Friday, February 18, 2011
Ode to our travels
In October last year we left our shore,
For Europe was calling us to explore.
Our bags were packed, our passports ready,
The thrill of our adventure made us quite heady!
The United Kingdom was our first port of call,
We saw universities and churches with spiers quite tall.
The emerald isle then beckoned us near,
And rewarded us with many an Irish beer!
Then a hop and a jump to the land of the Scots,
Full of legends of monsters and haggis from pots.
We departed by train and rode through the night,
Arriving the next morning in London- what a sight!
We saw Big Ben, rode the Tube and the Eye,
Such a glorious city gave us a fabulous high!
With excitement and glee we boarded a ferry,
And docked in France where the people were merry.
Paris was ours to explore day and night,
Though the gargoyles and statues gave Lauren quite a fright!
To Switzerland we drove and Adam finally saw snow,
We threw snowballs and played til our cheeks were aglow!
We zoomed back through France on our way into Spain,
Full of paella, sangria, flamenco and rain!
After waving goodbye to the Spaniard we drove
To the French Riviera- such a beautiful cove!
We lost twenty euro in a Monte Carlo casino,
Then drowned our sorrows with some very nice vino.
We drove into Italy and saw Pisa’s tower lean,
Then down into Florence, full of artists so keen!
The roads then lead to Rome, the eternal city.
The Colleseum, the Vatican, to leave was such a pity!
Julliette’s balcony in Verona overlooked a beautiful quarter,
Then we headed to Venice that was two feet under water!
The beer halls of Munich were difficult to resist,
Adam, especially found it hard to desist!
Our path took us on to Vienna, home of Mozart.
The Christmas markets and schnapps made the city dear to Lauren’s heart!
To Prague we then went which was covered in snow,
Full of beauty and jazz clubs and fun places to go.
We turned west and drove to amazing Berlin.
A city so vibrant, a new chapter ready to begin.
Amsterdam was full of tulips and history,
Though why people there wear clogs is still a mystery!
We returned to Paris and jam packed full our days,
The Seine, Euro Disney, the louvre- what a maze!
The Eurostar whizzed us back to British land,
Then to Devon and Cornwall and friends- it was grand!
We made it to Oxford to watch all the snow,
Bring the UK to a standstill- all the people laid low.
Christmas was spent with our family and those dear,
To see snow on the ground gave Adam such cheer!
After catching our breath we again boarded a plane,
To Croatia for New Years- full of sunshine not rain!
From there we flew to Torino in Italy.
A town sitting in the north so prettily.
The cities of Florence and Rome we were happy to return,
To see artwork and museums, we were eager to learn.
From Rome we flew to the country of Greece.
To learn of the history, of Jason and the Golden Fleece.
Onward and eastward we headed to Turkey,
In Istanbul we found the good, bad and quirky.
Gallipoli was full of history and heartache,
It felt like a pilgrimage we felt proud to undertake.
We retraced our steps back through the Netherlands and Germany,
Our travelling styles by now were fairly in harmony!
In Bruges, which was beautiful, we ran into trouble,
With Lauren breaking her arm, we headed to hospital on the double!
With a plaster cast and sling along for the ride,
We returned to London to see family from far and wide.
Our last few days went by like a flash,
Filled with last minute sightseeing and places to dash.
With reluctance we boarded the plane at Heathrow,
Saying goodbye to Europe, the fun and the snow.
Dubai was a place filled with intrigue and sand,
Lauren still managed to shop with only one hand!
But as always happens when you’re having such fun,
Our four months of travels ended, this adventure was done.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
In the middle of the east
Hello bloggers and- at last- a very warm welcome! We are in the beautiful, balmy city of Dubai in the unites Arab emirates and for the first time since October we are properly toasty- we landed this morning at 2am and it was 27 degrees!! Hurrah!! But to explain how we got here I'll backtrack a little...
After our visit to bruges we made our way to brussels where we caught the eurostar back to england. We had a lovely few days in London staying with my cousin and his lovely fiancé. Adam was an absolute trooper and carried my bags and jacket from Waterloo station to Piccadilly to London bridge and back again-all without the slightest grumble ( I was grumbling enough for the two of us! The novelty of wearing a cast wore off after about thirty five seconds!)
