Grand Bazaar

In the morning, the drawbacks of hostel accommodation were apparent: the sink was blocked, and there was no toilet paper. At least there had been no snorers in the dorm. I decided that I would reserve a nice room at the Hotel Poem for my last night to leave in style.

I couldn't face another Turkish breakfast so I had french toast instead.

Here are some more market pictures. Lots of those tasty eggplants and peppers.

The prices are probably in thousands of TL so of the order of one to a few dollars per kilo.

I went to the Grand Bazaar also known as the Covered Bazaar as most of it is indoors. This is the Beyazit Gate. There were lots of tourists there, especially French, even that early in the morning.

Metalwork and utensils.

Beautiful porcelain.

One of the wider and less crowded passages.

There were lots of jewelry and clothing, and of course souvenirs, but nothing of interest to me.

Sahaflar Çarşısı (Old Book Bazaar) which was nearby, was of more interest to me. I wasn't looking for antiquarian books but for Nasreddīn Hodja stories translated into English. Nasreddin is a well-known character not just in Middle Eastern and Central Asian folk humour but far beyond. He is witty but sometimes also the butt of a joke. Here's a short one: One morning, his neighbour asked Hodja, "Last night we heard noises coming from your house. It sounded like something falling down the stairs. What happened?" Hodja replied: "My wife threw my robe down the stairs." "Come on, Hodja! A robe doesn't make that much noise." "But I was wearing it," Hodja said.

I'll continue the rest of the day in the next post to spread out the pictures.