My Fabulous Life in Greece

The new chicken villa

2012-03-25T15:09:00.000+03:00

It´s been ages since I have updated the blog, but here are the biggest and latest news from Kairos garden: the new villa for the chickens!

Built in wood and with proper roof tiles, this is definitely an upgrade from the old chicken shed. The chickens also have got a huge yard, with two olive trees for shade - no wonder they are happy! Look at the rent we get:

Eventually, they will have to share their space with some ducks, but that also means the installation of a pool (= old bathtub), so I don´t think they will mind!
The villa even have a wall painting, a fresco with a scenery from a Greek island.

So nice, that Christos thinks of moving in here himself...:)

Listen to the Birds!

2012-01-12T07:54:00.000+02:00

One of our guests recorded this with her mobile phone, at the back balcony of Villa Kalypso.

Kairos Garden is a hot spot for bird watching - and listening. See the amazing list of birds one of our birding guests watched in only five days in early May here.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-08T08:10:00.000+02:00

A bit late, but never mind!
I have been busy updating our website, with new info and new pictures. The job is far from done yet, but make sure you enjoy the pictures from northern Greece, that you can see here and the update on our village.
You´ll also find loads of new photos from our local beaches here.
ENJOY!

CHRISTMAS and the Greek family...

2011-12-23T08:57:00.000+02:00

Ever since I moved to Greece almost 20 years ago we´ve celebrated Christmas here. When Christos was working he was never able to take days off for any major holidays, so we couldn´t go to Norway. By now, we´ve established a Norwegian-Greek Christmas tradition, so there would be tears in the Greek family should we decide to celebrate in Norway one year. Or so I´d like to think!
Like I have written in former posts - the Greeks are lost when it comes to Christmas. As it´s Christos´ name day on Christmas day - and name days are big in Greece - he believed Christmas was something one celebrated because of him. Actually, his inner child still believes that and can´t really understand why other people shall receive gifts, too.
(As for that guy Christ? Christ - Christos - what´s the difference?)
Further, he couldn´t get that I insisted on having everyone over for dinner on Christmas Eve, which is the Big Day in Norway.
The rest of the family didn´t get it, either. The first Christmas they politely showed up, two hours after they had been invited, wearing track suits and carrying their gifts in plastic bags.
Luckily I married into a family of foodies, so at least there were no complaints, only curiosity, about all that weird food they were served.
Actually, I think any Norwegian celebrating with us also would find the food, and especially the food combinations, pretty weird. One thing is that I can´t get hold of all the ingredients, so - like the creative woman I am - I have to improvise. Another thing is that the Greeks insist that we´d put some feta cheese, olives and salad, too on the table. Forget about delicious sauces or fancy dressings - they pour olive oil over everything!
They still show up a couple of hours after they are invited, but dressed up - and besides, now I am used to it. I am also used to never knowing how many people we´ll be at the table. It´s very Greek to just bring someone along - and not to tell about it. It´s also very Greek not to show up - and not tell about that - and it´s not even considered impolite in Greece!
So of course it´s impossible to have a north-European style dinner with starter, main course and dessert, all served with precise timing. We just put everything on the table (except the dessert): The gravlaks and mustard sauce, the pork roll, the tyttebærsyltetøy (a cranberrylike jam), the sursild (pickled herring), the pate, the boiled potatoes and Brussel sprouts, the pickled beetroot, the village sausages and the German smoked sausages, the Waldorf salad, the sauerkraut and the cabbage salad, the spinach pie from my sister in law, the feta cheese and the olives and the olive oil...And then everyone just come and dig in whatever the time is when they show up.
I am especially looking forward to one guest this year: Julenissen, Santa Claus, who´ll come all the way from the north pole bringing gifts...

Two years ago, at Christmas eve, our niece Eleni revealed that she was expecting a baby. Now Anastasia is one and a half years old - old enough to be introduced to Julenissen! He´ll come knocking on the door, carrying a huge sack filled with gifts that he´ll deliver before he leaves. (The sad thing is that I always use to miss this, as I am at the toilet when he arrives, but never mind..:))
I LOVE Christmas Eve!
A wonderful Christmas to you, too, whenever you celebrate it!
PS: And as I am writing this, the sun has come up and there´s SNOW on the mountains of Thassos!

When Life Throws You Mandarins...

2011-12-16T12:18:00.002+02:00

..what do you do?

