The Universal Market

Our host, Yigit, at the market

In our time in Italy, and now in Istanbul, one of our favorite things has been to visit outdoor markets. It is quintessential part of the culture, and purely for the locals - you don't see tourists at an obscure neighborhood market, far away from the touristic sights, and thus you get an experience that is truly "through the back door."

Today, we visited the weekly market near our couchsurfing host, Yigit, in the suburb of Ümraniye, in Istanbul. The market only happens on Thursday, and the vendors mainly drive in with their vans, unload from them, and then reload them to go to the next market. Italy had fabulous markets, but this one today took the cake for having stupendous arrays of fresh produce and fruit, in a dazzling array, as well as spices, pickles, cheeese, sweatpants, pretzels, chestnuts...the list goes on.

A beautiful fruit display - and he's very proud of it! :)

As tourists, we stood out like sore thumbs. But, a wonderful part of couchsurfing is having an instance "in" to the culture, as well as someone who understands all the local customs, language, and business practices. We strolled up the market, maybe almost 1/4 mile long, comparing prices, while I snapped away with my picture.

A jovial cheese and olive vendor - delicious olives!!

At first I took pictures surreptitiously, not sure how the vendors would react to a foreign girl taking pictures of their daily life. However as we became more used to the market, I realized that the vendors were very open to having their picture taken - even beckoning me to take a picture while they posed and smiled. By the end of the market, I was showing the pictures I'd taken to the vendors, and they'd smile and nod proudly. For them, it was a proud experience to have their livelihood captured by my camera.

And their displays were truly fantastic, and they clearly cared a great deal about their presentation. Careful stacks of oranges, with interspersed leaves, or a pomegranate cut open to show the perfect ruby seeds, to intricate layers of shawls.

Picture-friendly leek vendors

We spent at least two hours at the market, and the time flew by. The Turkish lira is about half as much as the dollar, so we could spend .50 Turkish cents (.28 US cents) for two kilos - over two pounds - of carrots!

A young pretzel vendor

A common Turkish snack is the pretzel - there were at least three guys wheeling stacks of them up and down the market. 3 pretzels cost 1 lira (.50 cents) - covered in sesame seeds, and often still warm, they are fantastic and filling. We bought 3 lira worth, to have extras for later.

A grape leaf seller, for making dolmus

All in all, it's almost as good as going to some of the big tourist attractions - this is true Turkey, at its heart, in the daily lives of its people.

Yesterday, we visited the Grand Bazaar in the old European part of Istanbul. It is an immense warren of shops, all indoors, and it has kilometers of streets. There are entire sections devoted to leather, ceramics, etc. But today, a good portion of it is only for tourists, and the vendors there are hungry for your attention (and money). As Devlin and I weren't interested in buying anything, but just in absorbing the place, we strolled right past their loud entreaties of, "Hello, carpet?" or "Hello, please bags?"... one inventive guy even said, "Hello, bodyguard!" to Devlin, followed by, "Present for your girlfriend?" For me, I would be nervous to go in that bazaar by myself - it would be like feeding yourself to the sharks.

A shawl vendor

A pickle vendor: dolmus, cucumbers, peppers, cabbage,
and many other types I couldn't identify!

In contrast, the small local street market was a much more welcoming version. The bazaar was fun in a crazy, chaotic, in-your-face kind of way, but for me, I much preferred the quieter, low-key, non-pushy friendliness of the little market. The locals bantered back and forth with Yigit, in completely incomprehensible Turkish. Over the past 3 months in Italy, Devlin and I had become pretty competent in comprehending and speaking Italian - but after arriving in Istanbul, we are back to being true tourists - completely ignorant, and using a combination of sign language and blank/lost expressions to get by. I managed to have a couple minutes of conversation with one vendor before I had to turn to Yigit for translation help.

We will be looking forward to our next encounters with the people and culture of Turkey, and to the local markets we will enjoy when we fly to Thailand and Cambodia next Tuesday! It is hard to believe that we will be switching cultures in just a few short days' time... I am greatly enjoying Turkey, and I can say for sure that we will return again, in a warmer season, to this rich and fascinating country.