Like the rest of Turkey, Istanbul has fabulous, huge, bustling, and loud markets.
The Grand Bazaar, the world's first covered shopping center, opened in 1461.
It consists of over 50 covered streets, and 4000 shops. (We saw about a 1%, and managed to escape with most of our lira.)
Things one could easily do here:
Pray at one of many mosques.
Get a good scrub down at a Hamam.
Spend ALL money.
Drink countless cups of free tea.
Hone haggling skills while drinking said tea, and spending said money.
Have someone run all of your many purchases to your hotel for free (so that you can't use the excuse of having no more hands to carry merchandise).
Get irreversibly lost.
Something one can't avoid doing: Getting verbally assaulted by all of the vendors vying for your attention and money.
Some of the more creative lines to get our attention:
"Everything in my shop is practically free."
"In my shop I have everything, except no customers" sad face.
"If you have lots of money that you're trying to get rid of, I can help you."
And the weirdest: "Espana? Italia? Oh... American... generally bad customers." (Not sure what the goal was here... issuing a challenge maybe? Unfortunately I'm not so patriotic that I felt like proving him wrong.)
The Grand Bazaar, the world's first covered shopping center, opened in 1461.
It consists of over 50 covered streets, and 4000 shops. (We saw about a 1%, and managed to escape with most of our lira.)
Pray at one of many mosques.
Get a good scrub down at a Hamam.
Spend ALL money.
Drink countless cups of free tea.
Hone haggling skills while drinking said tea, and spending said money.
Have someone run all of your many purchases to your hotel for free (so that you can't use the excuse of having no more hands to carry merchandise).
Get irreversibly lost.
Some of the more creative lines to get our attention:
"Everything in my shop is practically free."
"In my shop I have everything, except no customers" sad face.
"If you have lots of money that you're trying to get rid of, I can help you."
And the weirdest: "Espana? Italia? Oh... American... generally bad customers." (Not sure what the goal was here... issuing a challenge maybe? Unfortunately I'm not so patriotic that I felt like proving him wrong.)
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ReplyDeleteAdditionally, in Photo Number Three Up From The Bottom I need to tell you that I am 55% sure that I bought something from that exact vendor - I KID YOU NOT. Apparently, he did not use the line, "Americans... generally bad customers."
But maybe your guy is friends with our favorite spice guy who said, "It's okay. You can take a picture. Free. (I take a photo of spices). Nevermind, 10 lira."
Ohh... good one. Tricky Turks.
DeleteDitto. It was so cold, Danielle and I just hung-out inside.
ReplyDeleteOK, when I say hung out, I mean had no idea how to get out. That place is crazy! (bizzare!? lol!)
I feel you Bryan.
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