Extreme Travel Part II: Istanbul Continued

Today we woke up very early to be at the Topkaki Palace before it opened.  We experienced the public transportation here - not so efficient or intuitive. The palace was stunning. There was a whole section on jeweled items that belonged to Sultans including thrones, swords, water carriers, etc. Katie obviously had a blast looking at an 86 carat diamond. We also explored the Harem, the area where the concubines and wives of the Sultan lived.

After we covered the palace (making excellent time, of course), we had lunch at a recommended restaurant.  Okay, I know we don't eat fish so maybe this isn't fair to say but Turkish food < par.

Afterwards, we went to the Hagia Sofia.  It's a Byzantine Church from the 6th century that was later converted into a Mosque and then to a museum. It is made of all recycled materials from other monuments  and some of the oldest marble pillars date back to 2400 years ago, around the time of the second beit hamikdash! We got on the longest line of the century to buy tickets and then a guy came by offering to give English tours that would also allow us to skip to the front of the ticket line. #win!

Hagia Sofia

Hagia Sofia 

The tour guide was awesome and gave us a better understanding of this awesome structure - in the truest sense of the word - than we ever would have gotten without him.  10,000 workers completed the Hagia Sofia in 5 years which was an incredible accomplishment since it is the (one of?) highest free standing domes ever! Interestingly, as a church, it faced Jerusalem and when it was converted to a mosque, they changed the point of focus slightly South to face Mecca instead. It was a truly unbelievable building!

Afterwards, we went to the underground cistern, which was built in the 4th century.  It was incredibly cool! There are 2 mysterious medusa heads inside and the cistern still has water in it. And huge fish!

Cistern

Next on the schedule was the spice bazaar.  We asked a man for directions and he was going nearby so he took us there himself! We chatted a bit but his accent was difficult to understand. The spice market was a whole new experience.  The man we bought tea and perfume from fell in love with Katie. He gave us make overs and eye liner, love tea, and tons of Turkish Delight tastes.  He made tons of comments with sexual innuendoes and had Katie giggling and red.  He decided that Katie's butt is nicer than JLo's.

Katie and her Spice Bazaar boyfriend

After our adventures in the spice bazaar, we took a boat tour on the Bosphorus river.  I was exhausted and fell asleep during the relaxing ride in on the sunny river.  When we finally arrived at the hotel around 6pm, we discovered that the Turkish bath place was still open and we raced over for a Turkish experience.

Well it was certainly an experience! We arrived at this place and they sent us to a women's area.  There were old ladies in funny patterned hospital-looking gowns who didn't speak English but led me into a room and said: "everything off. Shoes. Towel. Keys." Hoping that we had deciphered the meaning of her message, we undressed (in transparent glass rooms), wrapped towels around us, stepped into awkward wooden shoes and locked our belongings in the rooms. We were led into a steamy room with a large marble slab in the center.  There was a woman lying naked on one edge of the marble slab and a naked old lady (in her underwear) scrubbing her with soap.  One lady motioned for us to leave our towels by the entrance. Of course, we burst into giggles. Nay, hysterics, completely changing the mood of the room.  We lay down, completely naked, on 2 other edges of the marble slab and cannot stop laughing.  Everyone was walking around naked (or in their underwear but we didn't get the memo that you could keep it on) or lying naked on the marble slab.

When our turn for the soap massage came, the old naked women with saggy boobs scrubbed us with an exfoliating glove and then had us go to a sink and pour water over ourselves. Then, we were returned to the marble and soaped down.  It was the strangest sensation having a light, fluffy, wet, substance poured on my body.  It was like a wet cloud landed on my back.  The soaping was actually quite relaxing, although also totally strange. Afterwards, the lady took me to a sink and I sat between her legs while she shampooed my hair, and then braided it. Katie and I agreed that the experience kind of felt like our old, Mediterranean grandmother (who doesn't exist) was bathing us.  It was a cool and totally weird experience!  Of course, after our Turkish bath, we had to return for a real shower because the bath was far from clean.