ended up buying so many bags of spices to use for gifts that her travel nickname changed from Sweet Nikki G to Spicy Nikki G!

We thought we were ready to go until he pulled out all of the tea choices: apple, Istanbul, lemon mint and pomegranate. I couldn't resist even though I drink zero tea on a regular basis. But, dammit, they all spelled so good!

All the spices.

We finally extricated ourselves from the spice market and left to head back to the Grand Bazaar. We hadn't purchased anything the previous day during our short tour, so we were determined to come away with some sweet souvenirs. Although I wasn't super pumped about haggling, I managed to get a few good deals on some trivets and a little tea set to go with my new bags of tea. I kept thinking I needed more, and wanted everything I saw. Luckily common sense won out and I resisted. Not to mention, I was pretty much at capacity with my backpack and suitcase.

I want ALL of these lamps!

We did spend a lot of time in one little jewelry shop, specifically for Megan to pick out some earrings for herself and gifts. I ended up getting some as a gift for friends, and I knew I was locked in when the vendor offered us apple tea, and we said yes. Granted, I did want some tea, and I was planning on buying something anyways, but that was a solid statement saying we weren't leaving without getting something. I try to follow the customs of whatever country I'm in, and I wasn't about to insult this guy by drinking his tea, and then just walking out.

Speaking of tea, I have yet to figure out where it comes from here. He basically pushed a button, and in less than 10 minutes (probably closer to 5), two glasses of steaming hot apple tea were delivered to his stall. My guess is there is some mysterious room deep in the bowels of the bazaar where guys do nothing buy brew tea and run it back and forth to stalls.

This intrigues me.

After another delicious meal at an aptly named Kepab House, we talked about taking a cruise down the Bosphorous Strait, the small canal of water that separates the European side of Istanbul with the Asian side. On our way back to our hostel to drop off our goodies, we passed a Turkish Bath, and decided we couldn't leave Turkey without participating in this ancient ritual.

Lunch! The service was mediocre, but the food was awesome.

Still boggles my mind that their water comes in little plastic cubes.

Hummus!

Chicken shish kebob

I wonder what a Turkish Burger King tastes like. I guess I'll never know, because we did not go in.

Loved this tile mosaic wall on our way back from lunch.

Turkish Bath time!

My bag of bath goodies: panties, a towel and a body scrubber mitt, along with a little yellow chip.

I'm going to do my best to explain the Turkish Bath, because for obvious reasons I couldn't take any photos. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

First off, you could choose between a few different options: just a steam, a steam with a scrub and bubble wash, or a steam with a scrub/bubble wash finished off with a massage. Nikki and I chose the steam with scrub/bubble wash, and Megan opted for the additional massage. (I'm pretty loyal to my massage therapist in StL, and I already knew I'd be seeing her after my trip, so I didn't want to pay the extra fee. Not to mention that those Turkish ladies looked like they might break me in half....)

Once we paid, we each got a small baggie plus little colored chips with our services listed. This helped to indicate to the women inside what services we had paid for. They led us to another room and up some stairs with changing rooms and little lockers. Inside our baggies were panties (one size fits all), a textured scrubber mitt and a plaid towel. We each changed into the panties and wrapped the towels around us and took the mitt with us. Our clothes and belongings went into a locker and we took the key with us.

Now for the fun part. We headed into the Hamam - a large room covered floor to ceiling in marble filled with enough steam to dewrinkle your clothes in about 38 seconds flat. In the middle of the room was a larger-than-octagonal shaped dais. (I say larger than octagonal because I didn't really get a chance to count how many sides it had. I just remember that it was huge.) Lying on the slab were about 15-20 women getting their steam/scrub/wash, while almost as many Turkish women stood on the edges in nothing but a black bikini - their hair plastered to their head from all the humidity.

The lady who led us into the room motioned for us to lie down on the slab and wait for one of the ladies to grab us. It didn't take long for one lady to motion to me, and had me lie face down on my towel along one of the edges. Unfortunately, I was lying along the edge, and she had me put my head almost on top of the feet of the girl next to me. Um, no thanks. I tried to turn slightly so I didn't get smacked in the head with her toes, and then the lady who settled me in just left. I stayed on my stomach waiting somewhat patiently while I saw both Megan and Nikki get grabbed by other ladies.

I wasn't sure if the lady had seen my chips that I was to get the scrub/wash and not just the steam, so I looked around trying to find her, but I couldn't really find her in the room. I tried asking the lady next to me who was busy scrubbing/washing another girl, but in her broken English she basically just smiled and told me to wait.

