{"id":1536,"date":"2012-01-15T07:00:04","date_gmt":"2012-01-15T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tillthemoneyrunsout.com\/?p=1536"},"modified":"2015-04-19T18:23:01","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T01:23:01","slug":"so-fresh-and-so-clean-clean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tillthemoneyrunsout.com\/so-fresh-and-so-clean-clean\/","title":{"rendered":"So fresh and so clean, clean in Istanbul Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom and I were told while we were still in Vienna about the hammams in Istanbul Turkey. <\/p>\n

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The Ottoman empire placed a great emphasis on the cleanliness of body and soul. That emphasis combined with the absence of bathrooms in people’s homes made the hammams an integral part of the culture.<\/p>\n

We were told that in these Turkish bathhouses professional bathers would scrub us so clean that it would almost be frightening. I am not frightened by exfoliation so I was really looking forward to this. The hammams are\u00a0separated\u00a0into men and women’s baths, so Tom and I had to part ways as soon as we entered.<\/p>\n

The bath started with 30 minutes in the sauna to soften the skin. this was followed by a rinse from one of the fountains spewing forth in the main, marble bath section. Then the assisted bathing began. I noted the big strongly muscled arms of the woman who would be bathing me with satisfaction. I was not\u00a0disappointed.<\/p>\n

She scrubbed me so hard even my soul felt squeaky clean and smelling like roses when I was done. I came out to greet Tom feeling like I had a brand new set of skin- like a baby. Tom also felt like a baby, but for a different reason. He didn’t feel born again, as so much as just identifying with a baby after being washed and put in different places by people that he had no way of communicating with.<\/p>\n

I think that if we lived in Turkey we would become regulars at the ‘ol hammam. Absolutely wonderful.<\/p>\n

We expected Istanbul Turkey to be much warmer than Bulgaria. It was definitely warmer, but not by much. To illustrate my point- it still snowed it just did not stick. The weather did not stop us from\u00a0thoroughly\u00a0enjoying Istanbul and some of the best food we have had this entire trip!<\/p>\n

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It was almost heartbreaking how quickly we would get full, and we spent much of our time there bemoaning the fact that one week is just not enough time to eat everything there is to enjoy in Istanbul! Our favorite was the fish market that is under Galata bridge. We went there nearly every day to enjoy grilled salmon steaks and the incredible fish sandwiches that the market is known for. <\/p>\n

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