We cruised through the British museum and soaked up some serious history, then strolled over to covent garden where we had a very disappointing sandwich but heard some excellent buskers and then went and saw the lion king on the west end. It was absolutely amazing- the songs, the dancing, the costumes- absolutely breathtaking ! We have seen a few shows during this trip- we will rock you, the phantom of the opera and now the lion king and I really think it takes the cake- I highly highly recommend it!!!
Australia day was spent very quietly but marked all the same with a six pack of fosters beer and some Chinese takeaway- not the most Australian of meals but it did the job!!
Once we had squeezed all we felt we could from the big smoke of London we again returned to oxford for the third time this trip and had a lovely few days with my grandad. We didn't get up to too much, we explored the oxford castle and did a tad bit of shopping but mainly just relaxed and made the most of our time by enjoying our time.
On Saturday we made the last of our moves within the uk and went to bicester to hang out with my aunt and three awesome cousins. I absolutely love the two days spent there- 'we talked and drank and played darts (well, the boys played- I watched from the sidelines and made encouraging comments). These two days made it all the harder on Monday morning to say goodbye to family, friends and to Europe, a place that has been so SO good to us since october. But still, whether we liked it or not goodbyes had to be said, and a plane had to be boarded and in no time at all we were zooming out of heathrow bound for Dubai.
Initially I was a bit impartial about coming to the UAE, it wasn't that I didn't want to come, it's just that I didn't know enough about the place to have a burning desire to visit, but wow am i glad we did! It's great here-not only because of the beautiful warm weather but, well it's just awesome! It's really unlike any other place that I've visited- it's so new and shiny and impressive! But there is also a real long standing sense of history and culture here- makes for a really interesting mix. We wandered about today just getting the feel for the place, visited a gold souk or two(did a little shopping!) and watched the fountain display outside the burj al Arab- absolutely great!
But now alas I must close this blog and get some shut eye- we didn't get to our hotel until 330am this morning and, in a blind attempt to ward off jetlag got up at 9- so now it's 1035pm and my eyelids are drooping!
I hope everyone reading this is happy and well
Love
Lauren the landing gear and Adam the al Arab
After our visit to bruges we made our way to brussels where we caught the eurostar back to england. We had a lovely few days in London staying with my cousin and his lovely fiancé. Adam was an absolute trooper and carried my bags and jacket from Waterloo station to Piccadilly to London bridge and back again-all without the slightest grumble ( I was grumbling enough for the two of us! The novelty of wearing a cast wore off after about thirty five seconds!)
We cruised through the British museum and soaked up some serious history, then strolled over to covent garden where we had a very disappointing sandwich but heard some excellent buskers and then went and saw the lion king on the west end. It was absolutely amazing- the songs, the dancing, the costumes- absolutely breathtaking ! We have seen a few shows during this trip- we will rock you, the phantom of the opera and now the lion king and I really think it takes the cake- I highly highly recommend it!!!
Australia day was spent very quietly but marked all the same with a six pack of fosters beer and some Chinese takeaway- not the most Australian of meals but it did the job!!
Once we had squeezed all we felt we could from the big smoke of London we again returned to oxford for the third time this trip and had a lovely few days with my grandad. We didn't get up to too much, we explored the oxford castle and did a tad bit of shopping but mainly just relaxed and made the most of our time by enjoying our time.
On Saturday we made the last of our moves within the uk and went to bicester to hang out with my aunt and three awesome cousins. I absolutely love the two days spent there- 'we talked and drank and played darts (well, the boys played- I watched from the sidelines and made encouraging comments). These two days made it all the harder on Monday morning to say goodbye to family, friends and to Europe, a place that has been so SO good to us since october. But still, whether we liked it or not goodbyes had to be said, and a plane had to be boarded and in no time at all we were zooming out of heathrow bound for Dubai.
Initially I was a bit impartial about coming to the UAE, it wasn't that I didn't want to come, it's just that I didn't know enough about the place to have a burning desire to visit, but wow am i glad we did! It's great here-not only because of the beautiful warm weather but, well it's just awesome! It's really unlike any other place that I've visited- it's so new and shiny and impressive! But there is also a real long standing sense of history and culture here- makes for a really interesting mix. We wandered about today just getting the feel for the place, visited a gold souk or two(did a little shopping!) and watched the fountain display outside the burj al Arab- absolutely great!
But now alas I must close this blog and get some shut eye- we didn't get to our hotel until 330am this morning and, in a blind attempt to ward off jetlag got up at 9- so now it's 1035pm and my eyelids are drooping!
