Day 135 - Edirne - Private Tour

Thursday, November 15, 2018.

Today we got up and went downstairs for breakfast earlier than yesterday because we hired Oguz, who works in the cafe, as our private guide. We met him last night when he asked where we were from and we had a conversation. He was very friendly and offered to pick us up at 10:00am and take us for a tour of the city.
The tour was mostly made in his car, and I'm glad because it was very cold and windy outside. He first drove us to see some of the old Ottoman bridges.

One of those famous Ottoman bridges, this one originally built in the 13th century, but renovated in the early 20th.

He then drove us to Karagaac which is a nice neighborhood very close to the Greek border (did I mention Edirne is at the Greek and Bugarian borders?). We saw the Lausanne Monument, a metallic structure of three columns symbolizing Turkey. It is there to recognize the recognition of the Republic of Turkey by the European powers in 1923. Was it worth the stop? Probably not, but the area around it was very pretty. Next to it is the old train station which now is the Trakya [Thrace] University School of Fine Arts. In back is the steam engine and train car used by Ataturk when he came to Edirne.

Lausanne monument

Across from the monument was a sidewalk cafe and we had Nescafe coffees. I have learned to ask for this instead of Turkish coffee since the latter is small and strong and leaves grains in your mouth. We chatted with Oguz.

Then he told us that his mother had prepared some tea for all of us so we can drink it and have a picnic at another monument. We drove to his house and we told him that we would wait in the car but then he came back and told us that his mom was inviting us in! We all smiled and went to their apartment.

His family was so friendly after we took our shoes off, the mom pulled me and kiss me twice as if we knew each other well. She did the same with the kids. She only shook Gregory's hand.
They ushered us into the living room and right away they offered us Turkish tea and cookies.
Oguz was our translator and we had quite a conversation like that, going back and forth. We met his sister as well, who did not speak English but was very sweet and asked us twice if we wanted more tea!

We had a very good time and we were happy to find again such great hospitality by people who don't even know us. It reminded me of our experiences in Tangier, Morrocco. After an hour, we decided that it was time to go so we ask permission to take some selfies for the blog. Before we were leaving, the mom came with a present for me! I was so moved and touched. She gave me a beautiful towel and a turquoise colored shawl!

That was so nice of her and we had just met her. I told her that she had a home in California whenever she wanted to come and visit. She offered us her house as well. I mean, really, who opens their house just like that to strangers? People are good in general and people are giving, that's what we have been learning from this trip! And we have found this generosity, especially in Muslim countries. Which is very different what we keep hearing in the US about Muslims.

Before we left, they all broke out their phones and laptops to find a good hammam (Turkish bathhouse) for us to visit, to check the hours and the prices.
Oguz drove us to the hotel to drop the kids, who did not want to go to the hamam. Sunshine was really tired and needed to finish her homework assignment which was due tomorrow before Thanksgiving break and Daniel just didn't want to go to the public baths.

The mother and daughter who hosted us

Oguz with everyone

After dropping them off, we headed downtown to the historic hamam. In the tourist information center, they had tried to steer us towards a hotel spa instead. Gregory and I insisted since we wanted to have the real experience.

First, I went inside the women's section to find out how much would it cost. I said, heck yes, I did the whole package for $25 meaning the bath, exfoliation, bubble bath and hot oil massage! It was a fantastic experience. Gregory went off to the men's side and we agreed that whoever was finished first would come to find the other.

When I entered, the lady at the front desk gave me a key and showed me to a private dressing room. There was a basket with three towels and slippers. When I came out wrapped in a towel, she said, culotte? Good thing I understood that culotte meant underwear. I asked if I could wear my swimsuit and she said yes. That made me feel so much better. I was directed to the sauna room and she told to rinse with hot water for 10 minutes. There were two other ladies with me. I imagined the room full of ladies just enjoying themselves and gossiping about men in the Ottoman times.

Afterward, they came to get me and led me to a smaller room off of the main area. They had me lie on a warm marble bench. Luckily, I had seen how well they had clean it before I even sat there. Another lady had put bleach and soap and scrubbed with a broom. The lady first scrubbed me with a loofah and I was surprised to see how much dead skin came off. Later, she rinsed the bench again and asked me to lie down -- all this in Turkish, so you can imagine how much I had to guess. She brought a bucket with soap. She filled a pillowcase with bubbled, waved it in the air, then she wrang the cloth on top of my body and oh my gosh, the soap falling felt like a silk blanket sliding over my body! After that, she started to scrub my whole body like I was covered in mud. I don’t think my nanny ever scrubbed me that well. It felt a little uncomfortable.

Next, she took me to another bench where she started to rinse me. All of a sudden she grabbed my hair and pulled my bun and I was like: what the heck lady? I guess she meant to tell me to remove my headband so she could wash my hair. It felt nice someone scrubbing my hair but not so much when she threw the water over my head without notice and I was wearing my contacts.

Finally, we were done and the moment I had been waiting for came. She gave me a towel and we left the sauna, crossed the main room and then climbed some wooden stairs to the second floor where there were many small rooms for massage.

The lady poured some oil on my legs and started to massage my legs and my feet. This felt amazing and I was hoping she would only do my feet, but then she massaged my back, my arms and even my face. The experience was really nice. At one point, when she was massaging me, I heard the call for prayer in the mosque nearby and I thought, here we are, the ladies, enjoying ourselves while the men pray in the mosque. The whole experience felt so amazing. There was music in the room and the massage on my shoulders was relaxing me so much that at one point I had no idea where I was or where had I left the key to my drssing room. I didn’t care if they stole my purse. Right there, I was in heaven!

When I came downstairs, a lady in the front desk offered me Turkish coffee. I said no thank you and went to my room to dress. Nothing was missing. When I came out, I tried to ask the lady if she could change me a bill so I could tip my masseuse. She didn’t have change but one of the ladies who was sitting in the main room, together with other older ladies in towels, sipping coffee and smoking, told me she had change. I thank her and left 10TL, which is about $2 and she was thrilled. I don’t know if you are supposed to tip or not but I’m sure it is always appreciated.

By then, the lady at the front desk told me that my husband was done on the other side of the Harem and he was waiting for me.

I thanked everybody and left to meet Gregory. He was very happy with his massage and was telling me about his experience. We went to look for a doner kebab. This time we wanted something very local so we stopped at a small stand to have a delicious kebab and drink ayran (kind of like salty milk). We waited there until it stopped raining.

Later, we went to buy the bus tickets to Istanbul. Our friend from the tourist office was there and so helpful. She came from her office as a translator because the bus lady didn’t speak English. I’m glad we bought the tickets in advance because many buses were already sold out. Apparently many students go to Istanbul for the weekend.

We were going to hang around downtown but it was too cold and we were tired. We took a taxi home to our hotel. We had leftovers for dinner and watched a family movie. We are always sad to leave a place we like. Daniel wanted to stay longer in the hotel, it was spacious, clean and convenient but we are leaving tomorrow for Istanbul!