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Published: February 12th 2007
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I'm standing in Asia. That is Europe in the background. Hello everyone,
Napoleon called Istanbul, "The centre of the world." Half the city is in Europe, the rest in Asia. Connection is with a bridge across the Bosphorus Straight. The three big things to see in Istanbul are the Sultan's Palace, Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. Dolmabahce, the Sultan's Palace took thirteen years to build--1843 to 1856. Six Sultan's lived there. It has 385 rooms, 43 halls, 68 toilets, 600 paintings and 1,427 windows. One of the staircases has crystal spindles holding up the bannister. The most impressive part is the Grand Ceremony Hall. The domed ceiling is forty metres--more than 120 feet high. Hanging in the middle is a 4.5-ton chandelier with 664 lights. A 124 square metre carpet in the middle was dwarfed by this room. It has four balconies--one for an orchestra, one for ambassadors, one for visitors and one that remained empty. Women were not allowed to enter this room--they had to watch proceedings from windows. It is still used to entertain the heads of other countries as well as special exhibits. It was too cavernous for pictures.
I learned that the word 'harem' comes from the word 'haram' and means forbidden. In this
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The Blue Mosque in centre of Istanbul was built in 1616. case it meant 'place for family where men could not enter'--only the Sultan. The Sultan had many women in his life: his four wives, about 50 concubines (women between 22 and 32), numerous favourites (women between 16 and 22), his mother, the wife of the previous Sultan, his female children and his under-16 male children. The guards were eunuchs. Eunuchs were usually slaves who were chosen for this line of work at an early age. They were trained for years to deal with the finer things in life. The eunuchs were castrated very young so that their voices wouldn't change. That way the Sultan's was the only male voice heard. Black eunuchs were preferred as they were considered more muscular and therefore more impressive.
On my last afternoon I visited a turkish bath. It was built in 1741 as a gift from the Sultan. Baths were a public utility because of water shortages. They provided the perfect marriage between the Koran's demand for cleanliness and the pleasures of indulgence at the same time. The setting has been used for 138 films. The men's section is a mirror image of the women's section. By the way, in the old days,
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It is called the Blue Mosque because of the blue ceramic tiles that line the inside. the penalty for a man discovered in the women's baths used to be death! Their list of visitors includes Florence Nightengale, Tony Curtis, Cameron Dias, Richard Harrison along with various royals and political figures. I thought that if it was good enough for them, then it is good enough for me. I signed up for "the works." I was led to a small change room that contained a cot and dressing table with a hair dryer. I was told to take everything off and wrap up in a towel. One of the half dozen grandmotherly types waiting in the lounge took me to the main bathing room. This place is huge with a high domed ceiling. It is made entirely of marble. The marble floors have a heating system. Very hot and steamy. There are washing set-ups around the perimeter of the room. It could accommodate about 25 women. She told me to "wash wash wash." I splashed some water around and stretched out on the warm marble floor. I dozed for a while. My "attendant" returned, now wearing a black bathing suit. She whipped the towel off me and motioned for me to join her on the raised marble
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This was originally a mosque. It is now a museum. platform in the middle of the room. There she proceeded to rub me down with a mitt that felt like sandpaper. I started to think that maybe she wasn't so grandmotherly after all. She motioned me back to the washing area and again said, 'wash, wash, wash." I splashed some water around. I guess she didn't totally approve of the way that I wash, wash, wash, because she started hurling pans of water at my naked form. By this time other women had joined me on the raised platform to endure the same humiliation. Back on the marble, my new 'friend' poured coconut scented lotion all over me and proceeded with the "pummelling full-body massage." I was now convinced that this woman was not grandmotherly one little bit. After that she motioned me to the washing area and sat down. She motioned for me to sit in front of her. She then dumped a bucket of water over my head and proceeded to use way too much shampoo to wash my hair, my face and pretty much everywhere else. She then dumped bucket after bucket of water on me and then said her second word of English, "finished!" and left
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Another Mosque on the Bosphorus Straight. me sitting on the floor looking--and feeling--like a drowned rat. After a few minutes she re-appeared and motioned for me to join her in another room. I grabbed my soggy towel and attempted to wrap it around me. This new room was also marble with a raised platform, but much drier than the bathing area. She wrapped me up in dry towels and indicated that I could join the half dozen snoring women on the raised platform.
The whole thing cost about $50. I lost all my dirt, most of my stress and every shred of my dignity.
Bye for now,
Donna
PS The last blog, "Turkey Time" had 31 pictures. To see them all you will need to click on "2" or "next" at the end of the entry.
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Travelling Lady
Donna Chambers
I love Turkey
Hi Jen, Thanks for contacting me. I visited Morocco twice--couple of years ago and about 20 years ago. You are right, fabulous country. Funny how many people told me that going to Turkey would be a mistake--woman on her own in a Muslim country. I couldn't have been treated better. Even better--it is still a bargain. thanks again, Donna