I hope everyone reading this is happy and well
Love
Lauren the landing gear and Adam the al Arab
Monday, January 24, 2011
Only in Bruges ...
Hello faithful blog frequenters, and welcome to a rather difficultly written edition of the blog. Difficult not due to the content but due to the fact that this afternoon I suffered a break to my right wrist and I have a plaster cast from my fingers to my elbow- it makes typing rather time consuming!!! So please bear with me if I'm a little brief in my descriptions...
We are currently in Brugge - an absolutely beautiful city filled with character and lots of chocolate. Along with being a gorgeous city Brugge is also the last port of call for us un continental Europe , we head back to England tomorrow and then a short stop in dubai and then that's us done!!
Since my last post we have visited Berlin and also Amsterdam . Berlin was just as fabulous a place the second time around - and it was so nice to be there and have it not be minus 15 degrees! It was still chilly and snowed on us but at least I didn't fear for my toes developing frostbite! We did a very informative walking tour and then visited the story of Berlin museum, which is a bit out of the way from the other major museums but well worth the trip on the u- bahn. Included in the museum entry price is a guided tour of a nuclear bomb shelter that was built during the cold war and (fortunately) never used but has remained fully equip and operational ever since. It apparently can hold upwards of 3000 people for 14 days and reminded me of a giant concrete prison. It was very interesting to see but also pretty startling and sobering to think people believed the threat of nuclear war was so real they constructed such large bunkers " just in case". I hope it never has reason to be used.
Amsterdam was next on our travels but we lucked out a bit with the weather- it was drizzly and chilly and damp, and though we tried not to let it put a downer on our visit, it certainly lessened our enjoyment a smidge-but oh well! Can't win them all!!!
And now we are in Bruges, home to the movie of the same name ( though the locals are sick of hearing about that!) and it's lovely- no real other way to put it. The people are friendly and the city is full of quirky streets and interesting buildings. We had a Belgium beer in the oldest pub in Bruges- built in the 16th century and preserved to look as much like it would have done when it was first built as possible- very cool indeed!
And they have a pretty nice hospital here in Bruges too, which is where we spent a portion of our day.... I shall report on the finer details of how i broke my wrist at a later date, but needless to say it involved cobble stones, a trip and rather spectacular spill ( according to Adam who saw it all). The fact I landed in a puddle completely ruining my jeans only added further insult to injury!
We hung about the hostel for an hour or so and I tried to convince myself that my arm was feeling better, but I didn't believe myself so the off to the hospital we zoomed and before i knew it I was x rayed, encased in plaster, made a sling and on my way- the round trip from the hostel taking bang on 2 hours . Not bad at all! And may I just say at this point thank god for my English speaking nurse- as my Dutch is pretty non existent! Thankfully the word 'oouch!' seems to be universal !!
After my release we spent a very pleasant few hours wandering and soaking up all Bruges has to offer, followed by dinner, Belgium beer and chocolate icecream (to help with the pain) on market square- lovely!
And so draws to a close our adventure on the continent- and I got so close to making it through without major mishap ! Oh well- at least it makes things memorable and interesting !!
I hope this blog finds you safe and injury free- sorry the same can't be said for me!
Much love
Lauren the lopsided and Adam the advil
We are currently in Brugge - an absolutely beautiful city filled with character and lots of chocolate. Along with being a gorgeous city Brugge is also the last port of call for us un continental Europe , we head back to England tomorrow and then a short stop in dubai and then that's us done!!
Since my last post we have visited Berlin and also Amsterdam . Berlin was just as fabulous a place the second time around - and it was so nice to be there and have it not be minus 15 degrees! It was still chilly and snowed on us but at least I didn't fear for my toes developing frostbite! We did a very informative walking tour and then visited the story of Berlin museum, which is a bit out of the way from the other major museums but well worth the trip on the u- bahn. Included in the museum entry price is a guided tour of a nuclear bomb shelter that was built during the cold war and (fortunately) never used but has remained fully equip and operational ever since. It apparently can hold upwards of 3000 people for 14 days and reminded me of a giant concrete prison. It was very interesting to see but also pretty startling and sobering to think people believed the threat of nuclear war was so real they constructed such large bunkers " just in case". I hope it never has reason to be used.
Amsterdam was next on our travels but we lucked out a bit with the weather- it was drizzly and chilly and damp, and though we tried not to let it put a downer on our visit, it certainly lessened our enjoyment a smidge-but oh well! Can't win them all!!!
