Istanbul: Spice Bazaar

We also went to the Grand Bazaar, which may appear in another post, but the Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar was our favorite. Smaller, a little less touristy (but still touristy), with shop owners who didn't accost you nearly as much and a little better prices. Poor shop owners...they see me and think "Ah! A crazy Australian! I can make a good sale off of her!" (yes, we are constantly asked if we're from Australia...sorry about that, Aussies...), but then my Doha Souq bargaining skills kick in and the shop keepers goes through visible signs of surprise, annoyance, and defeat. I'll pay a fair price...not a rip-off-the-tourist price.

I had many nice interactions here--the shop keepers were very friendly, even after the bargaining. Really nice people all over Istanbul. In various stages, we sat for a long time in the shade of an outdoor cafe as some of us would shop and others would just enjoy the lovely breeze and people watching.

At one point, a young father brought his 5 year-old daughter to sit at the table next to us. People seem to really listen to our accents, and then, after discovering (1) we speak English (good for practice) and (2) we're American (after they ask), they love to just chat. This Dad was trying to teach his daughter to say "My name is Leifa" in English (he spoke good English, she did not). Thankfully, my sweet friend Joseph had lent me his Turkish phrasebook, so I pulled it out and got Hannah to say hello and "my name is Hannah" but in Turkish. Lots of fun. Then I found the phrase book page where the dirty word slang was listed...

Another nice interaction at the spice bizarre--I was in a spice shop to buy some apple tea. We'd been looking for the WC (toilet), and the shop worker had helped me avert Jack watering the plants, so I went back for a small purchase. An older couple was there, too, the woman in conservative Islamic dress (everything except the face veil) and the gentleman in conservative pants/shirt but nothing "traditional." They both had heavy accents but spoke English, and we struck up a conversation. They were Palestinian but through his job had located to Santa Clara, California. They were then surprised when I told them I was from Texas but was living in Qatar. The man laughed and said, "We've switched places!" Then, as we said our goodbyes, he said (in the heavy accent), "It's good to see another American!" Yes, that it was.

Photopalooza...

Twirling wherever we can. Cause that's what we do when we're not skipping: twirl.

Feeding the pigeons outside the bazaar. A beautiful elderly lady sold us the plate of feed and said "one lira." Then she really tried hard to hand us another plate. I thought she was being pushy and politely but repeatedly refused. She spoke no English. I was useless with the Turkish. Then I found out later it was two plates for 1 Lira. She was trying to give me the rest of what I bought, but I refused to take it.
FAIL.

One of the Spice Bazaar entrances...it spills out onto streets behind it, too. Boys underwear were a bit sale item this day, but for some reason, I couldn't get Hank or Jack interested?

Busy, crowded day.

Spice shop. Smells like Souq Waqif. I'll never get tired of that smell.
They had something that looked like a big ol' yummy bonbon rolled in chopped pistachios...it was marked "Turkish Viagra." WE DID NOT PURCHASE THIS.