The Snowlady Chronicles: Istanbul to Selcuk

Saturday April 27, 2013

Istanbul and Selcuk

Sunny and Gorgeous

After a good nites sleep (at least for me), Mary and I decided to take a morning walk to explore the town a bit. We both got up around 6am, got dressed and by the time we got our act together it was 7am. We asked the concierge where to walk and decided to explore the "pedestrian" path. Well, finding it wasn't as straight forward as we thought due to construction. So after several mistakes and asking 3-5 people, we finally found the street which is right off Taksim Square. As most of the stores were closed, it was not quite as exciting but we were able to drool while window shopping the many pastry stores we passed by. One thing we told ourselves is to try the pretzel/bagel light bread that everyone seems to sell and is a classic breakfast bread. We walked the entire length and then discovered a cute side street as the small outdoor market caught our attention.

Since we learned our lesson by getting lost, we were able to find our way back to the hotel quickly with enought time to have a good breakfast. After a fabulous breakfast at the Intercontinental it was time for our first Turkish bath. What an experience! We wrapped ourselves in the special Turkish Cloth and entered the bath. The two ladies prepped us and started working on us. It started with a thorough scrubbing with a loofah, followed by getting drenched with buckets of water thrown on us. Then it followed by a warm sudsy water poured all over us followed by a wash. I found out from Mary that the soapy water was made with olive oil soap soaked in water in the Turkish Cloth and then squeezed onto us. And finally the last step, buckets of water were thrown onto us for our final rinse with a head shampoo. We were then wrapped in Turkish towels and whisked away to the "relaxation" room for some hot tea. It was a very relaxing experience in a beautiful Turkish bathhouse where the marble floors were heated and beautiful.

After our wonderful experience, we decided to take a cab to the Four Seasons to check out the ceramics and rug store to get an education in Turkish ceramics and rugs. We knew we had to leave our hotel by 1130am to catch our flight as the traffic in Instanbul is horrendous due to the booming economy and road contructions. As we were leaving around 10am, we wanted the quickest way to get to the hotel. We were advised to take the taxi as it will only be a 15 minute ride. Well, 30 minutes later, we made it. The hotel is located in the old town so at least we got a glimpse of what it is like and we loved it. Can't wait to explore the city. We then were dropped off by the blue mosque as the cab driver said the roads were closed and gave us instructions to the Four Seasons. It was not quite straight forward but after a couple of inquiries we found it (By now its 1050am). So we get there and some scary looking guys in black suits and earphones stop us and ask us what we are doing. We tell them we want to check out the shops and they say the hotel is "closed" due to an important government meeting. And can't get a taxi for us but tell us where the taxi stand is so we can get back to the hotel to leave in time for the airport. By now its, 11:10am. So we find a taxi, which had a meter but I was not sure we were at a taxi stand. Anyhoo, the driver seemed OK and off we went to Intercontinental hoping we would make in time. The cab driver was chatty and gave us a good recommendation and told us to take the "audobahn" to the airport. We got to the airport at 1135am with a cab fare that was 10 TLs hire than before and the cab driver dropping us off at the corner street next to the Intercontinental instead of in the driveway. Hmm, so think we got a bit ripped off but at least we got their safely.

Mary went to the room to pack and get our suitcases, while I checked out of the hotel. We got in the cab to the airport at around 1145am. As it took us one hour (for me) and two hours (for Mary) to get into town from the airport, we were thinking positive thoughts to make it to the airport on time. Well it turns out we had nothing to worry as we got to the airport in plenty of time and made it through ticketing and security very quickly.

Since we had so much time, we decided to get some Mezze before the flight. I have no idea what we got but it was delicious!

The flight to Izmir was uneventful in that it was less than an hour flight. Once in Izmir which was about 27degrees C, our driver picked us up for the one hour drive to Selcuk. I passed out 30 minutes into the ride from jetlag, and when I woke up we arrived at our quaint hotel - Hotel Bella. It's a very nice boutique hotel decorated with gorgeous Turkish carpets and ceramics. The owner has his own carpet and ceramics store next door and we were drooling over the intricate and beautiful ceramics.

Mary and I decided to take a walk through the quaint town before having dinner at the hotel's rooftop terrace where we agreed to meet Sandra who was flying in from San Francisco via London and Munich. Fortunately for us, the Saturday market was on so this tiny town was bustling. What is amazing about this town is that it is dotted with ancient ruins.

After exploring the town and visiting a ceramics store where the owner Ali, gave us a very interesting lecture on ceramics and weaving. He patiently told us about the different designs and the meanings. And also explained the difference between hand painted and factory made ceramics. We also were treated to touch and feel the most beautiful scarves and learned that buffalo fur makes the softest scarves.

We then headed back to the hotel, freshened up a bit and sat at the terrace watching the storks who had established nests on the many poles and ancient pillars that dot the village.

Sandra arrived while we were enjoying our 20 TL set dinner, joined us for a glass of wine or two or three, but given she travelled for 20 hours or so, we called it a nite around 1030pm and went to bed as we had a full schedule the following day.

Taksim Square