Sunday, December 06, 2009

The Grand Bazaar (Istanbul, Turkey)

I think everyone knows that if you are in Istanbul; you must go see the amazing Grand Bazaar. Lots of great things to see, hear and touch. However, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with the bazaar. I do not mind that there are more tourists shopping at the bazaar than locals. But, it seems that most of the stalls at the bazaar were selling the exact same things; mostly tourist t-shirts and fake big brand named items like hand-bags or clothing. Though there were amazing carpet, blown glass or Turkish delight stalls, it seems that was all there was. I imagined that there would be much more Turkish hand made items than touristic things.


We decided to go early to the bazaar before all the tourists buses arrived.











The atmosphere of the bazaar.












A quiet alley where they were starting to set up their stalls for the day.











Colorful items for sale.












It is our last day in Istanbul; so it was nice to walk around the bazaar and the surrounding area. I found that walking around the area was more interesting than walking inside the bazaar. We saw more authentic shops where the locals shopping.

www.grand-bazaar.com

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