I have money again!!!
Thanks mom and dad!! However,
unlike yesterday, everything I did today actually accepted credit cards…..
This morning I headed off to a Turkish bath house. The
one I went to was called Çemberlitas Hamami. The
building was designed/constructed in the late 1500’s by Sinan who is considered
to be one of the greatest architects of the Ottoman. It was such a relaxing experience... there should be more massages in life!
After that I headed to the Grand Bazaar to see what that was
all about. It is one of the oldest and
largest covered bazaars. SENSORY
OVERLOAD! Pick something you want… they
have it!! Lots of “it.” I left with nothing because I need nothing…
Next off to the Egyptian Spice Market!! The building smelled delicious! I ended up buying tons of apple tea and tons
of Turkish saffron (yum yum yum!). This
means I get to infuse a ton of olive oil when I get home (more yum yum yum),
oooh, and paella, I haven’t made paella in awhile! The man at the spice market decided I was
Spanish, which was GREAT!! He didn’t try
to push me into buying more stuff (because Spain’s economy ain’t so hot!).
After the spice market I headed down to the docks for a two
hour cruise along the Bosphorous, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of
Marmara, thus making it a pretty important trade route. The boat crisscrossed between the Asian and
European side (although Izmir is in Asia… So I already covered that). The
weather was great so the views we quite lovely.
When we docked I went to one of the seafood restaurants under the bridge
(sounds sketchy, but it’s not) that connects old a new Istanbul. I had kalamari and it was delicious!
BTW, in case I left this out, Ramadan is currently being
observed by Muslims in Turkey (and then rest of the world). No eating from
sunrise to sunset. This tends to make
street sales people quite angry and aggressive come midday. Also, did I mention how much I LOVE Islamic culture? It’s one of my favorite units to teach (I
also love teaching religion) and it has
been so amazing to be in Muslim country and see so many beautiful mosques. It’s also been interesting to see the variety
of head/body coverings that women choose to wear.
I also realize that I really like traveling solo and staying
in hostels. It’s such a great way to
meet a variety of people from all over the world.
I did a little shopping after that and then headed back to
the hostel to repack for my flight to Bucharest, Romania tomorrow!!!
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