Wednesday is Turkish Bath Day! Now you are probably thinking, what the heck does that mean? Ha ha!
One of employees of the Embassy recommended to Kathryn that her “dad” might enjoy going to the Turkish Bath in Madrid. Kathryn brought home a brochure and it looked interesting. It billed itself as a very relaxing time in controlled temperature baths then a massage.
So off I went! I got there about 20 minutes to 12. They take people every two hours. The lobby was full of people waiting. I was told that I could use the “baths”, but there were no massage times available. They said they had a 15 minute massage slot open at 2 or a half hour massage slot open at midnight. Well, midnight is way past my bedtime so I said; “15 minutes” they would not get much past my head”. The woman at the counter did not think I was funny!
So I committed to the 2:00 “bath” and a 15 minute massage. I hung around Plaza del Sol for awhile and did some window and people shopping. At 1:45 I went back and found the lobby once again filled with people. The attendant gave me a page and a half of rules to read (in English). Basically they said to behave yourself, no talking and follow instructions. Well, I can do at least two of those. They gave you some blue thingies to cover up your shoes and a towel, and a wrist band with a number on it for your massage.
At the appointed hour, they led us to the locker rooms to change into our swim suits. There was a mix of people.. several couples, from around 19 to 70, two families with children around 10 and 13, and a few singles like me. The locker cost another euro, so it is now 33 Euros for my Turkish bath and massage. We went to a common shower area and you were told to shower before going down to the baths.
The “baths” were these large pools of water, less than knee deep, of different temperatures. It was a cave-like atmosphere, with low lighting and music playing. They suggested that you start in the moderate temperature, move to the hot, then go into the steam room, and then a plunge into the cold bath. OK……..
The moderate was not as hot as you would have your bath water. I got in stretched out and I must admit it was very peaceful and relaxing. I then moved to the hot bath. It was very warm, but not as warm as most hot tubs I have been in. While I was lying there, I came up with this great idea that I would present three different scenarios for the “bath” experience, one the truth, and the other two wild adventures of my worst imagination! I would then let everyone guess which one was true. I was mentally working on some of my best work when I realized that some of my nieces and nephews might be reading the blog and…. Well, you are only getting the one version!
The steam room was hot! It was hard to see across the six feet width of the room. I didn’t stay long and the “cold” bath was right next door. It was cold! Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where George is seen… well you get the picture!
They said you were to “plunge” into the cold bath to gain the most of the experience. My first pass through, I did a half ease and a half plunge. My two other passes, I did the plunge and it was exhilarating to say the least. I do have to admit that the most refreshing part of the experience was in the “cold” bath after getting as used to it as possible.
All this time, they keep calling numbers for massages. People would disappear and then reappear 15 or 30 minutes later. I was one of the last to be called. They took us to a room, and then this guy came in and pointed to me and pointed to this door. I said to him “English”? He shook his head “no” and pointed at me and to the door again. I said “Don’t you have a sister who could do this?’ No expression what-so-ever, but the English speaking couple left in the room got a good chuckle over it.
He took me into the room where there was a large marble slab. He (he never introduced himself, or if he did, I did not understand him, so let’s say, we will call him Bruce’ – get the picture?
I laid down on the slab and closed my eyes. Bruce’ first took a ladle and poured very warm water all over my body. I could then hear him (I had my eyes closed most of the time) lather up a cloth, and then he wrung the cloth out over my body. I could then hear him lathering up again, and he began my “massage” …. Although it really wasn’t a “massage” but a body scrub! I still have my suit on for those of you who were wondering….. When he got done scrubbing the front, he rinsed me with the ladle and then had me turn over for the backside. Same procedure….
When he was done there he said something like “finette” which I took to mean I was finished. I got up he handed me the towel, and then he took the bar of soap he used, the “cloth mitt” he had used and very carefully wrapped the soap in it, he then reached over and picked up this gauze like bag and put the soap wrapped mitt inside and gave me a big smile, and presented it to me.
I then walked down to Parque Del Buen Retiro – Retiro Park. It had once been a private park for the royalty, but along the way, some King felt guilty about this big beautiful park with no one in it. They would first open it for one day per year for the public, and eventually it became a public park. We had visited the park in 2003.
It was very hot today and there were not many people in the park. There is a large lagoon in the center where you can rent row boats or ride on a boat that holds about 12 people, around the lagoon.
I walked back to the hotel where Kathryn eventually came back to. We had dinner plans with Clara and we walked about two miles to the restaurant. It was a beautiful night to walk. We had a great dinner, the food was excellent.
Clara is very adventurous with eating and had steak tare tare. Kathryn had tuna and I had seafood pasta. Clara ordered a pate appetizer for us to try which was also excellent. We walked back to the hotel,
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