Called the American Express office in Lisbon to have some mail forwarded to Istanbul, tried to do the same with the Paris American Express, but they require a fax. Spent most of the day walking around the Castle district. It was a spectacular day with the temerature easily in the 60's. Spent an hour or so drinking coffee at an outdoor table with a perfect view over the city.
On my way back to the hostel I decided I deserved to soak in hot water (still very sore from yesterday's swim), so I stoped at the baths at the Hotel Gellert. It was a bit of an experience as I've never been to a Turkish bath before. I bought a ticket, found the men's baths (it's a huge complex with numerous different kinds of pools, most of which require a doctor's prescription), got my little 6 inch square of cloth with strings, and found my way to the changing area. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with the cloth thingy (was it a towel?), so I waited until someone else came by. It wasn't a towel, it was a very inadequate loin cloth, ok when in Rome... Spent over an hour roatating between the various pools and saunas. The pools are in this huge vaulted chamber (the roof must be 50 or 60 feet high), and every surface is covered with brilliantly colored ceramic mosaics. All in all a very nice ending to the day. It could be habit forming though...
