The Gülhane B-Roll and a New Hamam Experience

My previous post about the Lale Festival pretty much covered everything I know or frankly care about tulips. But I have more pictures to share! So here's a completely unrelated hamam story.

As mentioned previously, there is no gas in my building this week. As part of the building renovation all the pipes are being replaced. Which really makes me wonder why someone went to all the trouble of repainting the stairwell walls already because now said walls and fresh paint are covered in scorch marks and drill holes. It wasn't that good of a paint job to begin with but now...

Anyway, no gas means no hot water which means no showering. I could handle it if the water came out tepid but it's fracking ice cold. And to illustrate the vagaries of an Istanbul spring...it hailed today. A couple times. So I'm not ready for ice cold showers. This is a perfect excuse to go to a hamam. Normally I go to Çemberlitaş Hamamı but last night I went with E to a place both closer to home and cheaper. It wasn't horrible but I'll stick with Çemberlitaş Hamamı.

Ağa Hamamı is a mixed hamam so the relaxing and hot stone areas are common space. Bathing suits are recommended but I believe the hamam keeps spare bikinis on hand if you don't have one. Men (wrapped in a towel) are bathed in the common area but there is a small (space for only two) side room where women are bathed in "private". Although leaving the door open is rather counterproductive. I wore my one-piece suit which was fine in the common room but the woman who bathed me stripped it off completely. And since my marble slab was the one in front of the door I really rather did want the door closed. However while it wasn't exactly as private as advertised it was a pretty good scrub.

Next, wrapped in about 3 different towels (one of which the bath attendant tied around my head making me look somewhat Bedouin) we were "invited" to relax with some apple tea in the common area/entry way. It's a lovely entry way but it is still an entryway and towels do not clothes make. I would rather have gone straight into the massage but they seemed pretty insistent that we relax first.

When we finally got to the massage...I wouldn't have minded skipping it actually. My what was supposed to be 30 minute massage felt like it was over almost as soon as it started. Which, considering it consisted largely of just having oil rubbed on me versus and actual massage and that it was on the most uncomfortable table. Which was not only uncomfortable but about four inches too short. And once again privacy did not seem to be a big priority. I had to ask that sh close the door fully because, for a hamam that really seems to like to cover you with as many towels as possible (I left the massage with three new ones) she didn't cover me with anything while I was actually on the table. And the oil they use...I'm sure it was supposed to smell floral but I was picking up essence of Hubba Bubba.

This hamam does not have a shower for post oil massage cleaning. They do allow you back in the hamam/hot stone area unlike some other hamams but it is somewhat difficult to bathe if you have to put a swim suit back on. Ağa Hamamı does not provide soap or anything either which is the one thing both E and I neglected to bring. She forgot hers and I just didn't think to bring any since my regular hamam provides things like that.

We got more towels again after our ineffectual bath.

I'm not saying Ağa Hamamı is bad. It's a pretty decent deal at 90TL (50TL sans massage) an it's great if you want to experience a hamam as a couple or family. But I'm pretty sure that I will continue to trek the 40 minute walk to Çemberlitaş Hamamı where, for 60TL extra, I get (I think) much nicer service. Plus the ladies there mostly remember me and I get to jump queues if it's busy! And I don't leave smelling like Bazooka Joe.

PS-the hyacinth at the park smelled glorious. Far far better than did the massage oil.

Lale Festivalı Gülhane Parkı

Spring is here! Sort of anyway. We have had some truly gorgeous days in the last week. Of course this week the temperature dropped 5C, it's overcast, and rainy...but Spring is undeniably here. While the weather might be a bit crap this week, everywhere you look in Istanbul you can see the proof of Spring...tulips.

The tulip is the flower in Turkey. It graces carpets, fabrics, ceramics, jewelry, building facades, fences, and of course gardens, boulevards, highways, parks, and every limited green space this city has during the months of April and May when the official Tulip Festival is on. Turkey is very proud if the tulip and while the Netherlands may lead the world in production (and possibly Kenya in the number two spot) Turkey is responsible for introducing the tulip to Europe.

