Istanbul: Day Four

Monday, July 7: This was to be our big shopping day. Months ago we had hired an ex-pat named Kathy Hamilton to take us to the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. We had done the same thing in the Old City of Jerusalem five years ago - it helps give you the lay of the land and gives you an introduction to the best places to buy. Kathy met us at our hotel and informed us that she has two slipped disks so she is walking gingerly. Of course at her height - tall - her long legs were still hard to keep up with. 

We walked to the Grand Bazaar and, similar to our impression of the Spice Market from the previous day, the Grand Bazaar was very modern, very clean, very expensive, and very disappointing. It clearly was not what we expected. Most of the shops were glass enclosed and displayed their wares very professionally although impersonally - they kind of all looked alike! Kathy took us to a street just outside the market where there were a number of wholesale jewelry stores - sort of like the diamond market in New York City. I think that this is where the street peddlers get their "handmade" stuff to sell. Joani bought some beads that she had been looking for. 

She then took us to a couple of fabric stores in the Bazaar and these, thankfully, were pretty cool. They all spoke English and some of the fabrics, shawls, and caftans were amazing. Being the ultimate bargainer, I had looked forward to this experience. Unfortunately, Kathy, thinking she would help, began bargaining in Turkish. I had to take her aside and tell her that I wanted this experience and while I appreciated her assistance, this was my gig. I actually did very well and even Kathy was impressed.

When we first contracted with her, I had asked her to take us to see a han - this is a back alley, old style, area where the shops are not nearly so modern, but the things for sale might be just as good. We found an area where a gnome-like man had a Rube Goldberg-type machine and he was taking fine thread and spinning it into cords. It was a machine, as opposed to a spinning wheel, and it had large belts that ran up the walls and across the ceiling and then outside through holes in the walls, probably to a motor that ran the whole thing. It reminded me a bit of the machinery in my brother-in-law Alan's old factory but much more primitive.

Kathy then took us to a han upstairs, and promptly wrenched her back walking the stairs. While she sat, we tried on some really old caftans that, while beautiful, were also very, very expensive so we passed. Since her time was waning we asked if there was a store for buying spices so that maybe we could avoid going to the Spice Market. She took us to great shop where Mark and Yusef haggled for about an hour over Iranian saffron, teas, and spices of various types. As they say, "a great time was had by all!" We bid Kathy adieu, so she could deal with her aching back - we were out of money anyway.

Since this was our last night in Istanbul, we went back to the Balikci Sabahattin Fish Restaurant, where we had our first dinner in Istanbul. They greated us as old friends and we had a great meal. There is nothing like really fresh fish - and this was really fresh fish!