A guide to your first hammam.
What to wear, where to put your things, how to greet the natır. The small things that nobody mentions and the sequence that has not changed in four centuries.
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The quiet half of the treatment.
A long argument for the hour after. Why we think a hammam without a tea house is a hammam cut in half, and why we send you to a courtyard that does not have a sign.
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Cihangir, at ten in the morning.
A single walk, two coffees, one bookshop, and the exact window seat you want. From our Beyoğlu editor, written for a Saturday with nothing scheduled until two.
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What to drink, after.
Sage, ıhlamur, Turkish coffee, water with a slice of apple. A short argument for the right small cup, and a map of three places in the Old City that still pour them.
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On choosing a therapist, in a language you do not speak.
A short, practical note on the five words you need, the one gesture that matters, and the thing we handle for you so you never need either.
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The one thing we do not quote.
On tipping, the Turkish version. Who, how much, when, and when not at all. A quiet piece of ground-truth we would rather you did not have to Google.
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