July 14. Another perfect day starts with another delicious Turkish breakfast. I may never eat cereal again. We decided to spend a third night in Antalya because we liked it so much and we bought a cheap flight on line to Cappadocia – it cost 120 lira each, or about 60 CAD. That beats a nine hour bus ride any day!

Once we got ourselves going, we headed to a museum that encompassed both a Greek Orthodox Church and a traditional Ottoman house. The church had been lovingly restored and the upstairs held an exhibit of old portrait photos from the late Ottoman era, the 1800’s. Very interesting to see photos of the tinker, cobbler, porter, liver seller, tea seller, sponge seller, pottery seller, simit seller, meatball seller, etc….It seems most people sold things. In fact, there was a story about a snow seller! Apparently people would pack snow into a goat hair lined bag and bring it to the “city” to sell. A precursor to getting a bag of ice for your drink, I guess.

There were a couple of beautifully written letters framed at the entrance to the church. The fellow who bought the church and house did so as a 50^th birthday gift to his wife. They were to be restored and opened to the people of Antalya as a museum. The second letter was to his 7 year old daughter, explaining that this gift to her mother was also something that she would have to take care of. I wish we had taken photos of the letters as they were very heartfelt and lovingly crafted yet quite old fashioned in their formality even though they only dated from 1991.

After lunch and an exploration of the old covered bazaar, the heat started to get to us so we decided to return to the oasis of our garden to have a wee rest in the shade. The chaise lounges under the umbrella were a lovely place to listen to Mark read me some Turkish history stories from the guide book (and I just might have dropped off to sleep a little bit).

Soon it was time for the hamam! I was unsure of what I should wear (or not wear) so decided that since these people were never going to see me again, I’d be a nudenick. Mark and I had signed up for the full meal deal for 80 lira (about 40 CAD.) This included bath, scrub, bubble massage, relaxation time, and oil massage and would take about 75 minutes. We were shown to our change room to wrap up in a Turkish towel, and then were led to the “hot room”. We were the only two in there, and it was silent except for the regular echoing drip from one of the taps. We sat on a hot marble pedestal in the center of the room under the high domed ceiling and sweated for about 15 minutes. There were 3 alcoves off of the central marble slab area where you could pour water on yourself and lounge about, and between the alcoves there were two small doors that led to private bathing rooms.

Finally our masseuse (bather?) led us to one of those treatment rooms where we each lay on a marble bench. It was a very interesting feeling to be bathed by someone. The room was entirely marble so the water just got tossed on you and ran down to the floor. Mark and I each had a masseuse, and they were both men. My guy was very respectful and kept my towel covering my girlie bits. I kept my eyes closed the whole time because if I can’t see him…..right? There was a lot of scrubbing and I think my tan got two shades lighter. The bubble massage felt awesome – like silk rippling over my skin. Then we were rinsed off , wrapped in fresh towels and led to the relaxation area in the foyer for apple tea and some fruit. Finally we were led to a room with two massage tables and had about a 20 minute oil massage. I was completely blissed out!

We decided on a pub crawl for dinner. Didn’t manage much of a dinner, unless peanuts counts. But the beer at the Castle Bar was the coldest I’ve had since home. The frosty glass would have received high praise from Christian Boenigk! A couple of big beers, peanuts, and leftover glow from the hamam brought on a completely different glow. Let’s go find some nargile! That’s apple tobacco in a hookah pipe for those of you who don’t know. It was great fun! We found the locals “nargile café” that was alive with loads of Turks playing backgammon and a tile game that I’m unfamiliar with. It’s been a long time since I’ve played backgammon, but thanks to Mr. Google, we got a refresher on the rules and I beat Mark 2 out of 3 (with a bit of help from a nice Turkish man at the next table). The apple smoke was most interesting. Because of the water pipe, it doesn’t burn at all and is very smooth. And because of the apple flavouring, it has a very appealing aroma and taste. Great way to end a great day.