DAY 3
I woke up today feeling a little ... off. I t was strange, but I did not think anything of it until later.

I never mentioned BREAKFAST! My favorite meal of the day ~ especially in hotels! There is a really good buffet with eggs, french toast, poached eggs, potatoes, breads, jams, honey, cheeses, olives, juices (including make-your-own-OJ). You walk in and they ask you for your room number, and if you would like coffee or tea – it is FABULOUS! Vicki and I always tried to sit in the corner window seat, so we could get a fabulous view while enjoying our breakfast. It was just a lot of fun! :)

Well, today was the day that it rained on and off throughout the morning – which was not fun. Thankfully, I had bought an umbrella while in Vienna, so I finally had a reason to use it! We go tot the Hagia Sophia first. It was originally a basilica, then a mosque and now a museum. It is Byzantine architecture and was the largest cathedral in the world until 1520, when the Seville Cathedral was completed. There were fabulous mosaics inside, with gold tiles surrounding religious figures – and the top half of the gold tiles are still here today (but the bottom half was removed by greedy people with sticky fingers).

We then went across the street to the Blue Mosque. We ran into three DIS students who are staying in that area of Istanbul for the week, and they were just coming from the mosque. On the outside of the mosque, with a covering on top, is a place for men to wash their hands and feet. For visitors, we have to go around to the side of the mosque to take off our shoes, put them in plastic bags, and walking to the mosque. It is GORGEOUS! All of the mosaics, in different shapes, patterns and colors, were mesmerizing. We had to make sure to leave before noon, though, when one fo the five prayer times were, because the Blue mosque is still in use today.

We went to the Cisterns underneath the city. This was really cool. It is where the water for the city was kept, and it has columns placed throughout it, with red lights creating an awesome effect. The main ‘attraction’ there are the two Medusa heads, which are at the opposite end of the entrance. Each head is a huge block of stone chiseled to be Medusa; one of the heads is upside down, the other is on its side. Neither of them are right-side-up. Personally, I did not feel like they looked like Medusa due to the hair (which I thought was supposed to look like snakes) and her face looked much younger than I expected – it was almost cherub-like.

Next, we head over to the docks so that we can have a Bosphorous tour. We go along towards the black sea, and the boat passes an area where, to our left is Europe and our right is Asia. It was on this tour that my sickness got a bit worse, so I went to the cafe area of the boat so that I could sleep a bit. It is also around the time where, if you can believe it, I was not hungry! So I did not have any of the baklava that Maya bought for us.

Kathryn, Nadine, Emilio and I went to the Istanbul Modern Art Museum after the boat tour, with Peter (another professor who was leading the tour). I’m not a huge modern art fan, and I mostly went because I wanted to go to the Turkish Spa with this group of people, and I knew that the only way to find them in the huge city of Istanbul was to stick with them. So I went to the museum. It was interesting .... I really liked the exhibit in the downstairs where hundreds of books had a hole drilled into them and they hung from the ceiling by a clear-string or wire. It reminded me of Fahrenheit 451, either by all the books being collected before they were burned, or symbolizing all of the books the people had memorized in order to keep learning alive and free (like birds flying in the sky).

After an hour or so, we went back to the Grand Bazaar for less than an hour so we could get our gifts for others and ourselves, because the market closes at 7pm. I didn’t feel like we were given enough time to really see the Grand Bazaar and explore and stuff, because all of our free time was at night ... but what can you do? I was able to get some good goodies for friends – which was great! We then ventured off to find a dinner place before going to the Turkish spa. We found a really nice place a few blocks from the market, and the food was delicious. I, once again, did not really eat the food, but the expressions from my friends told me that they thoroughly enjoyed it!

We then go to the spa, and I get a full body scrub, as well as as much time in the spa as I want. At first, I was kind of skeptical because ... well.... I have never gone anywhere naked, especially with people I barely know. So I was nervous. But I was not wearing my glasses, so a lot of things I did not want to see were blurred, if you know what I mean. So I wrap my towel around myself, go into this female-only octagonal-shaped room, and find a space for myself on the heated slab in the middle. I lay my towel down, and lay down naked on it. I kind of close my eyes and revel in the relaxation that this spa is all about. The next thing I know, this topless woman is smacking me, which I guess is the universal movement for “move closer to the edge so I can wash you.” My woman does not speak any English, except for being able to say “bikini-wax,” and I say “No, thank you – I like it just how it is.” She slaps me when she wants me to turn over, and when she wants me to follow her when its time to wash off. What I thought was really cool was that the woman puts a hand towel in the body-scrub/wash mixture, and she squeezes the extra water out of it onto your body. She then, like, shakes the towel once or twice and it looks like she is holding a balloon of bubbles! She then squeezes the bubbles onto you and it is this foreign feeling ... yet really cool at the same time! After I am washed off, I stay in this calming area for another 40-60 minutes, just relaxing in what is me. We then remembered how, in the Hungarian natural spas, there were signs saying not to stay in them for more than 20 minutes for health reasons ... so we feel like it is time for us to make our exit. We get changed, meet up with Emilio who was in the men-only section, and make our way back to the hotel.

On the way, the three of them make the decision to stop in a bakery and get chocolate baklava. While normal Hilary would have been all up for that, sickly Hilary wanted her bed, so I just sat there catatonic while waiting for them to eat and get ready to go. They said that it was the best dessert they have ever had – something about an orgasm in the mouth – and the entire time I just wanted to sleep. So I was happy when we finally went back to the hotel, so my wish could be accomplished. But all I can say is that my skin felt fantastic, and I loved the Turkish Baths!