And now we are in Bruges, home to the movie of the same name ( though the locals are sick of hearing about that!) and it's lovely- no real other way to put it. The people are friendly and the city is full of quirky streets and interesting buildings. We had a Belgium beer in the oldest pub in Bruges- built in the 16th century and preserved to look as much like it would have done when it was first built as possible- very cool indeed!
And they have a pretty nice hospital here in Bruges too, which is where we spent a portion of our day.... I shall report on the finer details of how i broke my wrist at a later date, but needless to say it involved cobble stones, a trip and rather spectacular spill ( according to Adam who saw it all). The fact I landed in a puddle completely ruining my jeans only added further insult to injury!
We hung about the hostel for an hour or so and I tried to convince myself that my arm was feeling better, but I didn't believe myself so the off to the hospital we zoomed and before i knew it I was x rayed, encased in plaster, made a sling and on my way- the round trip from the hostel taking bang on 2 hours . Not bad at all! And may I just say at this point thank god for my English speaking nurse- as my Dutch is pretty non existent! Thankfully the word 'oouch!' seems to be universal !!
After my release we spent a very pleasant few hours wandering and soaking up all Bruges has to offer, followed by dinner, Belgium beer and chocolate icecream (to help with the pain) on market square- lovely!
And so draws to a close our adventure on the continent- and I got so close to making it through without major mishap ! Oh well- at least it makes things memorable and interesting !!
I hope this blog finds you safe and injury free- sorry the same can't be said for me!
Much love
Lauren the lopsided and Adam the advil
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
This place is(tanbul) awesome!
Howdy folks, and apologies for the terrible pun in the title- just couldn't help myself!! We have had the most awesome time here in Turkey- I think Istanbul is fast closing in as my favorite city we have visited on all our travels- I just love it! One thing that struck both Adam and I on our first day in the city is how clean it is- for such a big place filled with so many people you would expect a certain amount of rubbish on the streets but not so- it's a very neat and tidy place- the obvious exception is the amount of smog in the air- makes the whole place look like it's hiding under one giant smoke haze- but when you see the number of cars on the roads (loads) and the number of factories and industrial buildings (heaps) you can understand why that is.
My last post was mainly about my Turkish bath- an experience that is still vividly implanted in my mind- but over the past few days we have managed to squeeze in so many more fabulous experiences (though Adam managed to resist a visit to the bathhouses!).
Probably one of the most poignant and moving experiences of Istanbul, in fact probably of our entire European trip was the visit we made to Gallipoli. Now Gallipoli isn't exactly neighboring Istanbul- it's a five and a half hour bus ride away and we ummed and ahhed about if we should make the journey or not, because as well as being a huge amount of traveling in one day it also cost a reasonable amount of money and at the tail end of our trip, the budget is being a little tightened to ensure we don't run out of funds before as get home . In the end however we came to the conclusion that a visit to ANZAC cove was important to us enough to justify the cost and long travel time.
So, at 645am we set out on the bus and as the day slowly dawned we got a good look at the turkish countryside (very green- in parts it could have been Ireland) and littered with lots of little fishing and farming villages, all in all rather pretty.
At about 12.30pm we hopped off our bus as a small dishing town on the Gallipoli peninsula and were met by our guide, a very friendly Turkish man who had studied ww1 history at university and was absolutely passionate about telling the stories of the soldiers who were at Gallipoli, both Allies and Turks, to ensure their memory lives on- he was a fantastic man and we were so lucky to have him as our guide.
We had a quick look around the ANZAC museum which had lots of photographs, and artifacts like uniforms, rifles, shoes and glasses.there was also a huge map of the region and our guide used it to explain and demonstrate why the allies wanted to gain control of Gallipoli so badly, and why the Turkish fought so hard to defend it ( if the allies had secured the objective hill at Gallipoli they would have secured the only ice free body of water to get from england to Russia and perhaps this would have altered the course of how ww1 played out).
From the museum we drove to Anzac cove itself and I was amazed at how small the beach was, both in length and in width. It's hard to imagine how all those thousands of soldiers managed to land on the beach, with the hills starting only meters from the waters edge, and the cove providing a natural barrier to landing further north or south. Standing on the beach itself, the beach I heard about for so many years on the 25th April and in endless history classes, looking up at the impenetrable hills and back at the rough, grey water, it's amazing to think any soldiers survived at all.
