happy birthday !

Happy birthday to me! Well what a day to remember. Mark organised a bottle of the local wine and a platter of food which we had this the night before leaving Istanbul. (Mark had kindly organised for us to do a 13 hour overnight bus trip from Istanbul to Cappadocia on the night of my birthday- lovely man that he is...was...) . On the morning before we left he made breakfast( eggs on toast- such a treat here, juice and an apple cinnamon pastry , surrounded by strawberries and a tall candle-delivered in true Mark style that only a wife –me- would have the pleasure of viewing . We then left the apartment with back packs (18kgs and small packs) to catch a tram to the train station where we were to leave our luggage for the day as the overnight bus didn’t leave until 7.00pm that night. Well we got off the tram one stop short of the train station and had to walk in the searing sun –birthday specialness wearing off by now, sweat dripping off and thinking wow this is a fun way to spend your birthday....NOT. All good though as we had a Turkish bath mid afternoon. Great experience! Exfoliated all over, soap bubbles laid over the length of your body whilst you lie on a large warm marble platform, massaged front and back, hair washed and finally washed/ splashed all over with tepid water . (I had the pleasure of the woman singing to me in Turkish, what I thought was singing- goodness knows what she was saying in reality) Directed to enjoy a dip in the pool and then lie on the warm marble in the steam room. I was feeling very comfortable and relaxed until 15 young German girls came in- cellulite free, pert breasts and firm bodies! No seriously it was relaxing and I felt cleaner than my mother ever cleaned me when I was a child!