Day 2: relaxing Istanbul, Türkiye

I decided today was a day of relaxing!  So I stopped by the concierge to ask for some help.  Of course he referred me to the in hotel spa but told him I wanted a more authentic experience outside the hotel.  I wanted to visit a Turkish Bathhouse also know as a hamam.  He told me he knew of one that was close and they offered free transportation . . . after my taxi situation yesterday this was music to my ears!  I booked my experience at Zeyrek Çinili Hamam.

What is a hamam?

A hamam, or Turkish bath, is a public steam bath that originated from a fusion of Roman and Byzantine public baths and the Islamic world's focus on water for cleansing and purification. It is a social and ritualistic experience that involves a series of steps, including relaxing in a warm steam room, getting a vigorous scrub with an exfoliating glove, and then being lathered in soap bubbles before being rinsed off. The experience often concludes with a period of relaxation with tea to allow the body to cool down. 

Let me just say I am a pretty modest person but when you visit a place like this you just have to let it all go.  I have visited the spas in Baden-Baden so I knew a little about what to expect.  Thankfully, they were separated by gender and only women.  All I can say is WOW it was an amazing experience.  As soon as the doors opened I knew this was going to be amazing!

 

I was met at the entrance by a sweet lady that gave me a run down of what would happen and given a rose sherbet to drink; it was tasty and refreshing. 

Not going to lie but when I read sherbet, I was expecting something frozen.  I was then led upstairs to change into paper bikini bottoms and top.  It was funny!  I was led into the area where the magic happened . . . no photos allowed . . . and it was beautiful!  Here are some photos from the website.

There were four other women having the same experience but we were each in our own little area; it was semi-private.  My lady, Aysun, said no top so off it went.  I was fine but Europeans are so laid back about being naked compared to Americans.  It was all part of the experience.  I laid on a warm marble pentagon table and was rubbed and scrubbed and then my bikini bottom became a thong.  I was dying laughing inside because my lady just yanked it.  At that point I would have been better off with nothing on.  She had this gauzy fabric that was placed in a copper pot.  She swirled it around, whipped the gauzy fabric, and it created the most velvety soft bubbles.  I never knew bubbles could feel so soft.  I swear it was amazing!  Then I was led to a side area where I was slathered with a clay mask.  Once it dried, I was drenched with warm water being thrown on me.  She literally took a copper pot of warm water and threw it on me until all the clay mask was gone.  Aysun then washed my hair and made sure I was clean from head to toe and every crack between.  The whole experience was about 90 minutes and then I was led back to the start and given a cup of Turkish tea and allowed to just relax for as long as I wanted. 

Once I was changed back to my street clothes, I visited the cistern and museum on site.  It was interesting and loved the displays of the history.  I was in no hurry to leave so just wandered around exploring.

 

I found the rooftop the most interesting.  The lighting of the hot and warm rooms is provided by openings on the dome and vaults.  The glass roundels which cover these star shaped holes when viewed from the inside are called elephant’s eyes.

When I was ready, the driver took me back to the hotel where I continued to relax the afternoon away!  I think having some sort of relaxing treatment really helped perk me up!  All that relaxing made me hungry so I headed to the lounge for my nightly drinks and snacks!