Dramatic Details from the World of Istanbul!

Headline 3: The Kent Girls Bare ALL for the Turkish Baths!

Yes, people. You read it here first. We simply couldn’t leave Turkey without experiencing the Ancient Baths!

To fully do justice to our experience, I must briefly flash back to a few weeks ago in Doha. We were discussing the baths, and Abby exclaimed, “I am not going nude. I’m wearing my swimsuit!” Mom responded with the classic quote, “It will be too embarrassing if we’re NOT nude!”

I want to know, since when is it LESS EMBARRASSING to be NUDE??? Seriously, what is this world coming to??

In any case, Abby opted out of the baths upon being threatened that she could not wear a swimsuit. Thus, Mom, Emily, and I set out to face the unknown. And in this case, the unknown quickly became a very frightening known!

We arrived at the baths and contemplated our “package options”. Mom chose the “massage” option while Emily and I much preferred the self-wash option. I have never liked massages. Ever. Up until this point, the experience progressed in a fairly normal way.

We went into the changing room and got our towels. Notably, it was rather awkward to completely undress, but cloaking ourselves in towels, we took the plunge. You must understand that Turkish Baths are nothing like regular baths. They are just a huge, heated marble slab on which one lies.

After quickly snapping the picture above, we walked around the corner to the baths and were completely SHOCKED! People weren’t wearing their towels—need I say more? Scooting around the edge of the room we perched precariously on the edge of the marble and just sat there half giggling, half feeling like running out of the room. One of the attendants growled at us, “Lie Down.” We responded in unison with a squeaky, “OK” and did as she asked.

Lying there staring up at the ceiling was the most awkward thing ever! And of course we looked completely ridiculous to all the Europeans because we kept our towels wrapped tightly!

Well, Mom got her massage, which I won’t go into detail about. As soon as it seemed appropriate to leave, we did so being more than anxious to escape that disgusting enclosure!

All in all, I will not return to the baths, and I suppose I can quote High School Musical and say of them, “How tribal!”

Headline 4: Speakin’ Espanol and Cruisin’ in the Snow

After a night of sleep haunted by the baths, we set out to take a Bosphorus Cruise. The conditions were slightly unorthodox to say the least—it was snowing like crazy! Fortunately, the snow let up for a moment so we could take this picture:

When we arrived at the docks, our boat didn’t set sail for an hour, so we scuttled into the nearest restaurant as quickly as possible. Our waiter was once again talkative—too talkative if you ask me. We had our drinks and then prepared to leave. Mom rushed off to the bathroom while Dad and Abby dashed outside to watch the snowfall. That left Emily and I sitting and talking to the waiter. As you know, I am not very friendly in such situations, and I didn’t disappoint in this moment. Emily, however, makes up for my un-enthusiasm with her overwhelming enthusiasm. She and the waiter were chattering away and something came up about Spanish. Well, you would have thought it was the most exciting coincidence in the world that they both spoke Spanish . . . they begin blabbering to each other and of course I have no idea what they are saying. Desperately wishing Mom would just hurry out of the bathroom so we could leave, I looked out the window. While I was thus occupied, however, “strange waiter” and Emily start motioning towards me and continue chattering with increased hand motions in my direction. So I’m thinking, “Oh this is just great…a strange Arab and Emily are talking about me in Spanish and I have no idea what they’re saying”. Awkward! Fortunately, it was at this moment that Mom re-entered the situation, and we quickly departed. You can imagine that I immediately bombarded Emily with questions about what was going on. Here is her version of part of the conversation:

Waiter: “How old is your sister?”
Emily: (accidentally misspeaking my age) “seventeen”
Waiter: “NO WAY! I am eighteen.”
Emily: “Umm… oh.”
Waiter: “You and your sister are very pretty and nice.”
Emily: “Umm…thank you.”

AWKWARD!

Dashing away as quickly as possible, we boarded the boat glad to be out of the way of the waiter and the snow. Once onboard, we whiled away the ride taking pictures and looking out the windows and the various castles dotting the shoreline.

We got off at a little village very near the mouth of the Black Sea. It was SO COLD and snowy!

After looking around the town momentarily (and there was nothing to see) we hurried into a little restaurant for lunch.

That was basically all there was to do in the town besides a hike, which it was far too cold and snowy to attempt. So we wandered around, took some pictures and then got back on the ferry to enjoy the beautiful ride home. Emily became grouchy as can be seen in this lovely picture:

Back at the hotel, we took warm showers and became unfrozen for the first time that day.

Headline 5: Freezing Weather, Frightening Terrorists, and Frantic Flights

Our last day in Istanbul began with a bang. Dad left early in the morning to catch his flight to the states for business, so it was just the lively Kent ladies wandering the streets.

During breakfast we read the news and found out about a bombing in Istanbul and another in rural Turkey. “Oh, great,” we thought. “This is the last thing we need today.” Apparently, there had also been a terrorist threat to blow up tourist sights in the city. The Turkish government took this warning to heart because there were police with huge machine guns EVERYWHERE! We weren’t sure whether to be re-assured by this measure as it was undertaken for our safety or to be distressed that it was necessary in the first place. I chose option one because fretting unnecessarily would do no good.

We determined to attempt the city tour, so off we went. When we boarded the bus, Mom insisted on going to the top, which was not heated.

It was extremely cold, and the snow came in torrents and melted upon landing, so there was the added bonus of being slightly wet as well as extremely cold. The city tour was good nonetheless. Our visibility was almost nothing, but we enjoyed what we cold see. At one particular point at which we could literally see NOTHING, Mom remarks, “I’m glad we sat up here on top so we could have a panoramic view.” Through chattering teeth, I responded, “Oh yes, because we are seeing SO much…”

After the tour we set out for Starbucks, and I can honestly say that this was the coldest I have EVER felt! Wet, Snowy, Windy. The conditions were murderous! At one point, my hair molded to my hood rather interestingly. It is slightly difficult to see in this picture, but I’ll post it anyway.

Notice I am not smiling in the above picture. Yes, it was that bad!

Around four in the afternoon, we headed to the airport and a long process of getting home ensued. After surviving almost missed flights and strange seat partners, we pulled into Al Fardan Gardens II at 4:30am. It had been a long day, but we were home. Home until the next great adventure. The End.