Water Day: The Basilica Cistern and Turkish Baths

Hi again!

            It felt like my eyes had barely shut when my alarm clock went off on Day 2. We woke up extra early to get to the Basilica Cistern right when it opened. The Basilica Cistern is one of my favorite places in Istanbul; it was an ancient underground water reservoir that held 100,000 tons of water and was structurally supported by 300 columns that were gathered from old Byzantine buildings. The entrance looks like an outhouse from the street, but you descend down the slippery marble staircase into the spectacular drained cistern. There is a five foot raised walkway/bridge over the shallow water. Underwater lights illuminate the beams and fish swim around their bases. As you walk deeper into the cistern you see a change from Corinthian columns to Ionic columns and finally, short columns that are stacked upon large cubes. The two cubes have Medusa's head carved into them. Her head is sideways and legend has it that the Christian ruler was making a statement about Christianity being superior to Paganism by placing Medusa's head sideways. The cistern was nearly silent, allowing you to hear the water dropping down the columns. (A few times a year opera and orchestra concerts are held in the cistern. Only a few hundred people can go and tickets are very hard to get- but it is one of my life goals to go to a concert in the Basilica Concert!) I was grateful for our early arrival because a large cruise tour group clambered down the staircase with their voices echoing through the cistern as we left.

            We had some "celebrity" guest join us for the day. My friend Katie goes to the University of Virginia and her dad teaches at the college. Her dad also is teaching on our summer voyage (they've been on two other SAS voyages together) and her parents joined us for the day. It was refreshing traveling with parents again. Although it was not the same, it reminded me of traveling with my family and I loved that. Traveling with my friends has been wonderful, but it has made me so grateful for my family's travel style. I am thankful that my parents taught me to embrace history and understand the cultures we enter. Thanks mom and dad!

            Later that day we went to Bemberlitas Hamami, the historic Turkish bath house from 1584. I entered the female steam room and laid on the hot marble stone, then an old Turkish lady scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed my body (we all were a little dirty after visiting 6 countries) and I was covered in massive bubbles. She rinsed me off, sent me to the hot pool and then to a hot oil massage. Not to shabby! I am lucky that we don't have Turkish Baths in Eugene or I'd spend all of my money at the bathhouses. After the baths my friends and I drank apple tea while wrapped up in Turkish robes. While drinking my apple tea I thought back to Mark Twain's passage about his Turkish bath experience in Innocents Abroad. He said, "Presently my man sat down by a tank of hot water, drenched me well, gloved his hand with a coarse mitten and began to polish me all over with it… then he left me there, a snowy statue of lather" (286.) Although my experience was more enjoyable, Twain and I seem to agree on the process. If you ever are in Turkey you must get a Turkish bath!

            I appreciate all of your emails!

            ~Tori