Almost home!

Today was our final day here in İstanbul.

Ariel and Jeremy left late last night after a day full of walking, leftovers, and the best baklava ever made! We had one last durum, one last Efes Pilsner, one last Turkish Delight binge...

On Monday I had my favourite Turkish experience ever - the hamam, or Turkish Bath. The bath is seperated for men and women, so Will and I were waiting until Ariel and Jeremy were here so that we would have someone to sit with while we bathed. After so long in this male-oriented city, surrounded by men and maleness, just looking at the ''Ladies Only'' sign instantly relaxed me. We were ushered into a room to get undressed and given a tiny kitchen towel to cover ourselves through the salon and tea-drinking room, then ushered into a smaller warmer room then finally into the huge marble dome-ceilinged bath. We were shown to one of the many taps on the outside wall of the room where a woman ripped off our towels and hung them up. She gave us each a metal bowl for scooping the water out of the ever-filling sink under the taps. We sat there for about half an hour pouring water on us and chatting until it was time for our massage. We laıd down in the middle of the room on a raised platform and two big soft older ladies sat beside us and first scrubbed us all over with a soapy loofa then used the soap to massage us. It was so relaxing with the sound of running water echoing all around us in the marble expanse. After we were totally cleaned, we went back to the sinks where the masseuse washed our faces and combed and washed our hair. We felt like little kids again being washed by our mommies. Especially when she shampooed our hair from behind then without warning soaped our faces! The women held our chins and smiled big smiles at us and were so nice and sweet but also vigorous and purposeful, just like moms washing their babies. Then we sat by the sink again and rinsed and chatted before getting warm towels, tea and then getting redressed. It was the best experience! Our smiles lasted all day.

Ariel and Jeremy won't believe this, but there is a shop that just opened right at the top of our street that sells sheep ice-cream from Moda (on the Asian Side). This place literally opened today. Will and I went there for dessert and yes it was all we'd hoped it would be.

I guess that we'll see you all soon, since we leave here tomorrow morning at 6am. We will be travelling for about 21 hours before finally reaching Victoria! Long day, but it'll be nice to know that our bed will be waiting for us at the end of it. I will write one more blog once I'm home, so stay tuned...