The Days of Wine and Roses and Tulips: Wine Tasting at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet

 It's Tulip Time in Istanbul.

 The whole city is bursting with tulips - 4,000,000 of them.

These are in the courtyard of the Four Seasons Hotel Sultanahmet.

 My friend, Yasemin, had gathered a group for

wine tasting and divine cheeses -

a regular Friday night event

at the Four Seasons.

 Quince marmalade, olives, and fresh melon

with assorted breads and cheeses

displayed and assembled

to create our light repasts.

It was a treat to see friends -

in a momentary break from

weeks of intensive Turkish lessons.

Last night's tasting featured Italian wines:

 

Pinot Grigio Venezie IGT Blush, Ardesia 2011

Nero D'Avola IGT Sicily, Cataldo 2011

Cavalcante Sangiovese Di Toscana IGT, Baroncini 2011

Chianti "Messere" D.O.C.G. Baroncini 2011

 

I enjoyed the full-bodied Sangiovese and Chianti best. 

 

Danish blue and a smoky

Cergiz cheese were the most fabulous -

because they were the boldest.

Afterwards, we went to the roof

to enjoy the view of the Hagia Sophia on one side.

And the view of the Bosphorus

and the Four Seasons courtyard

on the other.

 

This Four Seasons Hotel used to be a coed prison.

It housed political prisoners

who were imprisoned after

the military coups in the 1980s.

 It is better to be in Istanbul

now, not then,

during these days of tulips and wine and roses.

 

 

Photos courtesy of Yasemin Erdem and Ibrahim Turco.

Turks and their Hammams - a couple stories of how they use them

Recently, I enjoyed my first Istanbul hammam at Çirağan Palace Kempinski, the famous Ottoman Imperial Palace hotel on the Bosphorus, which I described in the following two blog posts: part one and part two.

The aesthetic beauty of a hammam space

 is part of the attraction.

Zeynep, the Sanitas spa manager at Çirağan Palace Kempinski, credited the Romans with the development of public baths; she said the Ottomans simply absorbed and carried on this tradition. If so, the Ottomans perfected it, because the experience is worthy of becoming globally famous. Since the advent of water in every home though, hammam culture is threatened as Turks no longer need to use it as their bath. Instead, they treat it as a quarterly or semi-annual treat.

It's interesting to me how differently some Westerners view a hammam than most native Turks. A Westerner tends to appreciate the skin exfoliation AND the extended massage that happens afterwards. The last thing I want to do in a hammam is talk to anybody. To me the whole point is to zone out in solitary bliss.

Tools of the hammam: soap, peştamal,

kese (the scrubbing mitt),
and a  tas (water basin for rinsing).

According to Zeynep, local customers don't see it that way though. Turkish customers view the skin scrubbing as the point of the hammam and all of the extra massage features as superfluous. Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel's spa offers a 40 minute skin scrubbing as an entry service, because for many Turks maintaining healthy, glowing skin is what they want and expect from their hammam. It is the tourists who sign up for the 55 minute and 80 minute experiences that include massage.

The Turkish bathing tradition includes running water,

not the Western tradition of sitting in still water
contained in a bathtub.

In Ottoman times, women would gather in the hammam as one of the few places out of the home where they could spend time together. They could be there all day, eating, enjoying their friends, socializing and gossiping. Mothers of sons, would often suggest a potential bride for their sons based on their observations in the hammam. That sounds a bit creepy, but mostly these mothers were checking to make sure a potential bride was a healthy woman.

A traditional hammam bowl

for pouring water over a bather

Zeynep remembered going to the hammam with her grandmother and socializing with family and friends. They would bring in food and enjoy an extended period of relaxing after the heat and water and conversation. She also described a wonderful tradition where the bride is taken to the hammam with her female family and friends to prepare for her wedding. Her hammam is completed with a henna party where beautiful designs are drawn on her hand in henna ink for her wedding day.

One of my teenage Turkish friends described the perfection of his weeklong hammam experience with friends at basketball camp. He said "everyday at basketball camp we would play two basketball games. At night our team would go to the hammam and relax. One friend brought his guitar and he would play it as we all sat around, and relaxed and discussed how we did that day in the games. We'd bring in food and eat there. Imagine one whole week of getting to do what you love all day [play basketball], going to the hammam at night to hang out with your friends, and no parents to ask you to do this or do that. It was very, very nice."

Listening to him, I really appreciated the wholesomeness of the hammam experience. His North American teenage counterpart might be likely to go drinking at basketball camp once evening came. While I'll stick to hammam service my way, zoning out in solitary joy, I admired the wholesome way Turks used hammams to make the most of the moment, enjoy each other's company, using time together to do something physically healthy.

