When in Istanbul
If you ever find yourself in Istanbul, Turkey (and I highly recommend making it a destination), here are two activities you must experience. First, book a food tour, preferably, with a guide named Latif from AirBnB. Second, go to a Turkish Bath, preferably at Cagaloglu Hamami! Both were incredible experiences that we wont soon forget.
I’ll start with the Turkish Bath because I’m sure, like me, you may have some misconceptions about what it is exactly. The one we attended has been a Traditional Turkish Bath House since 1741 and was one of the last hamams (bath houses) built during the Ottoman period. Entering through the arched doors into the inner courtyard feels much like entering the inner sanctum of a temple. A soft spoken host told us about our impending services and then directed us to our separate spaces, one for men and one for women.
Paul was super excited to join Ben, despite the warnings of Papa and his Uncle Billy that he was going to be scrubbed red by a large man in a room full of other large naked men (this image - though not accurate - kept Papa and Uncle Billy from joining in). I joined my mom and Maddie in the women’s section where we were each shown to our own dressing room - ours for the full time we were there.
In the room we changed into a beautiful wrap and small thong-like bottom. We then spent 15 minutes resting in a hot room of all marble - much like a sauna, but I promise you marble is much hotter to sit on than wood! After sweating out what had to be a gallon of water, we were taken to lie on a large, circular, marble platform in the main bath chamber. There our assigned specialist spent 10 minutes exfoliating and scrubbing our entire bodies with a course bath mitt; then they rinsed our bodies with warm water and poured several buckets of the most luxurious bubbles/liquid and massaged the bubbles into our bodies for 35 minutes. This was one of the most relaxing massages I’ve ever had. My specialist then washed my hair, wrapped me in a lush bathrobe, and led me to a resting area where I drifted between sleep and consciousness until they brought a small plate of nuts, dried fruits, Turkish delight (small sugar and nut gummy-like candies), and tea.
After the lite snack, I was taken to a private room for a 45 minute aromatherapy massage. Then back to my private dressing room to change back into my clothes and meet up with my mom and Maddie for some fresh fruit and water in the private female-only courtyard to complete our experience. After all the scrubbing, cleaning, and massaging, I was definitely the cleanest I’ve ever been in my life and the most relaxed.
When we met back up with Ben and Paul, Paul quickly exclaimed “that was the best experience of my life!” His favorite, like the rest of us, was the bubble massage. I love that he was open to trying this new experience and that he had such a good time. His sisters were definitely not up for it, which is understandable at their age. This was a great bonding experience for him and Ben and for me, my mom, and Maddie too.
So that is what a Turkish Bath House experience is like. This post ended up being way longer than I expected, so I’ll save the food experience for another post.
