La Mer, le Canal & les Pyrénées

[Jacques Vert]

The Grand Bazaar

According to Wikipedia:

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops on a total area of 30,700 m2, attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed No.1 among the world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors. The Grand Bazaar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world.

Walking through the bazaar is quite interesting except for the pests trying to sell carpet. They just will not leave you alone.














Morning tea time...

 

[Jacques Vert]

The Egyptian/Spice Bazaar

With 85 shops the Egyptian Bazaar is considerably smaller than the Grand Bazaar but is still well worth a visit...

 

[FlyingFiona]

Reminds me of the Jeffrey Archer story "The Steal" in his his book of short stories A Twist in the Tale. It's made me want to visit a Turkish carpet seller ever since.

 

[Jacques Vert]

It's made me want to visit a Turkish carpet seller ever since.

That's sad.

 

[VPS]

Reminds me of the Jeffrey Archer story "The Steal" in his his book of short stories A Twist in the Tale. It's made me want to visit a Turkish carpet seller ever since.

I've still got the Turkish carpet I bought in Istanbul in 1982

 

[FlyingFiona]

That's sad.

I don't recall the story (I was a child when I read it) just that Turkey is the place to go for carpets!

 

[drron]

Reminds me of the Jeffrey Archer story "The Steal" in his his book of short stories A Twist in the Tale. It's made me want to visit a Turkish carpet seller ever since.

You meet all sorts of people in a Turkish carpet shop. As we walked into one in Istanbul Sean Connery was just leaving.

 

[Jacques Vert]

The Bosphorus

The Bosphorus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and divides Europe from Asia. As Istanbul is built on both sides of the Bosphorus it is the only city spread over two continents.

We took a dinner cruise. The meal was surprisingly good and drinks were included so we had a pleasant evening and met two couples: one from France and one from Palestine. It was a bit cold and wet on deck but we still managed to get a couple of good photos:

 

[Jacques Vert]

We also took a day cruise of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn...

 

[RooFlyer]

Gotta say Istanbul is one of my favourite world cities - certainly non western. If TK up their service from Oz (early reports say its a bit ragged ex Oz, which surprised me), I'll be stopping over there regularly, rather than going QR via DOH.

 

[drron]

It is a place neither of us want to go back to. Mrsdrron was groped almost continuously. Ripped off by taxis as well.
We all have different experiences.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Gotta say Istanbul is one of my favourite world cities - certainly non western. If TK up their service from Oz (early reports say its a bit ragged ex Oz, which surprised me), I'll be stopping over there regularly, rather than going QR via DOH.

I found Istanbul very interesting and could certainly spend more time there to explore other parts of the city that we didn't get to during our four days. I did find it quite cold during our visit (around 8 to 10 degrees each day).

I also found restaurants and eateries near our accommodation a bit pricey but then again, prices have gone up everywhere since Covid. I did find a bottle shop (ERTAN TEKEL/ALCOHOL SHOP · Binbirdirek, 51/A, Peykhane Cd., 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye), where you can buy grog at a reasonable price, not far from our accommodation.

We also found this place that has good food and wine/beer at reasonable prices and they don't hassle you as you walk past: Red River Pub