Guys, this was an experience for sure. The Cerberlistas Hamami was constructed in 1584 and is still in use today, obviously. The areas are separated by gender and the bath is open every day, which is why I thought it was a perfect thing to do on New Year's Day when not much else was open. Although I will say that compared to Barcelona, it was a LOT easier to find a place to eat and I didn't stave. So, let me take you through the bath experience.
You walk into the building and pay for whatever services you want, outside of the bath. I just paid for the bath, which was 45 TL. They gave me a white and red checked cotton cloth, and a little packet with a pair of black underwear and a wash mitt and then showed me to the women's area where I went up a flight of stairs and put my clothes and belongings into a locker. Wrapped in the cotton cloth and wearing a pair of clean white shower shoes, I headed into the bath area.
It was a large room with a domed ceiling. Because it was warm, there was water condensation on the ceiling that dripped down on you but it wasn't unpleasant.The large room had little alcoves with water taps and a marble basin underneath with silver bowls for you to gather water in whatever temperature you wanted and then dump over yourself if you wanted to. When I walked into the room, I lay my cotton cloth on the large marble slab and lay for awhile, relaxing and trying to get comfortable. The thing that got me through was knowing that I'd never see any of these people again. After about twenty minutes, one of the women working said "Lady, hey lady, lady!" Despite the fact that there were many ladies in the area, they were calling me so I moved my cotton cloth over to the edge of the marble slab and lay back down. The scrubbing woman working on me was very nice but didn't speak much English so directed me with what she wanted me to to do in broken English. She took the wash mitt and scrubbed me down all over. It was a bit rough but not too bad- and there was definitely dead skin all over the place. Good thing I hadn't gotten a fake tan before hand- it would all me gone by now! After I got scrubbed down, she dumped a few basins of water on me to rinse off all the dead skin and then got a large bucket of soapy water. The next part was essentially a bubble bath without the bath- I was completely covered in warm bubbles and was washed down completely. The scrubber took a pillow case and dunked it into soapy water and then filled it with air and pushed it through, essentially creating an avalanche of bubbles. The scrubbing was a lot less violent that with the scrub mitt and was even a bit massage-y. After that, I was taken over to one of the basins and had my hair washed for me. Basically, the most pampering I think I've ever had before.
I was then able to go back and lie on the marble slab for as long as I wanted. It was incredibly relaxing, especially when I closed my eyes and tuned everything out or when I was looking up at the domed ceiling with the light coming in. Eventually I made my way out, wrapped myself into a big fluffy towel and sat down in the relaxation area and had a cup of apple tea which has also been my jam on this trip. When I was ready, I got changed back into my clothes, dried my hair with the convenient hair driers and then headed back outside, feeling like my skin was totally glowing.
That night I headed off to Israel and when I got back five days later, we landed to snow at Sahiba Goken Airport. The flight had been delayed upon return and then my backpack took a really long time to arrive, which freaked me out a bit, but eventually it arrived and I got on the Havatas bus on my way back to Istanbul proper. About fifty minutes into the ride, there was a bit of a commotion and a weird smell and it turned out that the wheel had caught fire and we all had to get off. A bunch of people hailed a cab but I didn't know how far out we were, if another bus was coming, and the driver was the MOST unhelpful person in the world. About ten minutes later, another bus showed up, I grabbed my bag ASAP and got myself a seat so I didn't have to stand and luckily, it turned out to not be that far away from the bus stop.
As Taksim, I decided to walk down to my hostel even though it was snowy and SUPER slippery (raise your hand if you maybe ATE it in front of a Starbucks, while wearing your huge backpack...). In the end, I just walked down to the tram station and took the tram over to the hostel, which was about four blocks away from the Hippodrome, where the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia are. I checked into my hostel no problem, got a bit of work done, and then headed outside in the evening to get some dinner. I had something called pide (Turkish pizza) which was amazing and I got a chance afterwards to wander around the New Mosque and the Hagia Sofia at night, which was just beautiful.
On my last morning in Istanbul (sigh....), I headed straight to the Topkapi Palace and then immediately turned around because I remembered I wanted to get into the Blue Mosque before the tourists got in there and before it closed again in the afternoon for prayer. While not my favorite mosque, it was absolutely gorgeous inside. Massive, solid, colorful, beautiful, absolutely stunning. Worth the wait for sure!
Then it was for real to the Topkapi Palace. I first headed into the Kitchen complex, which reminded me a lot, artifacts wise, of Hofburg, with some amazing examples of Ottoman and European porcelain flatware and silverware. My favorite were the pink colored dishes. Where this differed from the Hofburg was the interior design- tall domes and columns to help the ventilation from the cooking that was done in the kitchens and the dessert kitchen. And yes, I'd be fine with a kitchen just for desserts...
Next was the Divan, which was the council chamber where the viziers got together to discuss state affairs- so basically, where the Ottoman Empire was governed. My favorite part about this was that the viziers would sit on the sofas, according to their rank in the hierarchy. Any government that includes the use of sofa for governing is OK in my book (well, to an extent...)
The Armory was incredible- I only have a few pictures because I was yelled at for taking pictures (deservedly- it wasn't allowed) but the weapons were totally lethal. And this set of armor was magnificent. Things that I also don't have pictures of: the temporary exhibit featuring calligraphy; the Hall of Holy Relics which included pieces of Muhammad's bears, keys of the Kabaa, and the footprint from when Muhammad descended from heaven. Do with all of those as you will...
The Topkapi Palace also afforded me a view I hadn't yet seen as it looked over the Asian side of Istanbul. The views were stunning, even though it was freezing, and I got a few great panoramic shots.
The last place that I wandered was the Harem. It showed the rooms for the Sultan, the Sultan's mother, the halls, school, and corridors for the concubines, but all had the more beautiful tile work on the walls and the ceilings. That might be one of my favorite things about the Muslim religious- because they don't show the images of people, regularly, they compensate by using gorgeous calligraphic and naturally subjected tilework and it's just stunning. And again, their use of sofas is MUCH appreciated and DEEPLY respected.
My last task of the day was to enjoy a short boat tour of the Bosphorus. I didn't want to do a full tour so assumed I could do a short tour. Unfortunately, the city-run tours weren't running in the winter in the afternoon. I was worried about getting scammed so I kind of wandered around the area, lurking, watching what other people were doing. Two Canadian women explained that they had bought a ticket for the 2:00 tour, and after some convincing, an Australian couple and I did the same. Luckily, it wasn't a scam and meanwhile, the Canadian women and I had gotten friendly and were chatting. A little before 2:00 pm, we were taken over to the boat and began our cruise. I narrated the best I could with my Rick Steve's book but otherwise, we tried to enjoy the freezing weather (the sunshine was USELESS) and point out the cool buildings on the shore as much as we could before it got too freezing and we retreated inside.
Istanbul, I wasn't sure about you. I was really nervous before I visited you but I am so glad that I did. I'm excited to see more of Turkey in the future!