In the 1500's after the tulip came to Turkey via Central Asia, Sultan Suleyman gifted the King of Holland with some tulip bulbs. After that the tulip trade exploded and bulbs could be worth more than houses. Men spent their life savings to buy just one bulb.

Luckily the price has dropped over the years. However if you don't have a green thumb and have no wish for a tulip of your very own, in Istanbul there are many places to enjoy them. One of the most accessible places is Gülhane Parkı which has its very own tram stop near touristy Sultanahmet. Tulips of nearly every shade and type are planted here in anticipation of the annual festival every April. Gülhane Parkı is also home to a lovely tea garden where you can refresh yourself while enjoying a view of the Bosphorus.

 

I cannot wait for Spring to decide that it's going to be here and stay here. I want to use my terrace again! Last Saturday was gorgeous here and I laid in the hammock with Sherlock and read for a few hours. Of course by the time the weather is warm enough to spend time on the roof the renovation team, which has been working since the Autumn, will probably finally get around to working on my terrace rendering it unusable for, I'm guessing, two weeks. They're replacing the building's gas pipes this week which means no hot water and no cooking. Luckily I live in a land of delivery and hamams.

It will be worth being banned from the terrace for a week or two though when they're finished. The roof is being sealed which should stop the ceiling from leaking when it rains. Drains are being put in which means the paint in the ceiling of the bathroom should stop rotting and peeling off. AND they're apparently putting down tile on the terrace so I'll have real flooring up there instead of the rough, dirty, what ever the heck is up there now. Then all I have to do is get the apartment managers/owner to agree to replace the warped and falling apart furniture and I will have a palace with view. Until next year when I'll likely have to look for a new place because I won't be able to afford this one.

Gülhane Parkı has more than just tulips! We'll have a look at those when we do the B-Roll.

Happy May Day!

I was in the middle of a post about the Aya Yorgi festival (by which I mean I uploaded pictures and was too lazy to actually write anything) and decided to switch gears. May Day, which in many countries is a celebration of workers, spring, good thing etc and so forth...is a little different here in Turkey.

In Istanbul it means that, at 11 AM, people a few neighborhoods over are being evacuated due to the extreme tear gas already infecting their neighborhood. It means that shops are closed, streets are empty, people are finding other places to park their cars so they don't get damaged, several modes of public transportation have been closed, and there are roughly 40,000 police officers deployed in strategic Istanbul neighborhoods.

So I'm not going out today. Which is a real pity because for the first time in over a week there's sun. And it's warm. So since the city is going nuts I'm going to stay in today, stream How I Met Your Mother and Orphan Black on Amazon, and post pictures of pretty flowers.

Which is an appropriate thing to do in Istanbul. Pretty much the entire month of April is dedicated to Istanbul's tulip, or lale, festival. There are accounts of tulips being cultivated in Turkey as early as 1000 AD but it was in the 1500s during the Ottoman Empire when tulip mania exploded.

Gulhane Park

Most people hear "tulip" and think the Netherlands. Or if you're from West Michigan like I am, you think Holland, MI. Home of its own windmills, wooden shoes, tulip festivals, lots of people whose last name begins with 'Van', and a phenomenon known as "West Michigan Dutch".

Gulhane Park

What most people don't know is that The Netherlands didn't get tulips until later, not until the 17th century. While both countries rivaled for a time to lead the tulip craze (and for a bit Turkey was on top) the impact of the flower has had far-reaching effects beyond commerce, particularly in art. In Turkey, the tulip (followed by the carnation) is the most common floral motif found on ceramics, mosaics, materials, jewelry, and so on.

Reproduction of an in museum Iznik vase

And while The Netherlands may hold the crown for tulipy things, I kinda have to wonder about a society in which a single flower bulb set you back more than 10 times your annual salary. And people paid that. 

Also that vase I bought, 240TL sticker price. I got it for 100TL. I'm not Barney Stinson awesome but it's close.

Chillin' with my Peeps

A few weeks before Easter, Andrea and I made took a trip down to the National Harbor for a night out. It seemed to be a comedy of errors at first, because each plan we made fell apart as we tried to do it. First, it was a concert, but it was sold out when we tried to get tickets. Then, we thought we’d grab dinner at a piano bar at the Harbor, only to find out that you had to have a reservation in order to get a table. Then, as we tried nearly every other restaurant, the wait was so long it was hardly worth it.

