The Reason to Vacation

Us outside the bazaar

Hello lady. Want to buy? You German? Chinese?

Yes, these are all things people asked us in English. I'm guessing they have a fairly limited English vocabulary but bravo for trying. That is much better than any of my Turkish skills.

I love to shop. I vacation to shop. Heber doesn't agree but it is really one of my favorite things about traveling. I don't need to buy a million things or spend a lot of money but finding that small item that will always remind me of that place is important. Like the pearl earrings I found in Florence, I wore them on my wedding day and they hold such good memories.

The shopping in Turkey was unlike anything I've seen. They had their small shops (like the picture of Heb below) but the craziest experience was the Grand Bazaar. Hundreds of years old and hundreds of shopping options under one roof. It went forever, shop after shop.

Me and Kim shopping. Loved having a shopping buddy that liked it as much as I did. Miss you!


I have to admit that I liked the Spice Bazaar much better. Smaller and not as easy to get lost in. The best part was the smell. It permeated everything but was so spicy and colorful.

Shopowners ready to tote their wares.

One thing I dislike about shopping is the pressure pitch. The feeling that you can't leave and here's where the carpet salesman came in. I saw way too many of them. Hebs and I who went in absolutely never wanting to buy a carpet almost did. That's how good they were. Each of them had their own little show, complete with apple tea.

This is how the carpet's made and why ours is totally worth the thousands of dollars you could spend.

As part of each and every tour, you'd stop at a carpet salesman or a leather dealer. They did a whole fashion show there.

That's right, people completely serious walking a runway for just Heber and I and an Indian tourist as we tried to keep from breaking out into laughter. That took some serious self control. I've just never seen anything like that. Wow.

I just have to say how nice it is to be home and to shop here. Little things like the item having a price tag and not having to haggle to a price where I don't feel like I'm being ripped off. It's good to be home. Can I say it enough?