Not really! Just the first song I thought of with the word “Tuesday” in the name. Mr. Stevland Hardaway Judkins (otherwise known as Stevie Wonder)…
Woke up for the hike today. Out early and off with the small crew of 5. I stuck pretty close to the leader and one of the guests. It was 3.2 miles of roller coaster – sharply up, then right back down. Huffing and puffing, I slid on rocks and fell once, right onto my iPod shuffle, which promptly stopped working. I have it plugged in now and am hoping it was a dead battery, not sand in the machine. If so, what a day (read on…)! Worked up a good sweat, then back to the room, where Tay had slept in and we had ordered breakfast in to the room (and, yippee! it was there when I arrived).
Off and running, and I mean really. 9 am class, Tay and I both went to the cardio circuit, which was 45 minutes of sweating to step-ups, combined with jumping, combined with weight work, combined weights and abs, and then we took it outside to go through the course four times!
After that, we went our separate ways: Tay went to Rowbics (using rowing machine) and I went to Magic Barre, where I stood on the balls of my feet for longer than I can remember; really, only until they started cramping! We worked so many parts of the body in ways I couldn’t have imagined before! Then I jumped into the 90 degree pool for a Hydrorider class; basically, spin in the water. Pretty cool, cuz the riding was mixed with (for instance) keeping your feet locked in the pedals (we wore booties), sitting back behind the seat while holding on to it, and pedaling. Then, let go of the seat and do the breast stroke with your arms. Pretty tricky, that!
Yes, indeed, I had the teacher all to myself. It’s a fairly empty week here, but the busiest class had 6 students, and several were either private or semi-private. Then throw the clothes back on and run to mat pilates again with Ms. Tay. Using my refillable water bottle, but having trouble closing it all the way. As we walk over to lunch (some of the view along the way):
I realize that my water bottle is leaking, nay, pouring, into the bottom of my bag. As I arrive and sit down for lunch, I pull out my phone, which now refuses to work, and piss and moan and get a bag of rice to throw it in while I enjoy my incredibly yummy sushi roll and veggies. I head back to the room after lunch and pull out the contents of my bag to see what else has been waterlogged. What, ho? My iPod is in the bottom, going for a little swim. I throw it into the bag of rice as well. Could end up being a much more expensive few days than I was planning on. Only time will tell if anything is salvageable.
Afternoon is mellow, and I attend a Hatha Flow yoga class and go visit Tay while she’s enjoying her coffee scrub and body wrap:
Isn’t that just so appropriate for her? We head up to L’Orangerie about 6:30 for the cooking demonstration and then enjoy our last dinner here inside the beautiful dining room. Everything in the place is really modeled on old country French. Here’s the room I’m sitting in now (the Garden Room) working on the blog:
The whole place is just that beautiful. And the staff/service is just about perfect. Want coffee? We will brew some up and send it right to your room. Want a special shake during snack? Just tell us what you want (what you really, really want) and we will delivery it to you. And don’t you dare put any of that equipment back! Where do you think you are? I know that being back home will be a shock to the system (although a relaxing one for the body!).
After dinner, we chat with the chef and kitchen staff and talk about heading to the bathhouse (where massages, wraps, thassolotherapy, etc take place) and have a bit of a skinny dip in the hottub. But we end up sprawled on our bed, Tay watching “the biggest loser” and me reading short stories written by woman about their experiences with the Turkish culture. Prepping for the next trip already!