Wrapping up Istanbul- The Hammam experience

The previous post in this series is here..

We woke up on day 3 in Istanbul relaxed. Ate breakfast and the two of us left the kids in the hotel and ran to the grand bazaar in search of a fridge magnet that I wanted but did not buy on our first visit. Turns out I had imagined that magnet. No shop had one like that.. and this was a magnet for the Grand Bazaar. It is a missed marketing opportunity for those guys. Someone should make a magnet that says Grand Bazaar and sell it there!

Got to take more photos in Sultanahmet area in the morning

We literally watched it open. After a 15 minute search, gave up, came back to the hotel, picked up the kids and walked to the Victory hotel. It was a good 30 minute walk but we enjoyed it, did some shopping on the way and were ready for the Hammam experience here. We got to take turns sitting in the sauna as there were only two masseuses and four of us. Turns out the ladies doing the authentic Turkish Hammam experience are trained Nepalese. The massage was excellent. Then there was the soap foam bath. After the shower we all felt like there was relaxation but our energy was sapped. So we trudged off to find lunch.

Found a very nice busy place with some vegetarian options, ate fast and went back to the hotel to pack. There was the issue of wet clothes on our next flight but we could always deal with it at the next location..

Jr. and me ran off last minute for me to get some Turkish ice cream and we did find some good magnets for our collection.

A very short video..

Then we were off to the airport. We had an extra two hours before the flight and we walked up and down the shops at the airport and were finally off to Nevshehir for more magic!

Navarathri 2025

This year there was no celebration or festivities in our house for Navarathri as we don’t have any pooja in the house till my dads passing anniversary.

That does not stop us from attending other peoples Navarathri celebrations. We did get to go see a lot of Golus (Kolus), eat some good food (most of my friends had at least one non allergic item for me which was a big plus), sing songs (thanks to my guru who taught me a few songs just to sing for Navarathri in the last two months) and just see happy smiling faces all around.

The ladies were all beautiful as were the kids who dressed up. My friends definitely saw an improvement in my singing year over year. That is all thanks to my teacher. We did do a 15 minute class for Vijayadasami, with me singing in low volume from a hotel room right after I checked in. It was a long day but did not want to miss that class to get an auspicious start to this years learning.

Given the plans to blog a lot of trips, but being very busy at work, the blogs are getting condensed. So have added all the doll displays and unique dolls that caught my eye in just two galleries.. One in portrait format and one in landscape.

and one in landscape format..

As is now customary, did try to match San’s Sari’s with my shirts. She went out of her way to challenge me on some of the unique colors. My Ramarajan collection is diverse, but it has gaps. They will be addressed on the next India trip, whenever that may be!

Saraswati or sacchi paati, my grandmother who passed away two years ago has definitely blessed me this year with plenty of music. This year Jr. finally dusted off her alto saxophone and played a few songs at a friend’s place because he kept bugging her. That was heart warming to listen to.

There were not that many golus this year as a lot of my friends lost family and did not have a celebration to honor the departed. Still we all met each other in the same circles.

Next year hopefully brings us better circumstances and a celebration at home!

Charm of old town Zadar and the Sea Organ

The previous post in this series is here..

After a long day at Plitvice we were dropped off outside the old town gate. It was again a mile walk along the wall. This time we decide to walk on top of the wall and see the boats and other sites. 

Went quickly back to our hotel and changed to get rid of the smoke smell on our clothes. The plan was to get a bite to eat (we were jet lagged and it started hitting us) and then see the Sea Organ and go up the bell tower.

Found a nice Pizza place and had it inside. If you don't want smoke, don't make the mistake of eating in the open dining tables. Peopel sitting there smoke or the passersby blow smoke that you can visually see come and settle down on your Pizza!

After that weird meal at 5PM we walked to the Sea organ. It was as amazing as advertized. The sea comes and and pushes air through these channels that make music along a 500 foot? stretch. 

From there we walked through the ancient Roman ruins to the Bell Tower. We could not go to the Church as there was a service and the doors had already closed. 

Walking up this tower reminded us of the Pisa Tower. Same narrow staircase with a window to the town every now and then. We were early for the sunset but decided to stay there on top of the tower for an hour! Needless to say there were a few 100 sunset pics.

Given Squarespace is yet to fix my slideshow gallery display, just gonig to post the pictures here one after the other. For the first time in 12+ years, Squarespace has not followed up on my ticket! This prompts a post of its own on Legacy products.. 

got this pano shot.. and then two other familes joined us.. 

Took this shot and they all asked me to show it to them and they took the same shot and thanked me for the composing.. little moments like that always make my day!

The fencing does come in the way.. 

After the tower we walked back to the market and waterfront, did some shopping, had some ice cream, I managed to get separated from San in that market and we both started singing the family song to get reunited.. saw the usual Chennai beach scenes on the sands there.. with the exception of a lady dressed as a mermaid for photo ops with kids and Mickey mouse's Croatian cousin! 

The town was bustling with activity. We stayed up till 9 and decided to call it a night.

A video highlight...

We still had half a day to spend the following morning before flying out of Zadar..