We have two mandarin trees in the yard outside our kitchen, bursting with fruits. No matter how long I´ll live in Greece - I´ll always find this very exotic and special!
At Christmas, when I was a kid, my mum used to buy a case of mandarins, and we´d eat those sweet fruits until we felt like bursting. It was this once-a-year-thing, a part of the Christmas celebrations.
Now you can probably buy mandarins even in June in an average Norwegian supermarket. Artificially grown - as we to need to have everything available all the time.
What happened to seasonal?

Well, my trees grow 100 percent naturally, and bear fruits in December.
So even as a grown up, at Christmas time, I can eat as many mandarins as I want - and I even get to pick them myself!
Isn´t that truly amazing - or what??

My kids have to leave for the school bus at a quarter past seven in the morning, when it´s still dark. Some mornings I feel sorry for them, having to leave our warm nice home to go out in the cold and wait for the bus...(If we had lived in Norway I´d probably do home schooling in the winter!:) Other mornings I feel guilty for not being a better mum (don´t tell them!). And some mornings I am simply nice.
Then I go out in the dark, to the mandarin trees, and pick mandarins. The fruits glow in the dark. They´re small, so I need quite a few for the mandarin juice.

The juice is so sweet you believe sugar was added. You can´t possibly drink more than a glass. But you do manage to eat a few mandarins for dessert - that´s a whole different chapter.

And that´s what to do when life throws you mandarins.
Enjoy the fruits!

The New Parterre

2011-12-13T07:46:00.002+02:00

Like I told about in this post a few weeks ago, I have been pretty busy moving earth (and building muscles). The parterre behind Villa Lotus has now been filled both with soil and a row of lavender plants.

I love lavender. It´s not only the smell and the pretty flowers, but all the associations connected to this plant: The good life in a Mediterranean country, long lunches outdoors in the shade, stone walls and the smell of heat from the ground...

Yes, I know you can grow lavender in other countries, too, but that´s not the same.. . It won´t keep the same ideas of full, warm, dry summers, the intense song of the cicadas and long, lazy evenings under a velvet sky...

When the plants grow bigger an flower, this will be a cozy and private little yard for our guests staying at the blue studio. Cool and shady in the morning - a perfect place for your morning coffee. Actually, I think I´ll be visiting!
At the end of the row I have planted a cypress tree. Only this tall! But in a few years it will have reached the sky!:)

As I have mentioned before, many times when I work in our garden I find these shells. Especially along the old stone wall, that stretches all along our land and prevents our neighbour´s land, a terrace higher, to slide into our garden.

Now as I was cleaning out weeds and thorny wild raspberry bushes along the wall, I found these kind of shells again.
How did they get here?
I never find these kind of shells at the beaches.
I imagine that a woman like me, who once lived at this land, collected these and used them to decorate her home or garden. Just like I do.
But from where?
And when was this?
And who was she?

Saint Anna´s Feast

2011-12-09T13:04:00.000+02:00

Today the Greek orthodox church celebrates Saint Anna - and of course, that means nameday celebration for everyone called Anna.
Traditionally, Greeks celebrate their namedays, not the birthday.
Why?
Because, according to my mother in law: "We are Christians". She didn´t even know which day she was born - like most of her generation.
Most Greeks are named after a saint, as many priests, even today, will refuse to baptist a child another name. Except from ancient Greek names.
Though "our" priest was more liberate and said that any child can grow up to become a saint - the name doesn´t matter. I guess he´s right about that. It´s not like mother Teresa would not have become a saint if she was called Tove, or what?
Back to Anna. I am mainly writing this post as it´s an excuse to share one of my favourite Greek songs, Annoula tou xionia - Little Anna of the snow.

Here Comes the Sun

2011-12-07T10:05:00.000+02:00

My exams start in a few hours.
I should be making sure that I know the difference between incidence and prevalence.
Between angina pectoris and heart attack.

But the beautiful sunrise had me grab the camera instead and take some moments to watch this show from my terrace.
The sun rising above the island of Thassos.
Here it comes!

And then we need some music (here I almost wrote mucus - see where my mind is?) to accompany the view.
Nina Simone, of course.

Now, is osteoid osteom benign or malign?
If I don´t pass, my children threaten to kick me out from home.
No more sunrises from this terrace.
So I´d better open the books for one last check.
Wish me luck!

