Hammam? Tamam!

GalataSaray Hamami is at the end of the
street across from the Greek Council
on Pera street

 Istanbul or “Poli” as we call it in Greece, is eternally connected with hammams, kebabs and a visit to Aghia Sofia and so after my first exhausting day in the city, Sunday morning I woke-up with my body craving for some tender loving care and I rushed out of the hotel like a woman possessed to find the closest hammam on tow. Ten minutes down the road and here it is: Galata Seray Hammam. A man by the door is giving me the brochure and asking: What service do I want? Steam room only or full service? I opt for the full service as it sounded exactly what my body needed. Another door to enter the ladies sanctuary and four hammam mamas greet me with golden teeth half smiles for interrupting their breakfast of tomatoes, boiled eggs and olives but I couldn’t wait, I needed the full service and I needed it now!

After I was given the traditional tea and had a cigarette with them while they were trying to make polite conversation in Turkish (dunno about the polite, I’m guessing) and lots of sign language, I was led to the changing rooms and offered a pestamal, a chequered special cloth like a pareo to cover the body and nalin, the wooden flip flops, I entered the steam room. Parenthesis here: The architecture of the hammam is a real treat for the senses too. For centuries, architects have tried to perfect the intricate geometry of the hararet or the steam room. The steam room is usually a high domed, octagonal (or square) room, revetted in marble, often with marvelous oculi to provide entry for sunlight that gives one the impression of staring into a starry night. The room itself is interspersed with intricate basins at various intervals and a heated marble platform, known as the naval stone or göbektasi, in the centre. End of parenthesis.
Since it was still early, I had the exclusivity of the room and as I laid on the naval stone couldn’t help but thinking how social hammams used to be in 18th century Turkey where men gathered to talk about politics and sports, while women kept their eyes peeled for suitable wives for their sons! 

Is this timeless quality that my battered soul was looking for though and within my first five ‘timeless minutes’ I was relaxed and sweating and ready for the next stage of the hammam ritual.  I had a choice of either lie on the marble surface and wait for the Turkish mama or in other hammams I've been to, I was given the 'kese' (an abrasive mit) where I scrub and rinse myself. Lazy me opted for the mama, and besides, the sound of the water trickling down combined with the steam, the tranquility of the place and the light from the ceiling, was all too meditative to break with movement.  

Once I’ve spent around ten minutes of steaming, and I was relaxed, sweaty and sleepy ‘Hammam mama ‘ enters the stage, with just her panties on, to give me the ‘full service’ treatment that  includes scrubbing with the ‘kese’ and rinsing and then comes the soaping which I always think is great fun, me covered  in a huge soap bubble while mama’s hands work tirelessly on my back and neck and I make little sounds of pain and pleasure alternatively.  

Last comes the shampooing and after that I was left on the marble surface to relax, feeling light with skin velvety smooth, cheeks glowing, pores breathing.
I couldn’t stay long to enjoy the ‘after’ experience but once more the experience was so rejuvenating.  I emerged  so squeaky clean that anything else I had labeled as a bath until that point, seemed like a splash in a stagnant puddle. 

It's been established again, that hammams are an eternal value - I don't mean the opulent spa type, but the traditional, authentic and unpretentious, Turkish hammams. 
Totally and highly recommended, always! 

Con mucho amor,

Tabitha

P.S. Tamam in Turkish means ok