Bazaar & Bath

Today we ambled around the Grand Bazaar looking for nothing in particular. We discovered that first thing in the morning is a great time to go. No crowds - in fact, hardly any visitors at all - so we had the narrow lanes to ourselves and the sellers were so busy drinking turkish tea, having a morning cigarette, talking to each other and waking up - that they almost ignored us. Within an hour it was a different story - crowds of people and energetic shop keepers.

In the afternoon we went for a Turkish bath - at a small local 'Hamam" that was apparently nothing special compared to the more expensive opulent ones and it was built fairly recently in 1475!!!

Turkish Baths are a great way to peel off sightseeing grime. If you've never experienced one, it goes something like this:
Step 1: Get naked in a large marble covered room with a lot of other women of many different sizes
Step 2: Get sweaty in sauna
Step 3: Get ordered to lie on a hot marble slab in the centre of the room by a large Turkish woman (saying no to any command wasn't an option!)
Step 4: Get scrubbed with an exfoliating mitten then washed with foaming soap then massaged all over - and I mean ALL OVER - while she orders you to move this way and that.
Step 5: Get soaked by Turkish woman as she pours water all over you
Step 6: Go to cold-ish plunge pool and cool off
Step 7: Get changed, then step outside, all pink and squeaky clean.
Ahhh.