I LOVE the smell of concrete in the morning!

2011-12-03T09:55:00.000+02:00

To wake up to the piercing sound of the pressure drill.
To have the house shaking like it was an earthquake, to the rocking movements of the concrete mixer.

It means the workers are here!
Actually, they have been great, showing up every morning this week, and working hard and steadily for eight hours.
And only then ouzo.

Here´s Adonis plastering the staircase house. They will probably finish plastering in a few days. Then we´ll need the iron fence on the front side of the balcony, plus the pergola for shade.

So far everything is progressing the way it should.
Doksa theos, thanks to God, like a Greek would say...I thank him, too. AND the workers - they´re brilliant.

Book Sale!

2011-12-01T12:29:00.000+02:00

The perfect Xmas gifts for anyone who loves Greece or traveling or food or life!

My publisher has shut down and retired, and I have inherited the rest of Min Greske Taverna, My Greek Taverna, the book I wrote on our running-a-restaurant-adventure and Paradiso, the story of Greek village life seen through the eyes of a foreigner (me!):)

If you´re lucky enough to be able to read in Norwegian, you can now get Paradiso for the incredible price of only 179 kroner!

Here´s what Norwegian travel guru Jens A. Riisnæs said about the book:

"...a fun and well informing book about the exciting differences in Greek and Norwegian everyday culture..."

Order Paradiso here.

Min Greske Taverna contains stories about food and people, and plenty of recipes for Greek food. Get the book now for only 119 kroner! You can order it here.

Or send me a mail at tovececiliefastingATgmail.com.

A tiny bit homesick, maybe?

2011-11-30T09:35:00.001+02:00

It´s this time of the year.
Sun is shining from a crisp blue sky, the roses are blooming and the bees are busy drinking the nectar from the mauve rosemary flowers on the bushes in my garden.
The chrysanthemum flowers, too.
And tomorrow it´s December, damn it!
But when it gets dark, in my heart, I am another place...where there´s snow and the days are short and a proper pre-Christmas feeling can exist...

(Photo:http://allthingseurope.tumblr.com)

In my mind the cathedral entrance looks like this:

And you can hardly see Munkholmen - the tiny island, in the middle of the fiord, with the ancient monastery, because of the cloud of frost.

(Photo: Adressa)

Of course, when the snow is pouring down like this, snowing almost horizontally...

(Photo: Adressa)

... I wouldn´t need to go out. To work or run errands or pay bills.
I wouldn´t go out unless I really, really felt like doing it.
I wouldn´t have to clear the entrance to my house for snow before I could open the door. Or sand the icy pavement in front of my home so I wouldn´t be responsible if someone slipped and got killed.
I wouldn´t worry about slipping and get killed myself, either.
My clothes and shoes wouldn´t get wet.
I would sit inside in my warm house with a lit fireplace (of course, I didn´t have to walk out in the cold to chop and carry wood).
I´d drink gløgg, gluewein, or hot chocolate with cream (which in my imagination wouldn´t be fattening), read a good book and listen to this:

And my home?
Here´s were it used to be - the yellow storehouse, second from right.

Now my sister lives there and my dad still has his office there.
OK, they can be in my pre-Christmas daydream, too! I´d invite them for a coffee here, at Dromedar:

(Photo: tidslinjen.com)

Though we´d sit inside, as it would be too cold to be out - that´s only for smokers!
Or maybe we´d go downtown together, for some Xmas gift shopping...:)

(Photo: favim.com)

It´s a wonderful, wonderful world - non?

Shala-la-la-la!

2011-11-28T21:17:00.000+02:00

Finally!
The truck arrived with bricks and mortar.

I have many good things to say about Christos, but speed is not a word that characterizes him. This autumn he has been busy worrying about the Greek crisis, instead of getting the works organized so that we´ll avoid a personal crisis.
"We have plenty of time," is one of his favorite expressions.

While I am more: "Let´s get it done with. Now!"
Anyway, workers have been here all day.
Truck arrived and loaded bricks and mortar on the roof.
That´s a start!

The workers also promised they´d be back tomorrow.
Question is:
Will they work?
Will they start building the wall around the roof, so that we eventually can have the world´s finest yoga shala (or one of the best!) up here?
Or will they think about it?
And then go out for an ouzo?

Who knows.
This is Greece.
Watch this space.

Oh, those Greeks when it comes to Xmas...!

2011-11-27T12:37:00.001+02:00

Greeks don´t know how to do Christmas. They´re horrible at it. Or should I say lost.
They don´t know how to build up all that painful agony and excitement that is released the moment Santa comes.
They don´t even have a proper Santa, who knocks the door and enters with a heavy sack on his back, filled with gifts. Or who manages to sneak in and put the gifts under the Christmas tree, just as you were taking a nap or had been sent to the shop to buy milk.

They have a Saint Vassilis, who is celebrated on New Year.
They give each other gifts any time before and after Xmas - handed over in a plastic bag. Or, if it´s something fancy, in a designer paper bag.
They don´t realize that proper wrapping forces you to spend hours speculating and twisting your mind trying to guess what could be inside.
If only you were allowed to touch!
But you´re not.
Because your mother is a sadistic bitch who loves to watch you suffer.

Of course they don´t have advent calendars.
They might have seen them at Lidl (our German super market chain), and even bought one for their children, but they do not realize that you´re only allowed to open one window/chocolate/gift every day and when you come to the last it´s Xmas and Santa will come, but only if you manage to stay alive until it´s dark, as the wait is simply killing you.
We have got a new baby in my Greek family, and I made her this Christmas tree advent calendar. Ideally, I should move in with her and make sure her mum doesn´t allow her eat all the chocolate at once.
But I have my own bambinos to torture.

Watching me making this, they both asked if there were any spare chocolate.
"No, there´s only 24 pieces!"
(A lie, of course - the rest - for their advent calendar - is hidden in a secret place!)
"Oh, mama, you´re SO mean!"
Yes I am.
Hehehe.
Maybe Greek mothers are simply too kind for the advent time?

Turkish Flavours

2011-11-24T16:23:00.001+02:00

Dreaming myself a month back, to Istanbul...
One of the great things we did and that I am so glad we signed up for, was a cooking class with Selin from Turkish Flavours.

Since I constantly cook for other people, I need to get some new inputs and ideas from time to time. And it´s also an inspiration to see how other people in the tourism business work.

Selin´s class turned out to be just perfect. She runs the cooking class from her authentic and stylish 1940´s home in the classy neighborhood of Nisantasi. It feels like a privilege simply to be able to visit her home - and she even gave us a tour of it.
Actually, from the first minute it felt more like cooking with a good friend, in good and fun company, rather than a formal class.

Selin has turned the dining room of her childhood home into a perfect kitchen/working space for her cooking classes. The first thing that made an impression on me was how well organized everything was - from the ready grated carrots and finely chopped onions (who needs to learn to do that) to the fact that each and one of us had our own chopping board and set of knives, a apron and even a small book with all the recipes.

And soon the wine bottles were opened!
Any foodies idea of Paradise is to cook while sipping an excellent wine - and here we had it. Selin had thought of everything!
On the menu was dolmades - swiss chard stuffed with minced meat (in Greece we normally stuff wine leaves), beans cooked with tomato and olive oil, spicy bulgur rice, carrot salad with yogurt, Turkish pies and apricots cooked in wine, filled with a creamy cheese and dipped in pistachio nuts...

A smart weight for the dolmades so they won´t open up while cooking.
I use a plate with some rocks on the top. Not quite that smart looking.

And then there was the beautifully set dining table...

The food tasted amazing, of course - so either Selin is a fantastic teacher or we were really good students. Or both!

There´s one word that summons it all up:
Heaven!

Moving Earth

2011-11-23T08:33:00.000+02:00

A truck full of soil came the other day, and dumped its load on two places in the garden. Straight into the new beds would have been better, but unfortunately not possible.
So here I am, moving earth.

Behind Villa Lotus there is a low wall, that we initially put up to prevent rocks and mud sliding out from the old stone wall and the terraced land above. All the time it´s been my intention to fill up with soil and put some nice plants down, turning this shady yard into a cool and pretty breakfast place for guests staying in the blue studio.
Last year I got as far as planting succulents on the top of the wall.

This is a job that feels like it will never end.

One bucket hardly shows. I don´t know how many buckets I have carried the past few days, but the only result is that my body is aching all over.

If I do 20 buckets a day, there´s hope that by spring and planting time the bed will be ready.

And I´ll have some arm muscles to show off.

