Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, Joel!  For Joel’s birthday, we scheduled a Jewish Walking Tour, a hammam, and a nice dinner.  What a wonderful day to celebrate JOEL!

At 8:30 am, we met our guide, Alp, in our hotel’s lobby. Alp proceeded to show us multiple synagogues, the street scenes in Balat and Galata, the Jewish Museum, and the Spice Market.  He treated us to lots of yummies and Turkish coffee at a local establishment, where he also feted Joel with cake for his birthday.  The sights, scenes, and stories highlighted multifaceted Jewish and Turkish life.

After the tour, we returned to our hotel for naps – and then ventured out for our second hammam.  This one was totally different than the previous one!  At the first hammam, I felt pampered and refreshed; at this second hammam, I felt beaten and depleted.  We picked Suleymaniye hammam since it caters to couples, thinking it’d be a nice birthday treat.  However, the sauna was too hot, we stayed in it for too long, and the massage was too hard.  I had to remind myself that this was my choice.  If I wanted to leave, I could do so.  Nevertheless, I did not leave – and instead have a story to tell!  Haha!

For our final event, we had a lovely dinner at the Kybele Restaurant – authentic atmosphere with good food and some wine.  Excellent!