Sightseeing in Istanbul

3^rd June 2011

This morning we set out to the Grand Bazaar as our first stop. It was a relatively easy walk from our Hotel. It was not as crowded as I expected and we were not as harassed as much as we were used to in Asia. The building itself is really something to see and the scale of the market is huge. We spent a bit over an hour there, most of the merchandise was jewelry, gold and silver, clothing, carpets and the usual handicrafts. We were over it after an hour but the Hollingsworth team soldiered on.  We   headed off through the backstreets in the direction of the Spice Bazaar with the Macdonalds.

Inside the Grand Bazaar

The Spice Bazaar was much more interesting than the Grand Bazaar, a lot smaller, and lots of stalls selling food products, including spices (of course), a wide variety of fresh nuts and dried fruits, confectionery,  all sorts of tea concoctions and some fresh produce, as well as the normal clothing , jewelry etc.

Spice Bazaar

We  bought a range of nuts and dried fruit which they vacuum packed for us to take on the boat, and some orange tea.

We had lunch in a local restaurant near the bazaar, a simple meal of pide and salad and no beer as it was an alcohol free restaurant.

Our lunch near the Spice Bazaar

In the afternoon we walked across the Galata Bridge which has 2 levels for most of it’s length (except for where boats need access to pass through), the lower level being restaurants , and the upper (road level) is lined with fishermen, catching what looked like sardines.

Fishermen on the Galata Bridge

We walked around the other side of the river, past what appeared to be the ships chandlers street, and up the hill to the Galata Tower, then returning home by tram for a well earned rest.

Some of the local Chandlers

We caught up with Mark when we got back to the Hotel, and heard that the Hollingsworth clan had bargained their way around the Grand Bazaar for 3.5 hrs picking up all sorts of bargains, the highlight being a substantial carpet that Gwen bought, and organized to be shipped home. Chris, Sue and Gwen had gone back out to go to the Supermarket to get a few things so Mark joined us for a drink. Several hours later they had still not returned and eventually when they turned up, we discovered that their trip to the supermarket ended up in another carpet shop and their long absence was due to prolonged negotiations by Gwen to buy another carpet.

In their travels they had found a restaurant for dinner, so we headed off there for a meal. There was a great view and the meal OK.