We wandered around for a while looking for somewhere to go, or to eat. We passed by the statue called, The Awakening, and I remembered how many fun days I spent studying next to it when it was located at Hains Point in DC. They’ve since moved it to the National Harbor, and as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t look nearly as good there. It was too dark for my pictures to come out, so you’ll have to follow the link to see that I’m right.

After we saw the statue there, we turned and saw a shining beacon of springtime happiness dropped right behind us. It was, of course, THE PEEPS STORE!!!!





This store is ALL about the springtime joy that is Peeps, and inside there were all sorts of peep-orobilia. Even the door handles were even Peeps.



Once inside, we were greeted with a GIANT Peep that stands in the middle of the store, with, dare I say it, Peeps “art” lining the walls.







Anything that you could think of wanting, there was a Peeps version of it: Golf Club covers, tshirts, hats, toys, cookbooks (ew), backpacks, pillows. The list goes on and on. And of course they also had Peeps you could eat. They had them in every color and shape, and even had 'chocolate covered ones.' I say this only lightly because I bought one, and it was definitely not at Peep. It was more or less your standard Easter marshmallow candy covered in chocolate. Just because it's shaped like a rabbit head and has a bright yellow inside does not make it a Peep. I would rather buy chocolate covered Peeps from the Amish market in Laurel, MD.







In addition to Peeps, there were other candies that were non-Peep. You could by paraphernalia for mike&Ike's as well as hot tamales candies. Both of them came in various flavors. Well...the hot tamales also came in flavors, but they were regular cinnamon, smokin’, sizzlin’, fiery, and blaze your face off. I don't really like hot tamales, so I wasn't terribly interested in trying any of them. I did think that some of the t-shirts they had were cute, though.

I know that at Easter, temporary Peeps stores will occasionally pop up in random places. I don't think that this was a temporary store, and from the looks of it, I think it will be around for a while. To bring in some more business, and to add on to the 'artwork' that they display, they should consider bringing in the exhibition of the awesome Washington Post Peeps-tacularartworks that people in DC create during Easter.

Let's Go Local!

What is that? You might ask...baby lavender? Baby rosemary? Nope. Both of those are actually wrong. This morning I went to the farmer's market near my house. I found lots of WONDERFUL things to look at, smell, and taste. The above photo is of a dwarf plant that I discovered and just HAD to bring home. I'll tell you more about it below.

I don't have to work at the theatre until later tonight. So I feel like I have an entire day to myself where I otherwise might not. I got up at a decent hour this morning, and headed over to the farmers market in Silver Spring, MD. It's not a big market, with only about 10 vendors, but I would still consider it to be a good local market; at least I don't have to go all he way down to the Eastern Market area of the city.

I started out with just browsing, wandering through the vendors just to see who is offering what, and for what price. One of the first things I noticed were all of the fresh salads and strawberries. Not that I didn't already know, but perhaps I'd just never really noticed since I live pretty removed from "the land." But the first harvest of the spring brings more than just strawberries . There are also various lettuces, kale, spring onions, sugar snap peas, and more. The market was awash in shades of red, orange, yellow, and green this morning. There were vendors with freshly cut and potted HHHHerbs (cause there's an H in it!) and flowers of every color, as well as baby squashes (with flowers!) everywhere. And to top it all off, I even got to join in with a one man band (a guy playing a Bass, tamborine, and harmonica all at the same time) while he sang I've been working on the railroad and Dinah blow your horn. I felt like a kid again! Below are my pictures, why don't you take a tour with me of the sights and sounds of the Silver Spring market?









Even though there's a salmonella scare in the US because of tomatoes, not all tomatoes are tainted. Tomatoes from Virginia have been cleared. And these heirloom tomatoes look delicious!


That first picture? Well this is the zoomed out version. If you guessed that the aforementioned photo was dwarf curry, you'd be right! After rubbing this plant and having visions of various curried meats and vegetables stewing in my kitchen, I just had to bring one of these home!

And finally, I thought I'd share a quick clip of the guy who didn't mind that I was singing children's songs along with him: