Weekend, Take 2
Friday night's festivities (wine and Turkish sprite)
Wow! I can't believe I'm in Bursa!
Here's the an aerial view of Bursa
Entrance to Yesil Camii (Green mosque)
Now you know why it's the Green mosque
Me and the Green mosque
Entrance to Ulu Camii
Hamam! Rub-a-dub-dub
What is this Hamam about?
The girl's penitentiary :(
The hamam was quite an experience. Upon entering, you and your company are allotted a room to change into the sarong (different than the one pictured). You put on your sarong, and underwear, if you choose, and head into the bathing area. The first room of this particular hamam included showers and a lounging area. The room was warmer than room temperature and had two rooms off to the side for the infamous Turkish massage. We went straight to the best part of the hamam: the bathing room! After finding a nook, the Turks sat us down, ascertained a sand-paper mitt and began the rub down. Ouch. They rubbed off skin worms (I believe I came out of the hamam 2 shades lighter). In the center of the room was a large pool that was the temperature of a hot tub, perhaps hotter.
Then there was the lion's mouth! David and I built up enough courage to first sit in the small pool, then get under the lion's mouth! There was an actual lion head plastered to the wall spewing water from it's mouth, hence the name. The water coming out, however, was from a natural spring underneath the hamam. The water was HOT! Imagine turning on the hot water without any cold water. I sat under it for a minute or so and when I got up to stand I could have seen myself fainting from the heat. My heart was beating 100 miles per hour. Then Taner, our Turkish friend, took us into the steam room.
Upon entering, you immediately stopped breathing from your nose and noticed the strength it took to continue in the thick patch of steam. The steam was incredibly hot--hot enough that it stung your nostrils! There was a sign in Turkish that read 83 degrees, and if that sign was right then the room was around 180 degrees Fahrenheit! We were warned that we could only stay in the room for 1 or 2 minutes before fainting from the heat. The room was so hot that my hair felt like a ball of fire on my head. It was definitely intense, and walking out of the room took an incredible amount of effort. After about an hour and a half we figured we had to meet up with the girls, so we left the bathing areas. And this is what we looked like afterwards:
Wow! Were we a good-looking bunch.
Then there was the lion's mouth! David and I built up enough courage to first sit in the small pool, then get under the lion's mouth! There was an actual lion head plastered to the wall spewing water from it's mouth, hence the name. The water coming out, however, was from a natural spring underneath the hamam. The water was HOT! Imagine turning on the hot water without any cold water. I sat under it for a minute or so and when I got up to stand I could have seen myself fainting from the heat. My heart was beating 100 miles per hour. Then Taner, our Turkish friend, took us into the steam room.
Upon entering, you immediately stopped breathing from your nose and noticed the strength it took to continue in the thick patch of steam. The steam was incredibly hot--hot enough that it stung your nostrils! There was a sign in Turkish that read 83 degrees, and if that sign was right then the room was around 180 degrees Fahrenheit! We were warned that we could only stay in the room for 1 or 2 minutes before fainting from the heat. The room was so hot that my hair felt like a ball of fire on my head. It was definitely intense, and walking out of the room took an incredible amount of effort. After about an hour and a half we figured we had to meet up with the girls, so we left the bathing areas. And this is what we looked like afterwards:
Wow! Were we a good-looking bunch.
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