Tues Oct 15, 2024
Hi Folks! Yes, we’re still in Istanbul and loving every minute of this great city. The Wandering Italian is a big proponent of the concept that life experiences are so much more important than material things. So today I gifted one of the most amazing experiences to Kathy which was for her to get a Turkish bath! It is a truly Turkish experience and one not to be missed.
They offer several different options but she chose the Traditional Hamam Ritual. It is about and hour long and is described on their website as follows:
This relaxing bath cleanses and refreshes guests with time-honoured methods. After relaxing on the heated platform, a bath attendant will apply a handwoven kese fiber cloth for a scrub, then a foam bath at the water basins. You will leave the warm room feeling reborn.
Now that sounds amazing and as per Kathy, it was! She said she feels 20 years younger and I said she looked 20 years younger. Another Win-Win! Lol.
I actually had thought about doing one myself or having Kathy and I do one together but this Turkish bath, which was only a 5 minute walk from the ship, only allowed separate men’s and women’s baths and the timing for doing mine didn’t work out. Oh well, another reason to return to Istanbul!
My tour today was very interesting but not as invigorating as a Turkish bath! We started off driving to the Sirkeci area of the city to the old train station where the Orient Express ended. That trip goes from Paris to Istanbul and costs $17,000 per person! I’ll opt for a Regent cruise instead!
Back in 1892, they built a luxury hotel for the Orient Express called the Pera Palace. We made a stop there to have Turkish tea and cookies. It was a very upscale hotel and just beautiful inside. Agatha Christie stayed here and wrote Murder on the Orient Express here! It has the second oldest elevator in the world (the one in the Eiffel Tower is older) and also had a one person carriage on display where 4 men would carry passengers to the hotel from the Orient Express. Now that sounds like Regent service!
We then walked thru the Sultanhaman and Eminonu districts of the city to discover where all the old inns were. Both the silk and trade routes passed thru here so they needed many inns for travelers. They also built many bazaars like the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market to sell things to all the travelers. Of course now, most of those old inns have been converted to either high end hotels or AirBnB’s!
We then walked across the Galata Bridge that crosses over the Golden Horn. There were lots of men fishing from the bridge and the tour guide said the fish get tired from swimming thru the strong currents of the Bosphorus and come into the Golden Horn water area to rest. That’s why there are so many fish here and so many fishermen!
We then took the second oldest subway in the world (the London Tube is the oldest) to Istakal street. There we saw even more old Ottoman inns in the Beyoğlu district. After that the bus took us back to the ship.
I met up with Kathy and we had lunch and relaxed for a bit. We then listened to the speaker discuss his topic called “Lawrence of Arabia & the Making of the Modern Middle East”. There were so many interesting things I learned but that’s a topic for another day! We then got ready for dinner. I’ll post another update tonight. Happy Tuesday!
The Wandering Italian 