So I waited until both Nikki and Megan were nearly done, and the lady I had briefly spoken to finished with the other girl. I was starting to worry though that I had paid for nothing. She finally had me lay on my stomach (and I couldn't see what she was doing), and then I got doused with a very large bucket of hot soapy water. So much water that it sloshed into my nose from the marble surface and I came up sputtering and half snorting/drinking soap water. She pushed my head back down and grabbed the exfoliating mitt lying next to me, and proceeded to slough off every single speck of dried skin I've been holding on to my entire life.

Luckily, it didn't really hurt (the mitt's surface is surprisingly gentle in its exfoliation), but that lady man-handled me like she was putting a spice rub on a slab o' meat. After she finished my back and the back of my legs (not to mention a good portion of my butt cheeks), she had me flip over and did the front. Yes, the front. I looked down at one point at the mitt she was using and I couldn't believe the amount of dead skin that had come off. Good grief, it looked like I never exfoliated! She finished by giving my face a somewhat gentler scrub and then poured more soapy water onto me. The "towel" I had been lying on was not used as a washcloth, and she washed away any remaining dead skin.

After I was cleaner than I had probably been in my entire life, she beckoned me over to the outer edges of the room. There were little ledges and water spickets all around the room. I sat on the ledge and she again doused me with a large amount of water. I barely had time to breathe in between. She then proceeded to wash my hair, and I had flashbacks of when my older sister had to wash my hair as a kid. Let's just say my sister had a gentler touch back then than this lady did. A final rinse of the hair and any remaining creases still covered in soap, and she sent me back to the marble slab with a smile. We were told that after our wash we could stay in the room and steam for as long as we wanted.

Nikki was quietly steaming and Megan had already left to get her massage. Nikki and I stayed for another 10-15 minutes, but I got restless and we eventually left to dry off. They did have showers available for use, but I was already feeling cleaner than I had the entire trip - maybe my entire life - so I didn't really feel like that was necessary. We both stopped to get a refreshment while we waited for Megan to finish up. And mine of course was freshly squeezed OJ. Yum!

Afterwards, we all changed, and tried to figure out if/how much/where to tip our ladies. Each one of them had been wearing a tag with a number on it, so we assumed this was a way to leave a tip if we were satisfied. A quick search in the lobby area didn't leave us with any answers, until one of the ladies indicated that we could pay them directly. I didn't see my lady out in the lobby anywhere, but the lady who had first had me lie down was eyeballing me quite intently. I just handed her a tip and left, not sure if that was the right thing to do or not.

My girl had left my scrubbing mitt with me, so I ended up taking it with me. Turns out they had some for sale, so I'm not sure if I was actually supposed to take it or not, but it's since been washed and is my favorite exfoliating tool! I can honestly say that the Turkish bath was one of the most unique and coolest things I've even done. I highly recommend it if you're ever in Turkey!!

On our way back to our hostel to freshen up and change for dinner some guy called us Charlie's Angels. Which, is actually kind of funny considering Megan is blonde, Nikki is Asian and my hair sometimes appears red. I hadn't really thought about it until that moment.

Someone else called me Jennifer Aniston today at one of the stalls. Not even remotely accurate, but if some foreign dude thinks I'm Jennifer Aniston, you can bet your ass I'm going to go with it.

Awesome hostel, I recommend it.

The hostel dog, Zaman. He's super sweet and cuddly, and I love him. He even has an Instagram account. Check him out @cheerszaman.

Our hostel lobby.

Our hostel patio.

View of Hagia Sophia from our hostel terrace.

Hostel bar.

Hostel lounge area.

Dinner was at the Cozy Pub & Restaurant, a much closer walk than the night before. We mainly went for the terrace view the host outside promised us. We weren't to be disappointed as we had another spectacular view of the Bay and the Blue Mosque with our dinner. The restaurant had everything from quesadillas to chicken fingers, and pasta to Turkish meats. I opted for a cozy chicken and some beer. The service wasn't anything to write home about, but we didn't really care as the weather was fantastic, the views were amazing, and we were celebrating our last night together in Istanbul. I mean, really, the bad service doesn't even matter at this point.

Blue Mosque

The views aren't too shabby here either.

"Cozy" chicken - chicken breast with ham, cheese, garlic, mushrooms and butter, breaded and served with rice, potatoes and veggies.

Elevator shenanigans.

On the way back we stopped to get some ice cream, and the street vendor gave us a magic show with it! Not really, but he was incredibly entertaining, and what's better than ice cream and a show? Especially when it's blackberry and lemon ice cream. Yum!

During Ramadan, Muslims can not eat until sundown, so the lines for some restaurants were crazy busy later in the evening. We assumed this one was really good given the lines in both directions.

Makes me glad we like to eat early!

Ice cream magician!

So good!

Sadly, this is our last night with Megan, but we were all so exhausted from our day of shopping/haggling and Turkish bathing that we didn't end up doing anything else, other than lounging in our hostel room. Sometimes it's nice to just recharge the batteries. And, our batteries were definitely running low at this point.