We were Turkey

Day 2 began bright and early with a trip to the Topkapi Palace where we easily spent two and one half hours looking at stuff. Said stuff included the harem of the palace, the room where the ministers and sultan would gather to run the ottoman empire, the treasuries (one of which held the Tokapi dagger), great courtyards, beautiful views of the Bosporus, and a huge kitchen. Then Greg, Alex, and I hit up the Hagia Sophia. A most magnificent building with high ceilings and wondrous mosaics. Sadly there was scaffolding in the main part obstructing some of the view. The most interesting part was seeing where the alter had been which now had a mihrab and minbar. After a short break we went to the Blue Mosque, fabulously huge and then to the sunken cistern. For those of you who don't click the hyperlink, just watch From Russia With Love.

The next stop was the Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. The gb is huge. The first time I went was just for the feel. There are people everywhere, shops and merchandise everywhere, and surprises everywhere you go. When you turn down a little alley you find a place that sales antique swords and daggers, around the corner is a calligraphy shop, and when you have had enough of the touts, you will find yourself wandering into a hassle free shop. The gb has almost anything and everything you could want especially tourist kitsch. The Spice Bazaar was great, though I don't know how Egyptian it was. It was mostly spices and Turkish delight. It smelled heavenly and was also just as crowded.

Then it was time for our authentic Turkish bath-what an experience. I wish there was one back home, with big burly Turkish men included. The proprietor at the bath which is located near the red light district (our taxi driver told us to watch our for pimps) didn't really speak English except for the word hello.

He would say the word once or twice and gesture emphatically what he wanted us to do, whether it be take off our shoes, change in this room, or remove our towels. We get down to the bath and sit in the sauna with some other Turkish men. After sweating for ten minutes the three of us clothed only in towels around our waist step out and are greeted by big Turkish men easily 250-300 pounds with mustaches waiting for us-to give us the treatment.

The following happened to each on of us. I was taken by the man to sit on a low ledge with a basin next to it. He poured cool water on my head then scrubbed me down with a rough loofah like glove. He would begin with a SMACK and then scrub away. I got a scalp massage as he lathered my hair. When getting rinsed off at this place, it isn't a dainty little pouring from the bucket. This is manly tossing of water.

Then to the slab. There was a marble slab in the middle where you would lie on the edge and get massaged. I laid to far in to the middle and my 165 pound self was manhandled as he dragged me to edge. On my back he massaged out my legs and arms. Then he crossed my arms and cracked my back by dropping some of his weight on my. With me gasping, he smiled and recrossed my arms the other way. It didn't hurt it was just forceful. Then I rolled on my stomach and had the same procedure. I felt like tenderized meat. Thankfully, I wasn't meowed at as Alex was every time the guy would slap him before massaging him down.

We returned to the sauna, then rinsed ourselves off again, sans Turkish masseuse. Then it was time to dry off. The man in charge came in with dry towels. He showed us the bin to put the wet towel, then waited. We hesitated for he didn't leave us to change nor were there rooms to change. Alex taking the initiative put the dry towel around him and began to shimmy out of the wet. The guy said no and reached to take the wet towel from around his waist. We got the idea and then changed our towels without privacy.

Then they gave us tea. We walked back along the Bosporus past a bunch of gypsies and went to get something to drink in the hip part of town-Taksim. This is the place young people go drinking. We were with the crowd, drank at a place called Balans (Balance) and listened to music from all directions, watched drunks dancing in the streets, and ate oysters? with rice inside.

Finally, we retired for the night after an uneventful ride home.