Day
4 – Sunday, August 28, 2011 – Istanbul
On
our last day in Istanbul we decided that we'd had enough of the hostel
breakfast and went around the corner to a cute little café with outdoor couch
seating. After a leisurely breakfast we walked to the Fatih district to visit
the Fatih Mosque. Built between 1463 and 1771, this Ottoman imperial mosque
boasts true Turkish-Islamic architecture. The inside of the mosque was so
incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately the mosque closed about 5 minutes after we
got there for prayers, so we sat at a little café just outside the grounds and
had a little snack and tea while we waited for it to open again. Like the Blue
Mosque, there was such an incredible feeling of quiet and peace inside the
mosque. Unlike the Blue Mosque, there were very few tourists in the Fatih
mosque, and the very large space was mostly empty. We took a few pictures of
the beautiful inside, then just sat, looked, and took in the space. When we
finished at the mosque we headed back toward the hostel with a quick stop for
lunch atop another restaurant, with views of the bazaar and surrounding area.
After
a quick stop at the hostel to change, the six of us were met by a man from the
Turkish bath, and he lead us through the streets of Sultanahmet to the bath
house. A few people told us that we had to do a Turkish bath while we were in
Turkey, and they were right. When we got to the bathhouse we were each given a
little room where we could change and leave our things. We wrapped ourselves in
towels, and were escorted to the main room where we laid on what looked like a
hot stone alter, surrounded on all sides by little stations with basins and
running water. As we started to sweat, we could use the hot and cold water to
cool us off. After about 45 minutes, the attendants came and got us and the
women were taken into another room for a scrub and massage. They use a rough
silk mitt to exfoliate your entire body before washing you with the sudsiest
soap you've ever experienced and giving you a massage. It is such a treat to
not only have someone massage your body but also wash your hair and every last
part of you. After the scrub and massage the girls rejoined the boys and we
spent about another half an hour in the hot room, alternating with hot and cold
water baths. When it was time to come out they wrapped us in robes and we sat
in the lobby relaxing and sipping apple tea. Overall, the baths were
incredible. I would go back in a second. Jeremy was a little sore from the
rough massage he got, but other than that really enjoyed it as well. All
relaxed and clean, the six of us had dinner at an outdoor restaurant near the
hotel, then spent the rest of the evening lounging on pillows with tea, hookah,
and baklava.
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