The Bazaars & Markets of Istanbul Turkey

There is nothing more quintessentially Middle Eastern than a “Bazaar.” These large markets will sell anything such as food, spices, toys, souvenir’s, clothing, animals, etc, etc. The sights, sounds and smells of these markets is absolutely intoxicating. Lindsay and I got our first taste of Bazaar in the incredibly beautiful city of Istanbul Turkey. We rode the efficient street car up to the large and exciting “Grand Bazaar” which is a large indoor market. The moment we stepped in we were hooked! This Bazaar is a bit more touristy then some (simply because of its location in Istanbul) but it was still amazing. There was row after row of shops selling everything you can imagine. There were thousands of people coming and going and the hustle and bustle was very exciting. Bargaining is an art form, and must, in the Middle East so we decided to try out our skills. We found a very cool decorated piece of cloth that had Arabic writing on it and thought it was the perfect souvenir. To this day I have no idea what we ended up paying for it (it was cheap) but I do know we bargained hard. :) Near to the grand bazaar is the famous “spice market” of Istanbul. This incredible market has little stores selling every spice and ingredient you could ever imagine. Because of this the area is extremely colorful (all of the spices everywhere) and the smells are out of this world! Each shop owner is anxious for you to buy something and is always happy to offer a taste of what they are selling. Many of the shops in this area sell the famous “Turkish delight” candy. It is hard to describe exactly what this is but it is a lot like the inside of a jellybean. It comes in boxes with numerous assorted flavors which are usually fruity and sweet. After one taste Lindsay and I were hooked and bought a box of the stuff for our long train ride to Syria which was coming up shortly. I remember vividly walking through the spice market in Istanbul and having all of my senses overloaded…in a good way. There were bright red/white Turkish flags flying over head, piles of colorful spices all over, numerous smells, sounds of people talking, bargaining and yelling, etc. It was something we had never quite experienced but were immediately hooked. Over the next few weeks as we travelled through the Middle East we were lucky enough to experience numerous other bazaars/markets and we loved every one of them. We will never forget our first taste of a Middle Eastern marketplace in the Bazaars of Istanbul, Turkey.