Autumn Gardening

2011-11-20T07:28:00.001+02:00

Another good reason to live in Greece is to be able to work in the garden all year round.
I love gardening, and I always say I´ll put it higher on my priority list, but it has had a tendency to be pushed aside for other jobs.

I know only I can change that, so I made a decision to put on my working clothes and boots, and get out in the garden at eight in the morning the latest. The days now are so beautiful, but also so short - it gets dark before six.
Christos has strict orders to command me out, and if he should forget, I can always count on this severe fellow:

These days, we´ve been cutting back the vines, trees and bushes - collecting a mountain of branches and leaves in the most beautiful autumn colors.

When we moved in, the garden was a flat field. The former owner had ploughed the ruins of the old stone houses the were here into the ground. As a result, many places the trees we planted didn´t grow as there were no way the roots could penetrate deep into the ground. But there was still enough soil for them to survive, like bonsai trees.

Like most gardeners starting from scratch, I made the mistake of putting the plants too close to each other, not being able to imagine how big they would grow. This week I have also been moving trees and bushes, and I am curious to see what will survive and grow in their new ground.

I have this dream of a wild, lush garden, with many secret rooms and places...
One day, hopefully.
I am working on it...:)

One GOOD resaon to live in Greece

2011-11-16T17:33:00.000+02:00

...Being able to pick roses from the garden in late November...

Autumn in Eleftheres

2011-11-14T18:52:00.002+02:00

My mum always says how much she loves the change of seasons in Norway, implementing that the seasons do not change here. So here´s to mamma and everyone else who doesn´t believe that we have autumn in Greece.:)

Autumn in my garden means flowering rosemary and chrysanthemum, against the rusty colors of the wine.

The green wall around our yard turns into a mosaic of reds and orange, spotted with the blue berries. Our roses blooms again - they just needed a cold stroke to wake up after the heat of the late summer. And bushes with red berries remind us that Christmas is coming.

The village has been encircled in orange.

The yellow leaves of the vineyards add color to the fields outside the village. The last grapes are being picked these days.

I love this time of the year! And the lovely thing about autumn in Greece is that you can truly enjoy the beauty of the autumn colors, as the days are mainly sunny and invite you to spend lots of time outside.

After the long, hot summer cold is always a welcome change. Just being able to wear trousers and boots.!

And to cuddle up on the sofa in the evenings, with a cozy blanket, books and tea, and wood burning on the stove...

Autumn bliss!

Olives

2011-11-13T15:06:00.000+02:00

We´re really not having anything called a harvest this year. Most of the trees have nothing! Then there was this one tiny tree that was full of olives, enough to fill as small plastic box...

I don´t know were we went wrong!?
Maybe the trees were not cut back enough?
Or maybe we cut them back too much?
Or maybe, because most of our trees still are babies this is normal?

Well, at least I can enjoy the colors. From a distance the olives look black, but when you looke closer you find all shades of rick bordeaux and mauve.

So pretty towards the silver greyish leaves of the trees that a few deserve to hang there forever...

Not enough for any oil this year, anyway.
Not even enough to bother to preserve. Or maybe I´ll do it the easy way and fill a plastic bag with salt and olives, and leave for a few months.
And hope for a better harvest next year.

Market Day in Eleftheroupolis

2011-11-05T09:34:00.001+02:00

One thing that always cheers me up is going to the Friday market in Eleftheroupolis. Especially these days. Christos is sitting clued to the TV news. Listening to all the crap coming from the mouth of the politicians simply make you angry and depressed.
Though some places in Greece life goes on as normal - and Eleftheroupolis on Fridays is one of those places.
"Write that we´re not starving!" one fruit seller told me.
No, in Eleftheroupolis people do not starve, but for many families in Athens food is scarce.

We live in a farming region and as long as you have a field you won´t starve.
Twelve years ago, when we bought our land, the owner - who also owns several pieces of land around ours - told me he didn´t want to sell the other plots in case there´d be a war and lack of food.
I was laughing.
And guess who´s laughing now?
Sadly, lack of money to buy food, to pay rent and heat is experienced by many Greeks. In many families both parents have lost their jobs or don´t receive salary.

Look at all this! You can grow everything in Greece.

Greece is one of the few countries in the world that is actually self sufficient with food.

You can even grow rice and cotton.The cotton industry once was big in Greece. Now, like any other industry, it´s all gone.

The olives and olive oil is world famous.