Just along the road from the cove is the first of MANY cemeteries that are all throughout Gallipoli , that are marked 'here it is believed lies..' who died between 25-28 April (for example) 1915. Such was the carnage and mass confusion that no one can be sure when individuals died, because it was offer days, if at all, before their bodies could be safely retrieved, and burials often occurred so rapidly and under such conditions that there often wasn't the time or ability to make certain of the identities of each of the fallen men. The cemeteries themselves were beautifully maintained and are very lovingly and respectfully upkept- it was one of the most moving experiences I've ever had, to walk among the rows of headstones, in the rain and wind and to look out at the beach that so many died on. It was hard to describe all the feelings and emotions that were stirred up just being there.
From the beaches (we visited a few others that were sights of later landings) we drive up to lone pine (where the bloodiest battle of Gallipoli was fought) and from there up to the hill that was the overall objective for the entire Gallipoli campaign. I can understand why the allies were so keen to gain control of the hill- from the top you could see everything in every direction, both land and see, for miles and miles. The hill was only ever under Anzac control for 8 short hours before it was regained by the Turkish forces. Standing on the hill I can understand why from a military vantage point the hill was important, but I had to wonder if it was worth the thousands of thousands of allied and Turkish lives who were lost or wounded fighting for it between April and December 1915.
Gallipoli was a hauntingly special place to visit, it surprised me how moved I was to be there- but it's an experience I shall treasure forever. Even though it was a big day of traveling the day was entirely worth it, I would whole heartedly recommend the visit for anyone who visits turkey.
On a less somber note, the remainder of our stay in Istanbul was spent exploring and discovering as much of the city as we could. We walked from the European side over to the Asian side (because I walk between continents all the time- no big deal..!), had a famous (and amazing) fish sandwich from the base of the galata bridge (seriously- take my word for it- fantastic!), climbed a 14th century lookout tower for some uninterrupted views of the city (residential buildings spread without break from the center of the city over the horizon in every single direction), caught a whirling dervish performance(got seriously dizzy just watching!), haggled and (probably) got a bargain at the spice markets and grand bazaar, drank liters of apple tea (I'm going to miss that!), were impressed continually by the beauty of the mosques and were woken up each morning, without fail by the loud speaker announcements of the call to prayer- I love this city!
But a little sadly Istanbul signifies the sort of 'turning point' in our trip, its the furthest east we get on our travels, afterwards we will turn and work our way back west to London where we will board a plane Perth bound. So, in an effort to go out and soak the last tiny drops from the city I shall close this blog now (actually turned into quite a long one- congrats if you are still reading!)
Hope all is well on your various sides of the globe
Love
Lauren the loudspeaker and Adam the apple tea
Howdy folks, and apologies for the terrible pun in the title- just couldn't help myself!! We have had the most awesome time here in Turkey- I think Istanbul is fast closing in as my favorite city we have visited on all our travels- I just love it! One thing that struck both Adam and I on our first day in the city is how clean it is- for such a big place filled with so many people you would expect a certain amount of rubbish on the streets but not so- it's a very neat and tidy place- the obvious exception is the amount of smog in the air- makes the whole place look like it's hiding under one giant smoke haze- but when you see the number of cars on the roads (loads) and the number of factories and industrial buildings (heaps) you can understand why that is.
My last post was mainly about my Turkish bath- an experience that is still vividly implanted in my mind- but over the past few days we have managed to squeeze in so many more fabulous experiences (though Adam managed to resist a visit to the bathhouses!).
Probably one of the most poignant and moving experiences of Istanbul, in fact probably of our entire European trip was the visit we made to Gallipoli. Now Gallipoli isn't exactly neighboring Istanbul- it's a five and a half hour bus ride away and we ummed and ahhed about if we should make the journey or not, because as well as being a huge amount of traveling in one day it also cost a reasonable amount of money and at the tail end of our trip, the budget is being a little tightened to ensure we don't run out of funds before as get home . In the end however we came to the conclusion that a visit to ANZAC cove was important to us enough to justify the cost and long travel time.
So, at 645am we set out on the bus and as the day slowly dawned we got a good look at the turkish countryside (very green- in parts it could have been Ireland) and littered with lots of little fishing and farming villages, all in all rather pretty.
At about 12.30pm we hopped off our bus as a small dishing town on the Gallipoli peninsula and were met by our guide, a very friendly Turkish man who had studied ww1 history at university and was absolutely passionate about telling the stories of the soldiers who were at Gallipoli, both Allies and Turks, to ensure their memory lives on- he was a fantastic man and we were so lucky to have him as our guide.
