We decided to start the day "right" by waking early and visiting the gym - something we never find time for on the normal hectic daily life. It was tiring, but it was invigorating!
After breakfast, the men (and a few brave partners) headed to the Istanbul track for their day with the M3 and M4, while the remaining spouse had some time till the 10am meeting for our tour.
We started with at Taksim square and slowly made our way to Istiklal Street.
Istiklal street is the "soho" of Istanbul, and until recently, one needed to dress up before they were allowed entry into the area. The street was lined by fabulously old buildings with such artistic historical architecture, however they were combined with retail shops both prestigiously old and new branded goods!
We stopped for Turkish delight tasting at a store that has been in the business since 1777! They were delicious candies and I was very hard pressed to leave the shop empty handed!
Then on to more beautiful architecture.
Then smack bang in between shops, hidden in a little lane was the biggest Catholic Church in Istanbul, Saint Anthony.
Next stop, Grand Bazaar!
Our guide asked if we wanted to see scarves, which I excitedly said YES! And he led us to a shop which I would never, on my own, deign to enter!
The scarves were GORGEOUS and incredibly soft...but at 300TL, I sadly put it back. 1 too many digits!
There were many things to view in the market, many of which I would never attempt bringing back to Melbourne, sadly, but was still beautiful to look at - lamps, pipes, ceramics and of course, gold.
We also stopped in the shop of a very suave handbag maker. Who invited us into his shop, promising us that we would not resist his excellent products. I felt like the fly being invited into the spider's
parlour. And had no doubts that had my mother been there, she would have left with several purchases. "No fakes! Improved imitations! Better than the originals!" - were touted to us. I must say that tempting though it was, I wistfully pulled my lingering fingers away and we departed amicably with his final words, "life is short, and we should never put off what we desire" and "you do not know what you have just missed!"
After that we headed for a "Turkish" lunch. The pictures below speak for themselves, but I must say, the sea bass was superb.
After a very full lunch, we headed off for the highly anticipated Hamam session. The Turkish Bath is a must do, and we were taken to one of the older, famous places, the Ayasofya Hurrem Sultan Hamami, built in 1556 for one of the Sultan's favorite wives. An hour ensued where we were steamed, splashed, scrubbed, covered in foaming bubbles than moisturized and oiled. All this was done in a common area that was opulent in all it's marble and gold glory, but it was a little hard to see without my glasses and hard to glance around where everyone was nude!
After that we were pretty much mellowed out, so it was back to the hotel, via the scenic route.
Back to the hotel for a quick nap before the night's final dinner with the BMW experience team!