I use to say that the politicians only could have got away with their theft and cheating in a country like Greece, which is so plentiful.
Very many people are forced to live from hand to mouth - and in a country as rich in natural resources as Greece it´s possible.
It says a lot about the skills and talents of the politicians that they have managed to drive such a naturally abundant country off the cliff.
Not only can you grow anything.
There´s the sea, the waves, the wind and the sun - which could provide enough energy for at least all of Greece and create jobs to the people.
Do you see any windmills expect those built several hundred years ago?
Any power plants based on solar energy?
Now you don´t. because the money that could have been used to finance these plants are safely deposed in Cayman island or Switzerland.

I wasn´going to write about the Greek crisis.
But I did.

Have a beautiful Saturday!

Money from the Dead

2011-11-02T07:34:00.002+02:00

While many countries are celebrating the dead on November 1 and 2nd, Greeks have had their own way of commemorating their dead family members, all year round:
By keep cashing in their pension.

(Photo: Aftenposten)
IKA, which is only one of the Greek pension funds, estimates they have paid out at least 8 billion euros in pensions to dead people the last ten years.
I remember hearing about this "custom" way back in 1984, when I came to Greece for the first time. It was not a state secret revealed to a foreigner - it was common knowledge. Everyone knew, laughed about it and joked about it. Not everyone did keep on cashing in the pension when their old mother or father or spouse died, of course - but very many people did.
So if I knew about it and all Greeks knew about it - how come the politicians and the leading bureaucrats didn´t do anything long ago to stop this drain of public funds?
Because, they were more concerned about staying in power than taking unpopular decisions where they´d risk their position.
That would also mean the chance to fill up their Swiss bank accounts with money stolen from the people would be gone.
The weird thing is, I and most foreigners visiting Greece find the Greeks so honest. And they are. They won´t steal from you personally.
Grabbing whatever you can get from public funds is another question.
Now see what happens when everyone stole what there was to steal.

Summer at Kairos Garden

2011-10-25T21:10:00.001+03:00

Did we have a good time or did we have a GREAT time?!

Thanks to everyone who visited us and made his summer so special and wonderful!

The Greek Turkish Bonds

2011-10-22T10:08:00.001+03:00

Sadly, Greeks and Turks grew up learning to look down upon, and even hate each other. Among Greek my age the perception of Turks as someone you can´t trust, that are dirty and primitive is still rather common. Turkey is not a place you´d consider going on holidays, for instance - except to Constantinoupolis, to see all the "Greek" sights. (The city is still the seat of the patriarch of the Greek orthodox church.)
For me, as a Norwegian, I find it funny - as from my point of view Greeks and Turks have so much in common. More than for instance the Bulgarians and the Greeks. The food, the culture and the music - all the good things in life! Even words...
Luckily, artists work together across the borders, contributing to healing old wounds.
Here´s a joyful example - the famous Greek artist Glykeria with the Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek.
The song is called Syko Xorepse - Get up and Dance!
Have a beautiful and happy Saturday - with lots of dancing!

The ONE advantage to being Greek..

2011-10-20T08:34:00.002+03:00

... and about our visit to a Turkish bath:
There´s not many advantages to a Greek citizenship these days.
You can only vote for incapable, greedy and corrupt politicians. There are no jobs. The education system sucks.
But at least you get a 10 lira discount at the Cemberlitas Hamami in Istanbul!

(Sorry, the pretty young girls don´t come with the discount - the photo is from the Cemberlitas hamami website).

I don´t have a Greek citizenship, but I do have a residence permit and I promptly landed that on the counter, pointed at the price list at the entrance, and said firmly to the woman selling tickets: ekptosi yia ellines!
My Greek probably sounds fluent and accent free to someone who - like the ticket seller - doesn´t really understand Greek.
But I am six feet tall with blue eyes and blond hair and not exactly the epitome of a Greek woman.
However my friend is petite, and can trace her brown eyes and dark hair back to a Spanish sailor who stranded on the coast of Norway a couple of hundred years ago.
Spanish, Norwegian, Greek - who can tell the difference as long as you don´t open your mouth?
My friend didn´t and we got our entrance tickets, paying only 107 liras.
(Isn´t it incredible what two grown up women are willing to do, just to save a few pennies?!)