We had a quick look around the ANZAC museum which had lots of photographs, and artifacts like uniforms, rifles, shoes and glasses.there was also a huge map of the region and our guide used it to explain and demonstrate why the allies wanted to gain control of Gallipoli so badly, and why the Turkish fought so hard to defend it ( if the allies had secured the objective hill at Gallipoli they would have secured the only ice free body of water to get from england to Russia and perhaps this would have altered the course of how ww1 played out).
From the museum we drove to Anzac cove itself and I was amazed at how small the beach was, both in length and in width. It's hard to imagine how all those thousands of soldiers managed to land on the beach, with the hills starting only meters from the waters edge, and the cove providing a natural barrier to landing further north or south. Standing on the beach itself, the beach I heard about for so many years on the 25th April and in endless history classes, looking up at the impenetrable hills and back at the rough, grey water, it's amazing to think any soldiers survived at all.
Just along the road from the cove is the first of MANY cemeteries that are all throughout Gallipoli , that are marked 'here it is believed lies..' who died between 25-28 April (for example) 1915. Such was the carnage and mass confusion that no one can be sure when individuals died, because it was offer days, if at all, before their bodies could be safely retrieved, and burials often occurred so rapidly and under such conditions that there often wasn't the time or ability to make certain of the identities of each of the fallen men. The cemeteries themselves were beautifully maintained and are very lovingly and respectfully upkept- it was one of the most moving experiences I've ever had, to walk among the rows of headstones, in the rain and wind and to look out at the beach that so many died on. It was hard to describe all the feelings and emotions that were stirred up just being there.
From the beaches (we visited a few others that were sights of later landings) we drive up to lone pine (where the bloodiest battle of Gallipoli was fought) and from there up to the hill that was the overall objective for the entire Gallipoli campaign. I can understand why the allies were so keen to gain control of the hill- from the top you could see everything in every direction, both land and see, for miles and miles. The hill was only ever under Anzac control for 8 short hours before it was regained by the Turkish forces. Standing on the hill I can understand why from a military vantage point the hill was important, but I had to wonder if it was worth the thousands of thousands of allied and Turkish lives who were lost or wounded fighting for it between April and December 1915.
Gallipoli was a hauntingly special place to visit, it surprised me how moved I was to be there- but it's an experience I shall treasure forever. Even though it was a big day of traveling the day was entirely worth it, I would whole heartedly recommend the visit for anyone who visits turkey.
On a less somber note, the remainder of our stay in Istanbul was spent exploring and discovering as much of the city as we could. We walked from the European side over to the Asian side (because I walk between continents all the time- no big deal..!), had a famous (and amazing) fish sandwich from the base of the galata bridge (seriously- take my word for it- fantastic!), climbed a 14th century lookout tower for some uninterrupted views of the city (residential buildings spread without break from the center of the city over the horizon in every single direction), caught a whirling dervish performance(got seriously dizzy just watching!), haggled and (probably) got a bargain at the spice markets and grand bazaar, drank liters of apple tea (I'm going to miss that!), were impressed continually by the beauty of the mosques and were woken up each morning, without fail by the loud speaker announcements of the call to prayer- I love this city!
But a little sadly Istanbul signifies the sort of 'turning point' in our trip, its the furthest east we get on our travels, afterwards we will turn and work our way back west to London where we will board a plane Perth bound. So, in an effort to go out and soak the last tiny drops from the city I shall close this blog now (actually turned into quite a long one- congrats if you are still reading!)
Hope all is well on your various sides of the globe
Love
Lauren the loudspeaker and Adam the apple tea
Monday, January 17, 2011
Scrub a dub dub- it's loz in a Turkish tub!
Hello friends and family, and welcome to this squeaky clean blog post. After a fabulous time rambling around Athens we boarded a plane and zoomed across the sea to turkey. I was super excited to come to Istanbul because I had heard such wonderful things about the place, and I was curious to visit a city that has a population the size of Australia (in excess of 20 million people all in the one city!).
On arrival we weren't disappointed- the drive from the airport to our accommodation took us along the water and past groups of high rise apartments that stretched to the horizon, bazaars full with all manner of fabulous things for sale and people absolutely everywhere. We dropped our bags in our room and immediately set out to explore and our wanderings took us to the blue mosque which is absolutely beautiful- so elegant and grand. We spent the rest of our first evening getting lost among the hustle and bustle- it wasn't hard to do but proved very enjoyable!