The heated marble slab in the center

is where a hammam visitor

is scrubbed and washed

It will take both the Turk and the Westerner to preserve hammam culture.  If you come to Turkey, and choose to experience a hammam yourself, you are truly giving back to your hosts by helping them preserve a beautiful intangible cultural heritage.

In case you missed them:

My first Hammam in Istanbul at the Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Part One

Part Two of My First Istanbul Hammam Adventure at Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel

Photos courtesy of Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel and Sanitas Spa

My first Hammam in Istanbul at the Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Part One

Çirağan Palace Kempinski

in the snow

In my new Beşiktaş neighborhood in Istanbul, not five minutes from my house, is the only Ottoman Imperial Palace Hotel in Turkey. It sits right on the Bosphorus shoreline. In Turkish, it is called Çirağan Sarayı Kempinski. In English: Çirağan Palace Kempinski. It boasts exquisite views once reserved exclusively for the Sultans.

The original Imperial Ottoman Palace

as seen from the Bosphorus.

The Grand Ballroom,

 frequently the site for weddings,

is on the top right

enabling guests to get a magical view of the grounds

and the Bosphorus Bridge

while dancing the night away.

This very special palace

also holds eleven magical suites.

I am crazy for historic luxury hotels and love to hear the stories of a property well run, especially those properties beloved by guests, community, and staff alike. Properties like this are larger than their mission - indeed, I would go so far to say these places are as close as businesses can come to having a soul.

I've visited many iconic hotels like this in my travels. To name a few favorites: the Banff Springs Hotel, Chateau Lake Louise, and Empress Hotel in Western Canada, the Homestead and Greenbriar, in Virgina, the Pink Hawaiian, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, and the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

You can really tell if someone knows Istanbul, by whether or not they know this hotel. Only the most erudite Americans do, as Kempinski, the hotel operating company that runs it, runs hotels in locations exotic to the American traveler.

Indeed, this was my first introduction to Kempinski. I knew for them to be trusted with the operating the premier hotel property in Istanbul, a city Napoléon deemed worthy of  serving as "capital of the world," they had been judged incredibly worthy stewards.

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette

on their wedding day

Some Americans already knew of the property though. The lobby walls are filled with photos of celebrities who have chosen to stay there.

John F. Kennedy Jr. brought Carolyn Bessette here on their honeymoon on the recommendation of no less a style icon than his mother, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.

Oprah stayed here when she took her entire staff and their families, 1,600 people, on a 10-day Mediterranean cruise to thank them for making her show such a success. She threw a fabled party here for her entire crew at the hotel complete with whirling dervishes and an Ottoman Mehteran band. The original palace boasts an jaw-droppingly-gorgeous grand staircase which made it the perfect place for her to make a sweeping entrance with everyone going wild.

 The Hotel Lobby

where guests are greeted

by smiling, professional staff

and the smell of beautiful flowers

exquisitely arranged

The outdoor infinity pool

overlooking the Bosphorus

In keeping with the

international clientele

of the hotel,

pool safety guidelines are posted in

Turkish, English, and German.

The Imperial Palace is straight on

in the above photo

along the Bosphorus

with the

newer hotel facility

 to the right

The pool, the palms, the placid water -

all of it sends one silent signal: relax.

The view to the left

if standing on the shoreline.

And yes, it is possible to arrive by boat.

Entering the hotel and walking the hotel grounds immediately began to increase my serenity. I could feel my whole body slowing down in response to the timeless views of shipping traffic plying the Bosphorus. To the right of the hotel, ferries delivered their fares to appointments on the European side. To the left, is the Örtakoy Mosque, currently being renovated and hidden behind curtains. Behind the Mosque is the iconic Bosphorus Bridge.

The East Garden

While walking the grounds I couldn't help but think of another American celebrity. I thought Martha Stewart would love the orderly allee of palm trees in the East Garden that silently signal prosperity. Each one was manicured with nary a cuticle of palm bark astray and lush with fertile seed pods bursting with demands for a chance at life. 

Showing off the long-term outlook of the management, another allee of plantain trees was planted in the West Garden. One of the pleasures of driving up to the hotel is driving through a several block long allee of plantain trees that line the corniche road called Çirağan Caddesi. Currently, this garden allee of plaintains in between the hotel and the Bosphorus was merely at the adolescent stage. In 100 years, they would be spectacular. I wished them well as they would need luck to survive the relentless quest for unimpeded views of the Bosphorus.

After enjoying the grounds and taking in their beauty, it was time to go find the spa and enjoy my hammam, Çirağan Palace-style, courtesy of the hotel. Cinar, PR Department head for the Çirağan Palace Kempinski hotel had said with a laugh, "just talking about hammams makes me relax." I couldn't wait to experience this incredible Ottoman gift to the world.

My first Hammam in Istanbul at the Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Part Two

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All photos courtesy of Çirağan Palace Kempinski