The Cemberlitas hamami was built in 1584. With its marble floors and baths, the decorated columns and the dome with its small round windows letting the day light in, this is a very beautiful Turkish bath. The modern and recently added reception and changing area integrates well with the old building. It is tastefully and pretty done.
I am used to everything in Greece being so sloppy made, so quality really impresses me. (I probably wouldn´t have made this admission if I really was Greek). And again, like I wrote in my former post, this is another example of value - and more so - for your money.

My friend and I choose a packet with scrub and oil massage. Included in the price was a new scrub and a pair of underpants (also new and yours to keep). The changing area - like all of the hamam - was very clean. We got lockers for our stuff (with locks that work!) and nice cotton towels to use in the bath.

In the hamam itself we lied down on the warm marble. It was a rainy and a bit cold day outside, which you completly forgot as you felt the heat from the marble penetrating your pores.
Then came this big, strong Turkish woman, nude - except for her nickers, who poured soap water over me and started to scrub every inch of my body.
It was very embarrassing!
Not because she was nude and I was nude.
Or because I was washed by a stranger.
But because I was so dirty!
I do shower every day (I swear!), but she still managed to scrub off layers of dirt from my skin.
She was brutal - and oh, did it feel good!
I do understand why hamams, saunas and hot public baths are so popular in many cultures - you feel like you´ve never have been clean before.

The woman finished off by washing my hair (and giving me a head massage) (just like you see in the picture, except that we both still were nude. And older. And not quite as good looking as these models).
After all the soap was rinsed off, I soaked my clean body in the small, very warm pool.

Situated in a small room just off the hamam, this dark and quiet room is the perfect for total relaxation. I imagine it must have been like this to be in the womb of my mother - safe and dark and in warm soothing water.
And now came the final - and best - part of the whole experience: The oil massage. Lying down on a massage bed in a room outside the hamam, hard muscles and painful knots were kneaded and softened up. It was a full body massage - from toes to head and face, and the woman was very skilled and professional.
Needless to say - I felt great afterwards.
Also needless to say: I didn´t feel much like going out in the rainy streets afterwards.

The Cemberlitas Hamami is situated in the old town of Istanbul, next to the tram stop with the same name. Like in all hamams, there are strictly separated areas for men and women. All staff at the women´s side are female and vice versa.
Entrance and self service costs 19 euros. Entrance and scrub costs 29 euros. Entrance, scrub and oil massage costs 49 euros.

Read about how to get from Greece to Istanbul and back here.

Istanbul 25 years later...

2011-10-17T12:11:00.001+03:00

There´s no doubt that Istanbul, Constantinoupolis, still is one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

My memories of last visit consist of dark alleys and streets, with scary Turks following us and very few tourists.
We had the Topkapi palace more or less to ourselves, with a fantastic guide - this time we had to queue up together with thousands of others visitors.
The historical hamam Cagaloglu, where the Turkish woman who brutally scrubbed me clean wanted to marry me to her son, has now become a huge luxury business for the rich and famous.

Having said that, I do prefer the Istanbul of today!
Beautiful buildings have been carefully restored. The filthy and falling apart Ipek Palace hotel, where we stayed in 1986, now looks marvelous.
The streets are clean, there are even ashtrays at the pavements. Not that many people smoke - all cafes and restaurants where for non smokers (unlike Greece, where any law is made to be broken).
Most people we met were incredibly friendly and helpful. It felt very safe.

Being in the tourist business myself, I was really impressed with Istanbul and how the city receive and provide for tourists. Everywhere, in everything we did, I felt there was quality and a good balance between what you pay for and what you receive. It´s not like some places you go, where you feel that you´re simply exploited as a tourist.

Of course, there are always people who go for the short time profit instead of the long term win. Like the taxi driver who cheated us for 125 lira. I had read that one should avoid taxis in Istanbul for that reason, unless you had the staff in your hotel call for one. We did - but misunderstood and thought the taxi pulling up in front of us was the safe - it was not.
"First time in Istanbul?"
"I was here many, many years ago, and my friend is here for the first time."
Typical stupid tourist.
So easy to fool with a "have to take this road because of traffic cork" and "this 20 lira is torn off in one corner, please give me another note."
And before I knew it I had paid, was on the street, the taxi gone - and so was the 100 lira note I had had in my purse...
But next time - because there WILL be a next time in Istanbul - the answer to that question will be:
"First time? No, I have been here maaaany times!"
So don´t try and fool me.
Read how to get to Istanbul from Greece here.