Farewell, Istanbul!

Hello everyone! My dad and I are at the Istanbul airport - Ataturk International Airport - waiting for our flight to London. We got her in plenty of time.... I'm still smarting from having missed my flight to Spain.

Turkish Bath Time:

Dad and I decided to indulge in own of Istanbul's famous Turkish Bath experiences. To begin with we were each herded off to separate male and female bathing areas. When I entered the first room - a "holding tank" of sorts, I was immediately out of my element. To my pleasant surprise pretty much everyone was Turkish. My initial delight at diving into this "authentic Turkish experience" was closely followed by a string of pressing questions: where do I change?, how much do I change?, who is supposed to be scrubbing me down?, and how the hell do I get from holding tank to bath sans towel? A slightly disgruntled attendant soon answered the first of my questions shoving a towel and goody bag into my hands and frog marching me into a changing room, indicating a locker along the way. Okay, I thought, clothes off and towel on, here I go. The goody bag smelled pleasantly of herbs and spices but I figured I'd let my attendant help me utilize it properly.

As soon as I wandered back into the holding tank a beefy Turkish lady similarly clad in a towel grabbed my hand and led me into the steamy bath area. Everything in sight was made of various shades of marble. The ceilings of the circular "hamam" (bath) rooms are vaulting domes with lattice pattern windows letting in sunlight. Around the perimeter you find elaborate spigots and sitting areas cordoned off. All this surrounds a giant raised platform on which about a dozen women were lounging wearing just their underwear. OH. I didn't have MY underwear. I had little time to reflect. My strapping attendant sharply indicated my towel and the marble platform sternly and haltingly said something along the lines of "face - down". I comply... not quite feeling the Turkish relaxation wash over me as I moon my attendent and the rest of the bathing area. To her credit, she didn't miss a beat. She jabbed my should once, grabbed my "spice and herbs goody bag" and opened it to reveal a pair of standard issue black underwear. Ah......to be continued.