Today, our last full day in Istanbul, is a relaxing, slow one. We decide to not do too much. After a very late breakfast, we leave the hotel just before noon and wander around the local part of town. There is a nifty little church that is under renovation - we can just peek in through the door and see some of the beautiful wall and ceiling paintings.
We have lunch at a local place - it is filled with local people having a quick bite of lunch before heading back to work. It is actually quite good and the atmosphere is fun. The waiters are running frantically from table to table plopping down food and taking orders. The turnover is very fast and as we sit there and take our time, we see many different people come and go.
After some more wandering around the streets and back alleys, we head back to the hotel to hang out and enjoy the health club facilities. They have a Turkish bath and we just hang out there for a few hours like fish on a frying pan. The huge plate in the center of the bath is heated to an outrageously hot temperature. It is too hot to just lay back on it - we have to throw cold water on it to just make it bearable. Then we just lay back and let the heat soak into our body. Every once in a while we get up and throw ice cold water over us and then it is back to the hot plate.
Two hours of this is all we can take and we head back to our room for a shower and a change before our evening's entertainment. The hotel has been kind enough to invite us to a management cocktail party. It turns out to be small and exclusive, taking place in the intimate cigar bar.
While we quickly get a drink, the food grabs our attention. They have a couple of small stations with a nice selection. The lamb is outstanding and gets Lars' attention while Jacqui hangs out at the bar where the caviar is being served. They have a huge bowl and the bartender is more than happy to just keep on serving it up. In the end, he pulls the huge can out from under the bar and refills the bowl. It is an excellent way to end our Central Asia trip.