first of all, of course, thank you for all the birthday wishes: emails, phone calls, sms, facebooks... this might have been the best birthday ever. (in 30 years at least... hee hee) i'm here in istanbul, as you know, with my friend nora. nora's probably the person that understands me the most. either that or i just interpret it that way and end up telling her everything.
so this morning, nora took herself and i to a turkish bath (aka: hamam) and it was the epitome of pampering. it started with some giggly manifestation of ignorance as to "do we keep our underwear? did we need a bathing suit for this?" but as it kept going, the more relaxed we got. we didn't necessarily get a clear answer but honestly? who cared at that point. it was, let me tell you, amazing. i definitely more than recommend it and i wish i knew about this when i lived in greece. i would've absolutely caught a flight just for a hamam every month or so. incredible.
it was hot water poured from metal basins, a scrubbing that got me wondering if my tattoos were gonna fade, a gigantic amount of foam on top of us making us feel like cupcakes and then, a great massage. best description i can give you? i felt like an invertebrate afterwards.
so then, we walked around and had a very tasty lunch and a latte (finally - coffee) at cool places. after that, we ended up in the istanbul modern art museum and i'll have to go back. (i didn't catch all the cindy shermans, jeff walls, ernesto netos, gilbert & georges...)
what a day! this was a great way to spend a birthday! simple but with emphasis on quality and freedom to go and do anything we want, even if that involved doing nothing.
i'm very happy and had a fantastic 1st day of being 30 years old. thank you!
