Dave and Brian's Excellent Adventures

Today we explored Istanbul. Mark DeRosche, one of the members of IFE, has been coming to Istanbul since 1988. He knows Istanbul pretty well. Mark led us around the Mosques and Bazaars, and explain historical facts about different segments of the town.

The Endeavor is parked on the West Bank of Istanbul. The Spice and Grand Bazaar, and the St. Sophia and Blue Mosques are on the East Bank of Istanbul. To cross the river, one must cross a bridge. What's interesting about this bridge, is there are about 50 fisherman leaning over the railing catching fish. The fisherman have these 15 foot long, deep water poles and lines. They look like they're fishing for marlins or sharks. When they reel in, they come out with these 4 inch smelt-type fish. One wonders why the big heavy-duty poles. If you look in a tackle shop along the shore, you'll notice they don't sell light-duty poles. Kinda like taking an elephant gun on a fox hunt. First picture is of fisherman on the bridge.

After the bridge, we went to the Spice Bazaar. Now, my image of a bazaar is of a street lined with wagons/carts filled with spices, clothes, trinkets and plain junk. This is more like a mall with similar sized shops filled with spices, etc. And of course everyone is selling the cheapest stuff in the whole Bazaar: Spices from every corner of the Globe, flying carpets, and Turkish Viagra (We weren't sure what that last one meant, but it was a candy, and we didn't accept the free sample). Second picture is of the wall of purses.

The next stop was at the Blue Mosque. It's a beautiful mosque (in the middle of three others and an old palace), that's behind a garden with a fountain. In and around the garden are these guys that walk around selling tea. This is the third picture, which was just interesting to see these guys running around trying to push tea, in their costumes. The second to last picture is of the Mosque.

After the Blue Mosque, we went to a rug shop that Mark's been buying rugs from for the last 5 years. The man who sells the rugs are from a nomadic tribe that the women of the tribe take 8 months to make these Turkish rugs, Kilims, and Cicims. He adds 10% to the price the women want for these rugs, and the rest go to the women and their families. Going into this place is more like an experience than just a shopping venture. He started by introducing himself and his tribe, and describing what each of the rugs represent to the family or the women themselves. But first, he brings out Turkish Tea, which after drinking (and for all of those people who don't know, I don't drink tea) I'll be up for the rest of the trip. My hands are shaking as I'm typing this.