The beauty of Aya Sofya

Abstract

Although we were flying back on the 30th, the 28th was basically our last day on holiday. The next day would be spent traveling from Istanbul to Thessaloniki and the day after would be spent on a trip from Thessaloniki, via Athens, to Brussels and back home.

Our last day in Istanbul was expensive, visiting Aya Sofya and a Turkish Hamam, including scrub, regular massage and foot massage, that is, someone walking on your back while you’re lying on the ground.

The baths were very expensive, 20 euros a head, but good. The masseuses tried to get us to pay more, while we were *inside* the baths, which was very annoying and due to a misunderstanding, we almost had to cough up some cash for rendered services.
What was sad, though, was the fact that women and man bath separately. Although most men were still wearing a towel around their waist while in the baths (there is no ‘swimming pool’), in the girls’ baths, everyone was running around naked, no doubt having a major fuckfest every 30 minutes or so.

We ended our stay in Istanbul with diner at one of the more expensive restaurants right next to the Blue Mosque, with live music, nargileh and a dancing dervish.

Related:  Epilogue