One of the things I have been most looking forward to about of our visit to Istanbul was a trip to a turkish bath house. I didn't really know much about what was exactly involved but had heard a lot of people say they were worth a visit so I figured I couldn't go home without experiencing one. I asked at the reception desk where a bath house was that Turkish people actually go to, rather than one set up just for tourists (nothing against tourists- I am after all one myself, I just fancied the more authentic experience). I got myself a driver and we headed across town to the gedikpasa bathhouse. The building was constructed in 1475 ( because aren't all bathrooms?!?) so simply being in a building that old was pretty cool. The building was a large domed one with stained glass windows in the roof allowing the sunlight to stream through. Very impressive indeed.
Upon entering I was taken to the female area of the building (the bathhouse is strictly sex segregated) and to my own little room with a bed and chest of draws and told to strip naked and wrap a pestemal (sarong type of wrap) around me. I must admit not being brave enough to strip entirely naked- I left my bonds undies in situ but otherwise followed the lady's instructions to the letter. From my little dressing room I was led into the main bath house chamber which was a very large room, the floors and walls made entirely of marble. Along the edge of the walls, spaced about 5 meters apart were deep marble basins full of warm water which was constantly flowing into the basins from taps, the water then overflowing onto the floor and draining through grates in the floor- was very cool to behold. In the centre of the room was a very large raised square of marble which I was told was heated from below and was where I would receive my wash and massage. The whole room was one big, wet and shiny regal bathroom. There were about 4 other customers in the room each being washed/massaged by their own attendant.
To start with I was led to one of the basins and thoroughly doused with warm water, head to toe. Then I was led to a door which led to a sauna where I steamed for a while, a rather glorious sensation after a long and cold winter!!
After I was well and truly toasty from the sauna I went to the big raised marble square in the centre of the room, laid down and my attendant proceeded to exfoliate me within an inch of my life. She had a rough exfoliating mitt that she proceeded to rub me harder than I thought was strictly necessary, though it did feel nice. She exfoliated everywhere- even places that I didn't know were your typical exfoliation zones, like under my chin, behind my ears and my stomach- oh well- when in turkey I suppose!
I was then led back to the basin and doused again in the warm water then led again back to the big square stone and then the washing began. My attendant had a massive bowl of bubbly soap suds which she proceeded to fluff up even further with a cloth/towel thing and then dumped the whole bowl of bubbles unceremoniously on my back. I actually got the giggles at this stage because if you could have seen me all you could have made out was two eyes and a ponytail sticking out of the biggest pile of bubbles this earth has ever seen. I then had the bubbles scrubbed and rubbed all over- a rather odd experience really. I had never really taken the time to think about it but I don't think that since I was an infant I have ever been washed by anyone else- it's such a personal and habitual ritual , but when someone else is washing your feet, back, armpits and everything in between you really gain an appreciation for what is involved in the bathing process!!!
After I was suitably soaped I was again rinsed at the basins and led for the third time back to the square stone and massaged with all manner of oils. My attendant was very passionate about her work, and really gave my back a good rub, but it was a tad awkward being as she was naked (oh yes- did i mention before that of the 4 other women bathing and each of their attendants all were naked?!?) I was acutely aware of her breasts, stomach and goodness knows what else touching my back as I was being massaged- again giggles ensured!!
I was then doused down with water for the last time and taken this time to a small plunge pool filled with COLD water- a rather rude shock after such a long time being surrounded by lovely warm marble surfaces and water- but I plunged in then promptly made my way back to the sauna for a tad longer in the glorious warmth, before being given a lovely warm towel and being returned to my change room. The whole process took about one hour and 45 minutes and I'll tell you what- excessive amounts of large Turkish woman's flesh touching aside, I have never felt so clean or relaxed in my life! A very different but fabulous experience especially after such a long time backpacking, it was glorious to have a session of pure indulgence and luxury- a must for anyone visiting turkey!!
Love
Lauren the luxurious bather
Hello friends and family, and welcome to this squeaky clean blog post. After a fabulous time rambling around Athens we boarded a plane and zoomed across the sea to turkey. I was super excited to come to Istanbul because I had heard such wonderful things about the place, and I was curious to visit a city that has a population the size of Australia (in excess of 20 million people all in the one city!).
