Return to Istanbul for a not to be missed Turkish bath/hamam

Thursday, May 12 --Depart from Izmir airport and return to Istanbul

We were up for breakfast by 8 – and what a spread.  Even better than yesterday.   Our driver arrived promptly at 8:30 and took us to Izmir airport and we said goodbye to Sirinice, Selcuk and the lovely pastoral beauty of the area.  We arrived at the airport after an hour drive, went through security (first), pickup up our boarding passes and loaded on the first bus out to the tarmac to board.  

Goodbye to the beauty of Izmir provence

Muammer was waiting for us and offered to take us to lunch and to see the Miniaturk miniature museum, which sounded like great fun.  We drove across town and to the area of Pierre Loti and the Bulgarian church to eat at a fish restaurant located right on the water on the Golden Horn.  However, there was a longer-than-an hour wait for a table, so Muammer put his name on the list and we drove across the Ataturk Bridge to go to see the museum.

Selimiye mosque in Edirne, designed by Mimar Sinan

The Pool of Abraham - Balikli Göl- in Urfa

Mummer and Michael with the Greek Orthodox Sumela Monastery in Trabzon

And, where we just spent an hour waiting for luggage, the Ataturk Istanbul Airport :-)

It’s a great concept.  All the regional buildings and other highlights have been reproduced accurately and to scale.  You can walk through the outdoor museum park and get a complete tour of Turkey’s major architectural treasures and highlights.  Most familiar to us were the creations from Istanbul – the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace – but they also had the new stadium and a reproduction of the Istanbul Ataturk Airport complete with dozens of Turkish Airline planes.

We returned to the restaurant and traffic was now a bit difficult so we went round about to the Galata Bridge.  The restaurant is in a pretty setting, right on the water and you can watch the small fishing and tourist boats motoring around.  We had great appetizers, both cold and hot, Mike and I had sea bass cooked 2 different ways, Muammer had a whole grilled trout.  

Lovely restaurant on the waterfront that specializes in fish dishes

Great meze and whole grilled trout

Views from our restaurant table - watching the fishing boats

As we left the restaurant, it was beginning to rain.  We hopped in the car and headed over to check into our new hotel: the Sultanahmet Palace.   http://sultanahmetpalace.com

Muammer dropped us off and said we would meet in the morning for tea at 8:30 AM.  We checked in and checked out our room – really beautiful, up on the 3^rd floor (room 309), looking out on the Asian side, across the beginning of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara.  The windows are large and look out onto a tower for the hotel restaurant, the minaret of a mosque and rooftop restaurants. We have a balcony, and it looks over to the Blue Mosque.

Sultanahmet Palace Hotel has great gardens and was once a vizier's palace

We have 180 degree views of the Bosphorus spilling into the Sea of Marmara from our hotel room

Our hotel room balcony - with an amazing view of the Blue Mosque

View of the Prince's Islands - notice the top of the restaurant tower which is  adorned with an evil eye amulet

We relaxed and decided we didn’t need dinner, since we ate lunch so late.  We had a 7 PM reservation for a Turkish bath and massage at the Ayasofia Hurram Sultan Hamami.  (The former baths of Roxalana.) Mustafa said he thought these were the best bath houses/hamam in the city).  So, I had to take a bath first, before going to the Turkish bath – Michael laughed, as this is much like cleaning your house the morning that the cleaners are coming!

Outside view of the main dome of the hamam on the men's side - women's is identical on the opposite site

The smaller dome, to the right, is the actual bath, all marble with heated plinths

The hamam is completely segregated – one side for men and one for women.  The room you enter is three stories high, topped with a dome underlit in soft blue light to make it seem like a sky.  This hamam was completely renovated a few years ago and is fresh and appealing to the eye.  The changing rooms are on the second floor and the treatment rooms for massage, etc, are on the third floor.  All are made of wood paneling, which provides a marked contrast to the white of the walls and ceiling.  You are provided with a bath towel and slippers to wear.

My attendant, Hani, held my arm tightly everywhere we walked, as the marble surface is slippery.  She took me to sit in the second (smaller) domed area where the bathing is done.  A large circular marble plinth fills the center of the room, and around the perimeter are marble benches with individual washing areas. 

Central fountain of the 3 story relaxing area, changing rooms on the second floor

The dome brings light into the space, parakeets add a rich variation to the music in the treatment rooms

After the bath, I was provided fresh towels and led back to the central dome waiting area where I drank water and “Ottoman sherbet” – a blackberry cold drink and offered some Turkish delight.  We then climbed up to 3^rd floor for the massage room.  In addition to quiet music, they keep two parakeets which were singing exuberantly,  At some point, we could also hear the muezzin call for evening prayer from the loudspeakers of the Blue Mosque. 

Michael and I met after the treatments and walked home together – we were at our hotel room by 9 and in bed for a good night sleep by 9:30.  It felt heavenly and I slept like a baby.