We were all very excited to be back in Istanbul to be able to explore the city for a further few days.
On Tuesday we spent the entire day just wandering around getting lost in the backstreets. As it started to rain we took cover in the only place in all of Istanbul that served falafels. For some reason we had imagined before arriving in Turkey that falafel and hummus would be everywhere, but we were shocked to find this was not the case. What we did find was millions of kebabs, Turkish delight and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.
We spent the evening chatting with Reece, another Australian who was heading to Kenya for a month to live with his mum, and the other hostel guests.
The second of November signalled a time for celebration as it was Neen's 19th birthday. As she was avoiding sugar I presented her with a healthy birthday cake (a pomegranate) and the promise of a moleskin for her present (which was requested by the woman herself).
For her birthday Nina decided we should all indulge in a day at the Turkish baths, and I was not going to protest. It was definitely a rewarding experience that required an open mind and no room for embarrassment.
For the next hour we sat in an old stone room naked whilst we were scrubbed by huge, naked Turkish women. One by one we each had to do the walk of shame to the centre table where the woman scrubbed us free of dead skin and we were left feeling like new women! After a quick wash of the hair we then spent some time in the sauna and after one final wash, we were ready to leave. Feeling very relaxed we returned to the hostel and cooked a soup from the fresh vegetables we bought from a little market we discovered on the way home.
That night we went to a restaurant close to our hostel and had a rather gourmet meal to celebrate the occasion.
Our final morning in Istanbul we went to the Basilica Cistern, (also known as Underground Palace), an amazing structure that is one of many hundreds of underground cathedrals in the city. There is an eerie feeling as one descends into beneath... the lighting is very dim and there is a dark layer of water a few metres below with fish in it.
We then went film camera hunting and found a great shop run by a Turkish man who spoke not a word of English. He had hundreds of great old cameras that we each tested for over two hours before Nina and I both bought one. I hoped it would be a project for me to improve my photography skills while I had a month in London.
That evening was spent packing and organising ourselves for an early flight the following morning. It would be a sad end to a terrific stay in Turkey, with a definite promise of returning to see more of the country.
On Tuesday we spent the entire day just wandering around getting lost in the backstreets. As it started to rain we took cover in the only place in all of Istanbul that served falafels. For some reason we had imagined before arriving in Turkey that falafel and hummus would be everywhere, but we were shocked to find this was not the case. What we did find was millions of kebabs, Turkish delight and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.
We spent the evening chatting with Reece, another Australian who was heading to Kenya for a month to live with his mum, and the other hostel guests.
The second of November signalled a time for celebration as it was Neen's 19th birthday. As she was avoiding sugar I presented her with a healthy birthday cake (a pomegranate) and the promise of a moleskin for her present (which was requested by the woman herself).
For her birthday Nina decided we should all indulge in a day at the Turkish baths, and I was not going to protest. It was definitely a rewarding experience that required an open mind and no room for embarrassment.
For the next hour we sat in an old stone room naked whilst we were scrubbed by huge, naked Turkish women. One by one we each had to do the walk of shame to the centre table where the woman scrubbed us free of dead skin and we were left feeling like new women! After a quick wash of the hair we then spent some time in the sauna and after one final wash, we were ready to leave. Feeling very relaxed we returned to the hostel and cooked a soup from the fresh vegetables we bought from a little market we discovered on the way home.
That night we went to a restaurant close to our hostel and had a rather gourmet meal to celebrate the occasion.
Our final morning in Istanbul we went to the Basilica Cistern, (also known as Underground Palace), an amazing structure that is one of many hundreds of underground cathedrals in the city. There is an eerie feeling as one descends into beneath... the lighting is very dim and there is a dark layer of water a few metres below with fish in it.
We then went film camera hunting and found a great shop run by a Turkish man who spoke not a word of English. He had hundreds of great old cameras that we each tested for over two hours before Nina and I both bought one. I hoped it would be a project for me to improve my photography skills while I had a month in London.
That evening was spent packing and organising ourselves for an early flight the following morning. It would be a sad end to a terrific stay in Turkey, with a definite promise of returning to see more of the country.
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