On arrival we weren't disappointed- the drive from the airport to our accommodation took us along the water and past groups of high rise apartments that stretched to the horizon, bazaars full with all manner of fabulous things for sale and people absolutely everywhere. We dropped our bags in our room and immediately set out to explore and our wanderings took us to the blue mosque which is absolutely beautiful- so elegant and grand. We spent the rest of our first evening getting lost among the hustle and bustle- it wasn't hard to do but proved very enjoyable!
One of the things I have been most looking forward to about of our visit to Istanbul was a trip to a turkish bath house. I didn't really know much about what was exactly involved but had heard a lot of people say they were worth a visit so I figured I couldn't go home without experiencing one. I asked at the reception desk where a bath house was that Turkish people actually go to, rather than one set up just for tourists (nothing against tourists- I am after all one myself, I just fancied the more authentic experience). I got myself a driver and we headed across town to the gedikpasa bathhouse. The building was constructed in 1475 ( because aren't all bathrooms?!?) so simply being in a building that old was pretty cool. The building was a large domed one with stained glass windows in the roof allowing the sunlight to stream through. Very impressive indeed.
Upon entering I was taken to the female area of the building (the bathhouse is strictly sex segregated) and to my own little room with a bed and chest of draws and told to strip naked and wrap a pestemal (sarong type of wrap) around me. I must admit not being brave enough to strip entirely naked- I left my bonds undies in situ but otherwise followed the lady's instructions to the letter. From my little dressing room I was led into the main bath house chamber which was a very large room, the floors and walls made entirely of marble. Along the edge of the walls, spaced about 5 meters apart were deep marble basins full of warm water which was constantly flowing into the basins from taps, the water then overflowing onto the floor and draining through grates in the floor- was very cool to behold. In the centre of the room was a very large raised square of marble which I was told was heated from below and was where I would receive my wash and massage. The whole room was one big, wet and shiny regal bathroom. There were about 4 other customers in the room each being washed/massaged by their own attendant.
To start with I was led to one of the basins and thoroughly doused with warm water, head to toe. Then I was led to a door which led to a sauna where I steamed for a while, a rather glorious sensation after a long and cold winter!!
After I was well and truly toasty from the sauna I went to the big raised marble square in the centre of the room, laid down and my attendant proceeded to exfoliate me within an inch of my life. She had a rough exfoliating mitt that she proceeded to rub me harder than I thought was strictly necessary, though it did feel nice. She exfoliated everywhere- even places that I didn't know were your typical exfoliation zones, like under my chin, behind my ears and my stomach- oh well- when in turkey I suppose!
I was then led back to the basin and doused again in the warm water then led again back to the big square stone and then the washing began. My attendant had a massive bowl of bubbly soap suds which she proceeded to fluff up even further with a cloth/towel thing and then dumped the whole bowl of bubbles unceremoniously on my back. I actually got the giggles at this stage because if you could have seen me all you could have made out was two eyes and a ponytail sticking out of the biggest pile of bubbles this earth has ever seen. I then had the bubbles scrubbed and rubbed all over- a rather odd experience really. I had never really taken the time to think about it but I don't think that since I was an infant I have ever been washed by anyone else- it's such a personal and habitual ritual , but when someone else is washing your feet, back, armpits and everything in between you really gain an appreciation for what is involved in the bathing process!!!
After I was suitably soaped I was again rinsed at the basins and led for the third time back to the square stone and massaged with all manner of oils. My attendant was very passionate about her work, and really gave my back a good rub, but it was a tad awkward being as she was naked (oh yes- did i mention before that of the 4 other women bathing and each of their attendants all were naked?!?) I was acutely aware of her breasts, stomach and goodness knows what else touching my back as I was being massaged- again giggles ensured!!
I was then doused down with water for the last time and taken this time to a small plunge pool filled with COLD water- a rather rude shock after such a long time being surrounded by lovely warm marble surfaces and water- but I plunged in then promptly made my way back to the sauna for a tad longer in the glorious warmth, before being given a lovely warm towel and being returned to my change room. The whole process took about one hour and 45 minutes and I'll tell you what- excessive amounts of large Turkish woman's flesh touching aside, I have never felt so clean or relaxed in my life! A very different but fabulous experience especially after such a long time backpacking, it was glorious to have a session of pure indulgence and luxury- a must for anyone visiting turkey!!
Love
Lauren the luxurious bather
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