The sights and the sounds and the crushes of people and the sellers vying for buyers attention made up the center of our day today. We were a little intimidated by the prospect of going to the worlds oldest and largest market- especially for me, who hates shopping - but you can not come to Istanbul, we hear, and not go to the bazaars. So off we went, armed with our fiercest "no" faces ( to combat the very insistent shopkeepers looking to hook a sale) and our courage to stumble through the labyrinth of alleyways and narrow streets and a pocket full of hope that we would eventually make it out alive.
And guess what? I LOVED IT, I loved the rhythm of the voices. I loved the feast of color displayed in each stall; glitter and sparkle in the jewelry section, the earthy leather smell in the leather section, the shiny patterns in the ceramic section, the marvelous textures in the fabric section and the smells as we passed by the food stalls.
We shared a table with two men who did not speak English but spoke smile and gesture so well.
And, daddy, you would have been so proud of how well I bargained for each item!
And then on to the Spice Bazaar. Well, you can see the photo above. Imagine hundreds of stalls, all selling exotic, aromatic, vibrant things to eat!!
Maybe I do like shopping.
Then we rode a ferry over to the Asian side of Istanbul and wondered streets with a very different flavor and tempo. No throngs of tourists taking pictures. No aggressive sellers grabbing our attention. Just a beautiful array of people going about their life.
And my really great and handsome date!