Beaches and Bayous

 July 30

We arrived at my house at 2 am this morning and managed to get a few hours of sleep before we re-packed our suitcases and headed out on a road trip for continent #4 of summer vacation. A four drive got us to Gulfport, Mississippi. Charisse wanted to spend a little time at the casino, so we went to the Beau Rivage, but my exhaustion wouldn't let me enjoy myself. I found a quiet spot and just sat down until it was time to go. The next day we went to the beach and finally relaxed for a few hours - until thunder ran us off the beach. We left Gulfport and headed to NOLA for two days. We stayed at a very interesting little Airbnb on Saint Claude Avenue. After a quick trip to Walmart for groceries and a stop by an Italian restaurant for take- out for dinner, Charisse and I attempted to enjoy the hot tub at the Airbnb, but the mosquitoes wouldn't allow it.  The next day we took the bus down to the French Quarter and walked around a bit before getting on a streetcar that dropped us off at Caesar's Palace. Charisse went inside the casino, while Ross and I decided to walk back to Bourbon Street.

 

We wandered in and out of various shops, purchasing a few souvenirs, and a store where I bought a book entitled Spirits of New Orleans. Then we went to Pier 424 Seafood Market, a restaurant where Ross ordered a dish called the taste of New Orleans. It had individual dishes of crawfish etouffee, jambalaya, and gumbo. The crawfish etouffee was his favorite. We then walked on to Tropical Isle, where I got a very large drink called a hand grenade. You can't do NOLA without beignets, so I made sure to stop in at Cafe Beignet for some tasty fried dough. 

                                               

   Later that afternoon the three of us linked back up for a haunted history tour that we had booked. This was a really interesting walking tour that took us around various sites in the French Quarter, including the most haunted building in New Orleans, the LaLaurie house, which was the scene of mass tortures and murders.

There and Back Again

 July 28

Today was our day to travel to the Asian side of Istanbul. Getting there was an ordeal. Every time we asked for directions they were so non-specific that we ended up going about 30 minutes out of our way before finding a tram that would take us to Sirkeci station. Using the Istanbul cart ticketing system was another challenge.  We had Turkish breakfast at Paci Lounge. Turkish breakfast is substantial. The three of us could not finish it all. 

 

After breakfast we took the ferry to Galataport. We had tickets to tour Galata Tower, but Charisse decided to forgo that activity due to the uphill hike required to get to the landmark.  Galata Tower was built by the Byzantine emperor Anastasius as a lighthouse tower in the 6th century and is one of the oldest towers in the world. 

Navigating the tram back to the European side was a lot easier. That evening we had a sunset cruise on a yacht on the Bosphorus River. We saw many of the same landmarks we saw previously, but this time from the water. We also saw the other tower for which Istanbul is famous- the Maiden's Tower.  There is some interesting lore regarding the Maiden's Tower. One story goes that the tower was built by a sultan after a fortune teller predicted his daughter would die from a snake bite. He secluded the girl and her attendants on the island, with their only connection to the outside world being food deliveries. Unfortunately, a snake crawled out of a basket of fruit that was delivered, bit her, and died. The other story goes that the tower was built by the sultan and the girl was exiled to the island in order to keep her away from her many boyfriends. Regardless of the story, Istanbul by sunset is a great way to end the overseas portion of our vacation. 

                                                     

Istanbul City Tour part 2

 July 27

We had the option to split our city tour into two days, so we completed the tour today by going to the Basilica Cistern. Originally intended as a palace, construction was completed around AD 541. The cistern was used as a method of storing water for the people of the city. It was joined to other cisterns throughout the city by aqueducts. It is a rectangular structure containing 336 columns, each eight meters tall, and set four meters apart. In 1962 the cistern was featured in the James Bon movie "From Russia With Love". In the middle of the cistern is one rather unique column, called the "crying column". While the design looks like the evil eye, it actually represents the club carried by Hercules in Greek mythology. In the back corner of the cistern is a small statue of Medusa that casts a rather large shadow when the lights hit just right. 

 

After the Basilica Cistern, we walked to the famous Grand Bazaar. I was unimpressed. In my opinion, the spice bazaar was a lot more interesting.  

                        


Late afternoon, we were scheduled for a Turkish bath at a traditional hamam. There are hamams all over Istanbul- even our hotel offered this service. I chose Cagaloglu Hamam for this activity because it was located in an old Ottoman building and I love the history associated with that. Prepare to be scrubbed thoroughly if you decide to do a Turkish bath. There is a men's side, and a women's side. We started the experience in a sauna, then we were taken to a large room where we were doused in water from head to toe. Ross called it a voluntary waterboarding. Charisse said they were trying to drown her standing up. Then we laid down on a stone slab where we were scrubbed and massaged from head to toe. Then they rinse you before laying you back down for the washing portion. This involved tons of bubbles. One final waterboarding and we were done. Charisse and Ross both got a full body clay mask treatment, which actually came before the scrubbing. I decided to add on a hands, feet, face moisturizing treatment, which actually came after the bath. We all finished at about the same time though. 

                      

Travel tip: Bring water. Lots of water.